11 Young Global Leaders from India

5. Adarsh Kumar

CEO of Livelihoods Equity Connect (LEC), Adarsh Kumar graduated from in Economics from Georgetown University, Washington. He then returned to India and worked on a number of development issues and later, he led the integrated rural development program of Urmul in 13 villages in Rajasthan. He later enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government and once again returned to his home country in 2000. Upon realizing that the highly skilled Indian craftsmen were severely undervalued while those from Australia and Italy were earning great money, he founded All India Artisans and Craftworkers Association (AIACA) to increase market access and enhance incomes of craft producers in India. While working with AIACA, Adarsh has been developing and field testing the concepts that went in to the foundation of LEC, which  helps businesses owned by or employing low-income producers to become commercially successful companies through the creation of a venture capital fund that will invest in these micro-entrepreneurs.