2 countries, 1 team
We have been a team since 2010, now at four locations: Chittapur, Londa, Hyderabad and Berlin. In our daily interactions with one another, we have a clear division of tasks, but we all pull together. Pure women power and deep friendships have connected us for more than ten years. We organize our daily work together, adapted to the respective needs on site, and look after each other. Our managing directors in Hyderabad and Berlin take care of the strategic planning, and while the sewing teams largely organize themselves, there is a coordinator at each of our locations who takes care of issues such as accounting and finances. What is particularly important to us is that we cannot do without a distribution of decision-making powers, of course, but we attach great importance to a fair distribution of our income, translated into our salaries. Because we are all working on our joint project "Jyoti".
COORDINATION INDIA
Without our three coordinators in India, Jyoti could pack up. Every day, they dig through the chaos of accounting, association affairs and our value chains, always keeping a cool head and being contact persons for our entire team.
SISTER LUCY PRIYA
SISTER LUCY PRIYA has been responsible for the management of our sewing workshop in Chittapur for many years and takes care of finances, administration and all organizational tasks on site. She is always available to answer questions from the Indian and German teams and is the good soul of Jyoti - Fair Works. Her main job has been managing the NGO "Jyothi Seva Kendra" in Chittapur for more than 15 years - with a stern look or her mischievous smile, depending on the need.
SISTER Leena
SISTER LEENA has been responsible for the management of our sewing workshop in Londa since 2022, takes care of all organizational matters, solves one problem after the other and is in daily contact with our team in Germany. In addition to her commitment to Jyoti, she runs the social facility of the NGO "Nava Chetana Kendra" in Londa and is particularly committed to the children and people with disabilities in the area. Her tireless optimism and infectious good humor have already guided us through quite a few crises.
SUNANDHA
SUNANDHA is the managing director of our Indian company and heads our office in Hyderabad, separated from our sewing workshop there only by an always-open door. With a background in computer science and engineering, creating fair jobs for women from less privileged families has long been her dream. She has been living this dream at Jyoti since 2020, and we don't even know how we managed so long without her.
TEAM CHITTAPUR, India
It all started in 2010 in Chittapur, on the campus of the non-profit organization “Jyothi Seva Kendra”. Our Indian founder Halima is still the good soul of the team, which has grown over the years to include many wonderful women and without whose tireless commitment Jyoti could not exist.
HALIMA
HALIMA is the founder of our first sewing workshop in India, and without her unwavering belief in the idea we would certainly never have made it to our first product. Today she is particularly available to the younger team members with advice and support and prefers to take on the delicate work. Halima herself particularly appreciates the financial security that the job gives her and which enables her to finance her children's education.
SUVARNA
SUVARNA has also been an integral part of the Indian team since the beginning. Her colleagues particularly appreciate her level-headed nature and her ability to explain complicated things in a simple and understandable way. She says that working for Jyoti has made her stronger and braver, helps her enormously financially and makes her very happy. In the first few years of working for Jyoti, she not only learned to speak English, but also to read it.
RIZWANA
RIZWANA has also been part of the Indian team from the beginning. For her, the Jyoti team is a second family (“We are one family here.”). She really enjoys getting to know new patterns and especially enjoys working on the sewing machine. Her teammates affectionately refer to her as the good soul of the sewing workshop.
PARVEEN
PARVEEN is also old-fashioned and has been working for Jyoti in Chittapur since 2011. She particularly enjoys working on the sewing machine. She has learned a lot in the last six years. Not only in terms of the sewing craft, but also in terms of dialogue and exchange with other people; she has become much more open and courageous and is happy to be able to speak openly and freely on the JSK campus.
SAFIYA
SAFIYA has been a member of the Indian team since 2011 and has been bringing good cheer to the workshop ever since with her radiant smile. She sews the garments for the new collection with great care and to an impressive standard of quality. The sewing workshop is a refuge for her where she can forget all her worries and tensions and enjoy the company of the other women.
SHASHIREKHA
SHASHIREKHA has been part of the team since 2015. She loves sewing and embroidering and is really enjoying working on the new collection. She is particularly fond of the Hamina trousers. She was already a good sewer before working at Jyoti, but says that she only learned neat and clean workmanship at Jyoti - Fair Works. In addition to the sewing work, she is particularly happy to have the opportunity to practice her English here.
RENUKA
RENUKA started working for Jyoti along with Sumithra in 2018. She previously earned money as a laborer on construction sites doing hard physical labor and is now very happy with her new job. She found out about Jyoti because she is a member of one of the self-help groups on the same campus and asked for work there. She loves learning new cuts, especially pants, and is happy to contribute to the family income with her salary.
