Our Purpose
Women the world over want the best for their family – they aspire to send their children to the best school, to wear nice clothes, and to have a fridge to keep their food fresh. Panchee strives to bridge the gap of inequality and bring more focus to the lives of disadvantaged women and help them achieve their dreams. Panchee aims to bring to the forefront the challenges that women with less privileged face and show how a small, consistent monthly contribution made by all of us can empower & impact a woman’s life & family significantly!
When women support each other, incredible things happen!
Panchee was formed by a group of passionate women with a mission to empower women in poverty. Guided with the belief that every living being in this universe is connected to each other by an invisible force, Panchee was born!
The main purpose is to support women who lack access to resources and deserve the same opportunity to explore dreams and aspirations like the women of Panchee.
How does Panchee do this?
Panchee facilitates women groups in various parts of the city, where women get together to socialize and at the same time come together with the purpose of supporting and empowering women by helping them find sustainable solutions.
Panchee was founded in Bangalore, India and has several chapters around the city. Each chapter has ~25 to 30 women members. Members take turns to host the monthly meet in their houses, usually on a set day of the month that works for that individual chapter. The hostess plans the evening which includes a speaker for the get together. Some of the speakers have included:
Pavithra Muddaya from Vimor which dedicates itself to reviving, innovating and documenting traditional handloom saree motifs and their weaves.
Brinda Adige Director of Global Concerns India and Equal Rights Activist
Add some more?
The magic of the evening is also about the women coming dressed up in different weaves and colors – the dress code being sarees! The evening ends with everyone sitting around a table of lovely home cooked meal. Simplicity is encouraged and warm conversations are about the impact created with the loans given.
The monthly collection from each chapter is sent to Panchee’s lending partners Vana Siri Rural Development Society an NGO based in Rannebennur, North Karnataka and Rangde, based out of Bangalore. These lending partners send Panchee the list of women looking for loans. From this list the Panchee team selects women based on various factors who will benefit from these loans.
The loans are mainly used for livelihood ie setting up micro enterprises like a small tea shop, a kirana store, a flour mill, buy a sewing machine for tailoring jobs, purchase a cow for milk sale, buy a goat to resell it for twice the price after feeding it well for 6 months etc. These women pay back the loans from the proceeds of the businesses.
Panchee is always on the lookout for like-minded, empowered & passionate women to join them. Our success story lies in the scale of impact we can create by enabling women in poverty to improve quality of life for their families.
Panchee is reaching out to women all over Bangalore to make a difference to the lives of women one at a time. One small action can make a big difference to our sisters in need!
Trustees and Office Bearers
The core Panchee team is made up of women from various walks of life, bound together with the sole objective of helping the women in rural India prosper.
Anuradha Sarin Trustee and co-founder
Jyoti Rao Trustee and co-founder
Dr. Minati Misra Ambarish Trustee and co-founder
Pratibha Pant Trustee and co-founder
Viraja Shankarm Trustee
