Money alone might improve extreme poverty; economic justice requires more. When Upaya looks for companies that create dignified jobs for the poor, we evaluate questions of reliability, safety, and fundamental respect in addition to the economic benefits.
We at Upaya are devastated by the severe second wave of Covid cases sweeping across India, and remain steadfastly committed to supporting our team, our entrepreneurs, and their jobholders during these uncertain times.
Upaya is a different kind of investor. The “patient capital” we are able to provide is only possible because of the donors who provide philanthropy to us.
Upaya’s model depends on finding the right entrepreneurs to achieve our mission of fighting poverty with job creation. But finding those entrepreneurs who align with our mission is not always easy.
Why do we care so much about collecting data, evaluating the results, and sharing it? Becauseit’s extremely important to us to ensure that the families impacted by our work are in fact making their way out of extreme poverty.
Counting jobs sounds straightforward, right? Think again. Jobs come in many forms, and we need to ensure the jobs our partners create can and will lift families out of extreme poverty.
Many people who hear about Upaya try to compare our work to that of microfinance. And while the idea for Upaya’s model took shape while I was working in a microfinance institution, our model and our target demographic are quite different.