NANDINI
NANDINI was introduced to us in 2019 by her neighbor Sumithra, who came to us a year before. She had been working in the fields until then and is now very happy to support her father financially with her regular salary from Jyoti. She was taught sewing and pattern-making by the other women in her first few months at Jyoti and is now proud to say that she has developed many skills and has become a professional seamstress.
SEETHA
SEETHA has been working in the Jyoti team since October 2021. She attended school until the 6th grade, but says that learning wasn't for her, so she spent a long time helping with work at home after that. In 2020, she completed a one-year sewing training course at Jyothi Seva Kendra's social center and is now enthusiastically learning how to work with Jyoti patterns under Shashirekha's strict quality control.
SHWETHA
SHWETHA started working for Jyoti in 2019. At that time, she was already very good at sewing and did small and large sewing jobs for friends from home. Shwetha finished school with the 10th grade and had already been married for 2 years. She is now separated again and lives with her mother and younger brother in Chittapur. Her brother is still at school and her mother works in the canteen that prepares meals for the Indian Railway. Shwetha's salary is therefore a very important part of the family's income.
BHIMBABHI
BHIMBABHI lives with two brothers, a sister and her parents in Chittapur. At 16, Bhimbabhi was married for 10 months before returning to her family. She also attended school until the 10th grade and then completed a 6-month sewing apprenticeship. With this skill, she had already completed a few small orders for her family or neighbors before she started working for Jyoti in 2019. Since she already has a lot of experience in sewing, Bhimbabhi found working for Jyoti very easy from the start.
LAXHMI
LAXHMI - the second or little Laxhmi in our team - came to Jyoti in 2019. She lives with 5 siblings and her parents and works to put money aside for herself but above all to support her family. Laxhmi completed a one-year apprenticeship as a seamstress. In the first few weeks at Jyoti, she found it particularly difficult to get used to working with patterns and measuring tape, but now she enjoys working with helpful colleagues, great familiarity with each other and the many different cuts and collections.
SANIYA
SANIYA has been part of the Jyoti family since December 2020. After her day at work at Jyoti, she studies for her college degree in the evenings and wants to continue studying afterwards. She loves designing, sewing and learning languages and would like to become even better at using computers. However, she and her father are the sole breadwinners in the family of 7, so working is her priority for now.
Team Londa, India
Our team in Londa has existed since 2016. The team is - just like the village structures - much smaller than in Chittapur and unfortunately is constantly exposed to major challenges in terms of geography and climate. The situation on the local labor market is similarly challenging, so we are very happy to be able to offer good jobs to a growing number of women in cooperation with the Indian NGO "Nava Chetana Kendra".
SMITA
SMITA was already in a sewing group in Londa a few years ago, but had to leave because she was pregnant. In January 2019, about a year after the birth of her little son, she joined Jyoti's team and is now happy to work together with the other women and thus be able to support her family financially. Sambreen describes Smita as "always laughing and talking and very lively". Smita's favourite product is the Chandrama cardigan, which she has renamed "Chandramama". This is what children in India call the moon.
PRIYA
PRIYA is a friend of the other ladies and a great lover of embroidery and is also an integral part of the Jyoti team in Londa. Her work at Jyoti makes her feel free and carefree. With her calm and level-headed nature, Priya brings a cozy atmosphere to the sewing workshop. Her favorite pieces from the Jyoti collection naturally all have something to do with embroidery. Whether it's an elephant, duck or monkey - Priya is the absolute expert here.
SHAKILA
SHAKILA always has funny stories to tell and is motivated to learn new patterns. She loves sewing our men's shirts and loves to shoot little Instagram stories for us every now and then. Since she started working for Jyoti, she has been able to afford an apartment in Londa for herself and her little daughter and recently bought a plot of land with the help of one of our subsidized, interest-free loans to build her own home. Her dream is to come to Germany with the whole team one day. :)
ARPANA
ARPANA, or Pinky and "Sweetest aunti with the sweetest chai", has been friends with Priya for many years. She really enjoys being with her existing and new friends in the sewing circle and is happy about the relaxed atmosphere in the Jyoti team. While the other ladies tend to avoid the ironing board, Arpana has turned out to be a big fan of ironing. When she's not swinging the hot iron over our fabrics, she likes to work on the Ladies Toilet Bag or the Balangir bag.
