I am founder and director of Friends of Tilonia, Inc. which takes its name from Tilonia, a small village in Rajasthan, India that is home of the Barefoot College.

The Barefoot College trains the poorest of the poor to become “Barefoot” professionals and supports them in addressing basic needs for water, electricity, housing, health, education and income within their own communities. You can see examples of their work in India and 20 other countries around the world on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/barefootcollege and on their website: www.barefootcollege.org.

Working with a team of “Barefoot” ecommerce managers, we have developed Tilonia.com to sell handcrafted home textiles produced by nearly 800 artisans in villages where the College and its affiliates operate.

I have over 20 years experience in developing new businesses and launching financial information services delivered to major financial firms. I am a member of Investors’ Circle, an angel network using private capital to promote the transition to a sustainable economy, and I mentor social enterprise start-ups at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Pratt Design Incubator.

I live in Brooklyn, NY and travel frequently to India to work with our artisan affiliates.