Our Team

Madhu Vaishnav is the founder and executive director of Saheli Women’s parent organization, the Institute for Philanthropy and Humanitarian Development (IPHD). She is from Jodhpur, India, and has ten years of work experience in civic and social organizations. Madhu founded IPHD in 2013 and launched Saheli Women in 2015.

Madhu has a master’s degree in Indian History and Hindi and completed her postgraduate studies in Community and Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. Madhu founded Saheli Women because of the need for livelihood opportunities for women in the village of Bhikamkor.

Contact: madhu@iphdindia.com

Jhansi Mangal is the internship program coordinator for IPHD. She is from Hyderabad, India, and joined IPHD in 2017. At Saheli Women, Jhansi is responsible for a range of tasks, including purchasing supplies for our production facility, preparing our products for shipping and writing invoices for our partners

Jhansi studied at Osmania University in Hyderabad and worked in telemarketing and quality assurance at Vibatel Solutions for the multinational banking company HSBC for five years. She also worked for one year at Global Innovsource for the State Bank of India in the credit card section.

Contact: jhansim.iphd@gmail.com

Carolina Abalos is the international manager for Saheli Women. She is from Cologne, Germany and joined the IPHD team in 2019.

Carolina received her Bachelors in Engineering in 2016 from the Netherlands and is now in pursuit of her Masters in Fashion Anthropology. Through her studies, Carolina has gained experience in design, pattern drafting, marketing, production, and international buying. Her experience has made her an invaluable member of the IPHD team.

Contact: abalos.iphd@gmail.com

Rukiya Bano Teli is the Saheli Community Center manager who oversees all operations in the Saheli Women production facility. Rukiya is a Bhikamkor resident who joined Saheli Women as an embroider on the first day of the project in 2015. She was promoted after showcasing her stitching talents, work ethic and strong leadership skills.

Rukiya is the mother of four young daughters. She is often seen at the community center laughing or cracking jokes, leading other women in the village to nickname her “spicy chili.” She is passionate about girls’ education, and she believes her daughters will grow up to be engineers, doctors or the elected leaders of Bhikamkor.

Saraswati Ji Sharme is the newest manager at the Saheli Center. Previously, she ran a hostel with her husband. After running into financial problems with this operation, she was out of work. Determined to find a job, she asked friends to recommend her to the Saheli Center. After months of trying she finally got the job. She took our training course and began to learn stitching. Because of her warm personality and helpful spirit she was promoted to manager.

Her husband works for an NGO and is very proud of Saraswati. She loves working at the Center because she gets to socialize with the other ladies.