AVANI

Avani is a community-based organisation founded in 1999 by Rashmi Bharti and Rajnish Jain in the Kumaon region of the Indian Himalayas. Beginning with a solar initiative that installed 3,000 lights across 25 villages, Avani later expanded into livelihood creation through traditional weaving, appropriate technology, and farm-based interventions. Today, it supports rural women and men with local, skill-based employment through a self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable enterprise model. Guided by respect for the Earth, culture, and community, Avani combines craft revival, renewable solutions, and responsible enterprise to create meaningful opportunities in remote Himalayan villages.