Saloni is a social impact entrepreneur and a changemaker at heart. A lawyer by education, she found her true calling, during her rural residential fellowship with SBI Youth for India in 2017. She was placed in Dang, which is one of the most economically distressed districts in India with a 98% tribal population. Dang faces extreme water scarcity and as a result, agricultural cultivation becomes impossible, leading to a 50% migration of its people to other cities in search of livelihood. Saloni saw extreme poverty in the district, but also an opportunity to develop a strong source of income generation for its residents through widely grown Bamboo in the area. From this adversity, was born an opportunity and Baansuli was founded. Saloni, researched product possibilities with bamboo and started to train the tribal women to make handcrafted jewellery and accessories. What began as one village and 5- tribals collective is now transformed into a movement spread across 3 villages and a 50-tribal artisans collective, in just 6years. She now does skill training for the village women to make uniquely designed products including jewellery, accessories, home decor, bracelets, rakhis and utility productsBeing a social start-up and funds being scarce, Saloni juggles many roles and is responsible for the designs, product innovation, management, marketing & sales as well as skill training. Her venture has helped reduce the population migration from dangs by providing alternative sources of income to its residents. She has brought the district into visibility with her work and Baansuli’s impactSaloni is a diligent, hardworking and solutions-oriented entrepreneur and her work for generating livelihood for tribals has won her several awards like being featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia in the social impact category 2021; awarded as the Best start-up by NIRD and Ministry of Rural Development India under the sustainable livelihood category, 3MCII young innovator challenge awardee; Social innovator award by NSCI PIC Pune in 2018 and recipient of the Creative manufacturing award by COWE in 2022 and many more To connect with Saloni for collaborations and partnerships email sacheti.saloni93@gmail.com Area of Expertise: Law, Bamboo products, Design, Rural Entrepreneurship, Social Impact, Tribal Livelihoods, Innovation, Skill Development, Training, Business Management, Government Sector, women empowerment