SHOBHA
SHOBHA has only known all the other women since she joined the Jyoti team, but you get the feeling that she has been friends with them for ages. Although Shobha is more of a calming influence in the team, she infects everyone with her radiant and warm smile. At work, Shobha feels free and carefree - she is very proud to be able to support her four children and her husband with her own income. Shobha especially enjoys sitting at the sewing machine when it comes to the women's toilet bag.
TEAM HYDERABAD, India
Together with the NGO "ACCESS Foundation", which has been committed to education, health and empowerment since 2016, we founded a third sewing workshop in 2021 to meet your growing demand and at the same time create more long-term, well-paid and secure jobs for women. Under the umbrella of the organization, we have put together a great team that is constantly growing and always keen on new challenges.
SABERA
SABERA joined our team in 2021, when the cooperation between Jyoti and Access began. However, she has been working at Access for four years and learned to sew there. Sabera also grew up in Hyderabad, so she is very rooted in the area and the organization. In addition to her great talent for sewing, she always has a helping hand for the rest of the team and is very much appreciated for that. Outside of work, she enjoys shopping and looks after two children at home, for whose education she saves her salary.
FOUZIA
FOUZIA has been working at Access since 2018 and with us since we started our cooperation with the organization in 2021. She is also from Hyderabad and is very good at cutting and sewing. She is also a great cook and loves good food and desserts, especially the sugar-soaked jalebi.
FARZANA
FARZANA was born in Nazamabad and later moved to Hyderabad. She has been working at Access since 2018 and is very happy with her job there. Farzana is also one of the women who became part of the Jyoti x Access team right at the beginning of 2021. Her colleagues appreciate how carefully Farzana completes all tasks from cutting to sewing to ironing. She has three children and loves traveling.
SHABAANA
SHABAANA originally comes from Gulbarga - not far from our first location in Chittapur - and moved to Hyderabad when she got married. She is an enthusiastic seamstress and has been working at Access for 3 years. Her husband supports her career choice, which is very important to Shabaana. In 2021, she and the three other women became part of the Jyoti team. Shabaaana has three children and when she is not working, she loves spending time with them and her whole family.
team Berlin, Germany
When the German team is not in India discussing new ideas with the local team or drinking chai tea with our partners in the extended value chain, they sit in our shop-studio in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. This is where they calculate, plan, pack, design and also laugh a lot.
JEANINE
JEANINE is the founder, managing director and communication line between our teams in India and Berlin. What she values about her work is precisely this personal exchange and the inspiration she can draw from it. With her background in the field of workers' rights and trade union organization, she is not only interested in the constant improvement of our own production, but also in the search for approaches that address the problems of conventional textile production in their entirety. It is therefore particularly important to her to pass on her experiences through workshops and lectures - at primary schools, universities or at public events.
CARO
CARO has been part of the Jyoti team since 2014 and is co-founder and managing director alongside Jeanine. She spends a lot of time following our textile value chain in India and is responsible for constant communication with the weavers and cooperatives. Over the years there were countless teas drunk, nerves lost and special friendships made, which (among other things) contribute to her work at Jyoti being such a personal mission. Caro also takes care of maintaining the online presence and keeps track of retail orders and Jyoti's own sales for planning the production program for our sewing workshops.
Mareike
MAREIKE studied fashion design in the Netherlands and has been making the patterns and samples for Jyoti since October 2017. We can therefore safely say that pretty much every Jyoti piece in circulation was created by her. It is particularly important to her to reduce or even completely avoid fabric waste. She loves to do puzzles with geometric pattern pieces like a tangram game in order to integrate sustainability into the design and pattern.
JENNY
JENNY is our product management ace and has been making sure that everything runs smoothly at Jyoti since 2022. With her passion for order, she not only conjures up a sparkling clean warehouse, but also a store presentation that never fails to delight our customers. Her studies in product development for fashion in Stuttgart and her experience as the former owner of the fair fashion store "Süßstoff" make her a real expert in sustainable fashion. Jenny is no stranger to the Berlin fair fashion scene: her former store was practically a neighbor of the old Jyoti store. So her paths crossed with Jeanine and Caro long before she became part of our team. This long-standing connection and the shared pursuit of fair fashion make working at Jyoti something very special for Jenny.
SVENJA
Svenja has been part of the Jyoti team since 2022 and supports us in our Berlin concept store in the areas of sales and customer advice. Svenja found her way to Jyoti through her studies in costume design and her exploration of sustainable methods of costume making. With the idea of wanting to learn more about the production of sustainable clothing in practice, her time at Jyoti began with an internship. Enthusiastic about her work, we absolutely couldn't let her go and she has become an integral part of our team.