D-Lab Innovators Series featuring Dr. Pradip Sarmah of Rickshaw Bank
7:00PM on Tuesday, Oct 26th @ MIT Room 3-133
Sponsored by the International Development Initiative
Please join us for an exciting opportunity to hear from a successful social entrepreneur and find out how you can get involved. Dr. Pradip Sarmah is an Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow who founded the Rickshaw Bank, an NGO that works with Indian rickshaw drivers. Over 90% of rickshaw drivers in India have to rent their rickshaws daily. Rickshaw Bank has made it possible for thousands of drivers to own their rickshaws through an asset-based micro-credit program. Dr.Sarmah is also involved in other types of vehicle-based businesses, such as vegetable and fish sales, ready-to-eat food vending, and hand-cycle-based postal kiosks to be used by disabled people to sell stamps and other services. Dr. Sarmah will share his work and discuss the challenges he faces in trying to scale up to reach the 8 million Indian rickshaws in service.
Joining Dr. Sarmah will be MIT Cycle Ventures Instructor Gwyn Jones, who will discuss how he has collaborated with Rickshaw Bank over the years. The talk, moderated by MIT Development Ventures Instructor Joost Bonsen, will be followed by Q&A and a informal reception with light refreshments. The event is open to the public. Please RSVP to d-lab@mit.edu.
For more information, please visit:
Website
Wall Street Journal Article
YouTube Video
