One woman, one SHG, one village at a time
ARISE is a non-profit that teaches financial literacy to marginalized women, then helps them put it to work through Self-Help Groups, bank access, and small businesses. We started in rural India and now run workshops in the Philippines.
formed our first Self-Help Group, secured microloans, and launched small businesses.
Our story
ARISE stands for Action for Rural Inclusion and Socio-Economic Empowerment. We teach women who have been left out of banks, budgets, and financial decisions how to take charge of their own money.
Our founder, Rhea Jain, is a student in Singapore with roots in India. She grew up watching her mother hold on to an entrepreneurial dream that illness kept out of reach, and a conversation with a family friend, suddenly widowed and lost in finances her husband had always handled, made the mission personal. No woman should be held back by a lack of knowledge, confidence, or access.
In rural Maharashtra, that idea became our first Self-Help Group: 13 women who were guided through securing microloans and used them to launch small businesses, like tailoring and home-based food services. Their success is the model we now carry to new communities.
What we do
Every program follows the same simple model: learn together in a group, then act on it, with a budget at home, an account at the bank, or a microloan behind a new business.
Our work
What worked for one Self-Help Group in India is now being localized wherever we go: same structure, new language, new examples, local partners.
We formed a Self-Help Group of 13 rural women in Maharashtra and walked with them through the process of securing microloans. With that funding, each launched a small business, from tailoring to home-based food services, reducing their reliance on others' income.
We localized the curriculum for the Philippines and run in-person workshops with rural communities, covering financial literacy, budgeting, saving, and the first steps toward entrepreneurship.
What we teach
The ARISE team wrote its own curriculum, with a facilitator's guide, a student guide, and participatory activities that work for every literacy level. Participants complete a survey after each program so we can see what actually helped.
What financial empowerment means and why it matters for rural women, built on three pillars: knowledge, skills, and confidence.
Needs versus wants, tracking expenses, setting goals, emergency funds, and how to make a family budget that holds up.
Hands-on activities that turn the plan into practice during the first month after the workshop.
Habits and confidence that keep the progress going long after the program ends.
Where we work
ARISE grows wherever there are women to reach and volunteers to reach them.
Our first programs: a Self-Help Group, microloans, and banking access in rural Maharashtra.
In-person workshops with rural communities, using a localized version of the ARISE curriculum.
Where ARISE was founded and where the core team coordinates from.
We are adapting the program and building local partnerships to deliver it in Vietnamese.
We are looking for volunteers to bring this model to more Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and Cambodia. See how to get involved.
Videos
The team is turning what we teach into short videos on budgeting, saving, and everyday money decisions. New uploads land right here.
Follow @projectarise.global on Instagram to catch them the day they drop.
Volunteer
We are recruiting volunteers to carry the ARISE model into new countries. Volunteers receive a certificate of recognition and access to our content guide.
Lead collaborations with local microfinance institutions and NGOs.
Run financial literacy workshops in your country using the curriculum ARISE created.
Manage team operations in a designated country and drive impact on the ground.
Develop content that raises awareness, grows our community, and amplifies the mission.
Contact
Email is the fastest way to reach us, whether it is about partnerships, workshops, volunteering, or anything else.