Atma Connect is excited to embark on a 24-month program to improve digital literacy and economic opportunity for women entrepreneurs in Indonesia via a new grant from the Internet Society Foundation (ISF).
The work will be done under the ISF’s Strengthening Communities / Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) grant program.
“We’re glad to partner for the first time with the Internet Society Foundation and we share a vision of working towards, as the ISF says, ‘an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet for everyone,’ “ said Aisyah Gunung, Atma Connect’s Head of Product.
“Our training and facilitation will support women entrepreneurs in Indonesia to use the internet and digital tools to grow their businesses, increase economic independence, and create sustainable income sources for themselves and their families,” said Meena Palaniappan, CEO, Atma Connect.
The training will take place in person and through a series of online events and begins immediately. Atma has begun working with women small business owners in Serang Region (Serang District and Serang City) in Banten Province, west of Jakarta. While Banten overall is a province that lacks high levels of digital literacy it was among the earliest and most active areas using Atma’s AtmaGo mobile app, first launched for disaster resilience.
The communities include groups of mothers who are also housewives, farmers, and farm laborers who, in their daily lives, cannot meet the daily needs of their families even though their husbands have income too. They mainly produce foods and snacks from local ingredients like cassava, banana, jengkol, nuts, and coffee beans. They also make bamboo-based craft products and plaited plastic turned into bags and containers.
“We’re excited to design a program that combines basic entrepreneurship, digital literacy, and digital utilization with local women in the community,” said Alfan Kasdar, Atma’s Field Director.
About Atma Connect
Atma Connect is an award-winning global nonprofit technology organization that creates platforms to connect people so they can report problems, share solutions, and improve their communities from the ground up. Atma’s theory of change is that people who live in low-income communities are resourceful and ingenious, and connecting them with one another will multiply their strengths. Atma and our mobile app, AtmaGo, have reached over 12 million people, and we have won international recognition for the importance of our work. Numerous awards including the Zurich Innovation Award, Tech for Good’s Startup Weekend, the IDEO/Amplify Urban Resilience Challenge, and the Global Resilience Partnership Innovation Challenge, and Atma is a Vanguard member of the Million Lives Collective, recognizing innovations that have improved the lives of over 1 million people living on less than $5 per day. For more information, visit atmaconnect.org.