Today marks the end of the first week of my Leadership in Action project: CraftHER. Since arriving into Kochi airport on Tuesday, the week has been a whirlwind of experiences. I am part of the CraftHER 2026 cohort which is the third annual iteration of this central LiA programme which gives a group of Laidlaw scholars the chance to explore the meaning and reality of female empowerment for female artisans in Kerala, India. Over the next six weeks we are going to be working alongside craftswomen from four different organisations to learn about their professions and to collaborate on the development of their businesses via mini-consulting projects.
The first week was set aside for acclimatisation and induction by the programme organisers Asha (the founder of SWARA: Voice of Women social enterprise), Durga and Preetha. Throughout this week, myself and the other five Laidlaw scholars who are part of CraftHER 2026 have been spending lots of time getting to know our surroundings (including a walking tour of the historical Fort Kochi district as well as boat tour excursion of the backwaters), our programme leaders, our brief, each other, and also, ourselves.
On both Wednesday and Friday we participated in a variety of presentation session and workshops which comprehensively introduced us to all the aspects of our LiA programme and also offered lots of time for both team-building and reflection.
The team-building workshops allowed me to connect on a much deeper level with my other scholars. The ‘river-of-life’ activity in particular, in which we had to create a river which represented the major events which had shaped our lives, was a really powerful tool in this. The honesty and vulnerability required for presenting our rivers to the rest of the group was crucial in growing a sense of trust and familiarity which has continued to grow since that first day and which will prove invaluable in allowing us to work as a team on the mini-consulting projects.
On the other hand, in the programme-based induction sessions, we were encouraged to set general goals related to our approach to the programme as well as incremental goals for the personal projects that we are required to undertake as part of the programme alongside the mini-consulting projects. Our learning in these classroom based sessions was complemented by the time spent ‘out in the field’ namely at a local non-profit called ‘Save the Loom’ which exclusively endorses handmade clothing and other products from artisans based in Kerala or other regions across India. The founder, Ramesh Menon, delivered an extremely thought-provoking talk about the decline of handicrafts within India and his role in fighting against this and instead championing sustainable fashion which he presented as a restorative antidote to fast fashion and consumerism.
His words were very moving, and inspired me not only to think about my own environmental impact but to make a speech at our ’Take the Mic’ workshop on Friday evening pledging to live much more eco-consciously and encouraging others to do the same in line with the arguments that Ramesh himself had made. An anecdote he shared, which illuminated the dismissal and distaste of handicrafts among the younger generation in India - one of the contributing factors to their decline - was equally enlightening. It opened my eyes to the complexity of the struggles faced by the female artisans whom I will be meeting, working with and consulting for over the following weeks. Most directly, it forced me to rethink my initial idea for my personal project, which intended to present the elder generation of craftswomen as feminist role models to young women and girls. My idea presupposed the dynamics between the former and the latter and, whilst not wholly indicative, the anecdote Ramesh acted was a reality-check for me. Ramesh’s deep understanding of artisanal crafts in Kerala made me realise how little I knew. Moreover, I realised that if I hoped to make any impact or offer any meaningful suggestions for the development of the organisations within this domain then I would have to learn everything I could from the craftswomen I will be meeting over the next six weeks.
In this way, during my first week I have gained a wealth of insight into my fellow scholars, the culture in Kerala and indeed myself. It feels like I have learned so much, from the Malayalam word for thank you to one of the scholar’s spirit animal. However, the main thing I’ve learned is that I must go into the next weeks with the mindset of ‘unlearning’. In order to gain an understanding of the experiences of the women I will be meeting and the processes which make up the functioning of the various organisations I need to leave any preconceptions at the door. As a consultant, I must, in the words of my friend Abi, ‘be a sponge’. I must prepare to soak up everything I see and hear and then ask discerning questions about it before jumping to conclusions and going about making suggestions about something on which I have misunderstood. This is how I am going into my week at the Forest Post organisation, which consists the first mini-consulting project of the programme. Perhaps ‘be a sponge’ can be not only my mantra but that of our scholarly team which I have the pleasure of heading-up this week as ‘Group Leader’. It promises to be an incredible experience and, given my brilliant and revelatory induction week, I can’t wait to see what lies in store!!