Marketplace Literacy Project
Non-Profit Leadership
The mission of Marketplace Literacy Project is to empower low income individuals and communities by enabling consumer, entrepreneurial, and sustainability literacy through a bottom-up approach that emphasizes concrete, local, and social education.
Role
Project Manager
Writer
Educator
Researcher
Front End Developer
Board Member
MLP curriculum development for Tanzanian and Uganda - co-designed with people in each context and routinely iterated upon.
Skills
Project Management
Course Design
Writing
Academic Research Methods
Bottom-up Design Methods
Overview
I have been a member of the MLP team since 2013, I've contributed to many aspects of the operations, outreach, and development of the non-profit. These roles have given me experience in leadership and management strategy within non-profit organizations.
100,000 + Recipients
I have helped the Marketplace Literacy Program grow and scale to new levels. Over 100,000 individuals have participated in Marketplace Literacy education programs around the world, with the vast majority of recipients being at-risk women.
Highlights
Curriculum Development
Brought together significant research in the field of Subsistence Marketplaces to launch our ongoing academic journal. I also created our comprehensive web portal for the journal.
Interviewing people around the globe
Close mentorship
Leading projects
Non-profit impact
Locations
Tanzania
Uganda
India
Argentina
Kenya
Southern Illinois
Bottom-Up Design
The Marketplace Literacy Project delivers a research backed education program that is designed with participants. Participants learn consumer skills, marketplace bargaining, awareness of rights, and entrepreneurial development.
My experience with bottom-up-design and participatory-design methods is a cornerstone of how I approach and solve problems. Collaboratively working with users to develop solutions to problems is my personal passion.
With the close training of Professor Madhu Viswanathan, I put on participatory workshops in various locations to test and refine our curriculum.
Teaching in the field
Our team helped trainers in how to effectively teach the marketplace literacy curriculum. Seen here is a trainer teaching session outside of Arusha, Tanzania.
Writing and Publications
Training Trainers
Subsistence Marketplaces Journal
Editor and contributor to Voices from Subsistence Marketplaces: India. I organized, edited, and readied the book for print. I also created an online portal that was released along with the launch of the book.
Additional Projects
Voices From Subsistence Marketplaces: East Africa
Lead author of book cataloging the lived experiences of individuals in East Africa. The book is meant to be a supplement for student learning in the US. Writing the book required extensive repeated interviews over the course of 4-years.
Voices From Subsistence Marketplaces: India
Helping students immerse
Virtual Immersion Platform
Making content accessible globally
I developed multi-media content and curated our large body of immersion and "day-in-the-life" videos to a common interactive platform. Materials have reached a global audience and have been used in countless training sessions.
I built this game with to immerse the students into the world of Renuka: an impoverished woman in rural India. The game challenges you to live as Renuka, making complex trade offs and feeling the pressures of daily survival needs. The game has been played by over 30,000 students to date.