NSRCEL-incubated Mitti Café proves disability can be turned into capability
17 OCTOBER, 2019: Mitti Cafe, as a part of its livelihood development initiative for the economic independence and dignity of persons with disability, provides training, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for adults with intellectual, physical and multiple disabilities through the creation of training cafes within institutional spaces.
Mitti Café is incubated at NSRCEL, the innovation and entrepreneurial development hub at IIM Bangalore, through the Social Cohort program and has received grant support from the Ford Foundation. Twenty-four-year-old Alina Alam started Mitti Café two years ago. She says, “While the grant support fuelled and accelerated research and development at Mitti, the collaborations with a fantastic pool of mentors, start-up founders and experts, through the NSRCEL network, immensely benefited us develop and implement disability-friendly workspace design, standardized menus, and customized equipment in our cafes.”
Today, there are nine Mitti cafes empowering 61+ adults with disabilities within organizations like Infosys, IQVIA, ANZ, JP Morgan, etc.
During this short span of time, Alina and Mitti Café have won awards like the Rotary Exemplar Award, Microsoft Nipman Foundation Award, Tiecon Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Promising Social Enterprise Award from Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi, Best CSR Initiative at the Annual Restaurant Congress Awards, Emerge India Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Samvida Social Enterprise Competition, Janhit Jagran Award in the field of poverty alleviation, and more.
This year, Mitti Café is spreading its wings in Hyderabad and Kolkata.
NSRCEL-incubated Mitti Café proves disability can be turned into capability
17 OCTOBER, 2019: Mitti Cafe, as a part of its livelihood development initiative for the economic independence and dignity of persons with disability, provides training, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for adults with intellectual, physical and multiple disabilities through the creation of training cafes within institutional spaces.
Mitti Café is incubated at NSRCEL, the innovation and entrepreneurial development hub at IIM Bangalore, through the Social Cohort program and has received grant support from the Ford Foundation. Twenty-four-year-old Alina Alam started Mitti Café two years ago. She says, “While the grant support fuelled and accelerated research and development at Mitti, the collaborations with a fantastic pool of mentors, start-up founders and experts, through the NSRCEL network, immensely benefited us develop and implement disability-friendly workspace design, standardized menus, and customized equipment in our cafes.”
Today, there are nine Mitti cafes empowering 61+ adults with disabilities within organizations like Infosys, IQVIA, ANZ, JP Morgan, etc.
During this short span of time, Alina and Mitti Café have won awards like the Rotary Exemplar Award, Microsoft Nipman Foundation Award, Tiecon Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Promising Social Enterprise Award from Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi, Best CSR Initiative at the Annual Restaurant Congress Awards, Emerge India Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Samvida Social Enterprise Competition, Janhit Jagran Award in the field of poverty alleviation, and more.
This year, Mitti Café is spreading its wings in Hyderabad and Kolkata.