
Empowering women as agents of change can change the future for millions of Indian families living in poverty. Before Rukhashana Parveen joined Pollinate Group just over one year ago, she had never held a formal job. As a mother of two children who attend primary school, Rukhashana became interested in working with Pollinate Group to become more independent, while supporting her family. Rukhashana sells products, such as solar lights and water filters, to improve the lives of her peers living in the poorest communities in Kanpur. Even though she did not complete schooling, Rukhashana was our first agent to sell a solar fan in Kanpur and has become a consistent top sales performer in the city. Pollinate Group was formed from a merger in 2018 between the award-winning organisations Pollinate Energy in India and Empower Generation in Nepal. In India, Pollinate Group serves transient, forgotten and hard to reach communities (also known as slums) in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kanpur and Tumkur. We empower women, like Rukhashana, as agents of change. The women earn respect and income while becoming inspiring role models who raise awareness about better alternatives in their communities for cleaner energy, safe water and hygiene. To make the products Rukhashana sells affordable for customers living in extreme poverty we offer cash-based payment plans, which have a default rate of less than 2 per cent. Our customers report saving time and money as the main benefits, as well as improved health and more comfortable living conditions. We have reached more than 555,000 customers across India and Nepal and, by replacing toxic kerosene with solar light products, customers have saved $16.7 million in energy costs and more than 65,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.