Sprout Enterprise® 2025 Impact Report: Creating Twofold Impact
We’ve Invested in Artisan Enterprises for over 25 years.
Craft is the original circular economy. The craft story today is what the story of craft has always been – of artisans making use of waste, left over or found materials, of design and innovation to perform the alchemy of material transformation into a product of function and beauty, of expressing and sharing community values, and of telling the stories of each generation. Investing in artisan enterprises improves the quality of life and creates a sustainable future for rural communities with few economic alternatives.
Kaliyachak Girls’ Learning Centre
The Kaliyachak Learning Bridge for Girls functions on the premises of Samaj Kalyan Mandal, in the village of Kaliyachak, District Nalanda, Bihar. Samaj Kalyan Mandal is a 40 year old community-based organization. The Learning Centre has classes from Standard 1 to 6 and operates six days a week, in the mornings in summer, and in the afternoon in winter. The students come from Kaliyachak and the neighbouring hamlets of Saristanagar, Aganu bigha, Mal bigha, Linepar, Nauliya bigha, Bhadauan and Bhat bigha. Approximately 75% of the girls enrolled in the Centre regularly attend the government school later in the day. The rest return home to help with household chores and care for their siblings.
Why We Invested: Du Anyam
R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund has joined Beneficial Returns, an impact investment manager, in a loan to Du Anyam, an artisan enterprise founded in 2014 to improve the lives of women and their children in rural Indonesia. Beginning with 8 women weavers in East Flores, Du Anyam now works with over 1,600 women across 54 rural villages in Indonesia.
Du Anyam (mother’s weaving in the local Flores language) has helped to reintroduce traditional wicker crafts to modern markets while creating sustainable income for these artisans. By providing entrepreneurial training, and creating both domestic and international distribution channels, the enterprise enhances the women’s financial stability while also improving their families’ access to nutritional food, healthcare and education.