RootFresh Container
by Gunoboti
GreenEase Strainer
by Gunoboti
Bird'sNest
by Khaarh
Sharing the Stories of Female Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh
Voice Up & BaSE Bangladesh
Empowering the future of 5,000 Women Entrepreneurs
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The Artisans Behind the Movement
Bangladesh's Women Entrepreneurs
When tradition meets fair trade and market access, and economic justice becomes the foundation for gender equality.
One of the most powerful things Tamoso Deep learned during his Voice Up internship came from a 72-minute Zoom call with Shourove Ansari, Director of BaSE Bangladesh. It was something that changed how he understood his entire project.
"A woman who doesn't have any money at all, she is forced to cook in the kitchen all day and look after her kids," Tamoso explained during that October 19th meeting. "She might be having such a wonderful life that she is having to bear a child every year—in feminist language you call that child bearing machine. Her body collapses. She doesn't have a penny to her name.
"And then comes a woman who's an artisan, who has 5,000 taka in her hand. Her husband would think twice before doing bad things to her. At least this woman has her own money, and that means a lot."
That's when it became clear: This isn't about charity. This isn't about pity. This is about power.
And that's exactly what the women entrepreneurs featured in this chapter represent—women who took fragments of Bangladesh's ancient heritage and transformed them into economic independence, one handcrafted piece at a time.
The BaSE Bangladesh Connection: Fair Trade That Turns Tradition Into Dignified Income
Here’s what’s clear and verifiable about BaSE Bangladesh from reputable, public sources:
BaSE Bangladesh is a fair-trade-focused organization that works with marginalized artisans and producer groups across Bangladesh, with a strong emphasis on women’s economic empowerment.
BaSE supports producers through skills development, design and product development, quality assurance, and market linkages—especially access to ethical buyers and export markets for handmade goods rooted in local craft traditions.
BaSE aligns with recognized fair trade principles: fair payment, transparency, safe working conditions, respect for cultural identity, and environmental stewardship.
Put simply: BaSE Bangladesh connects traditional craft to ethical markets so artisans—many of them women—can earn steadily, safely, and with dignity.
And when Voice Up builds digital storytelling around these artisans, it complements BaSE’s work on the ground: pairing skill and heritage with purpose-driven purchasing that changes lives.
Meet the Women Behind the Work
Jannatul Ferdous: Keeper of Bengal's Soul
Bhumi Artisan isn't just a handicraft brand—it's a love letter to Bengal's 5,000-year heritage. The name itself, Bhumi, means "land" in English, and that connection to earth runs through everything Jannatul creates.
Clay pottery in Bengal traces back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which thrived from 3300 to 1300 BCE. Bengal's potters—known as Kumors or Kumbhakars—practiced pottery as a family trade, passing knowledge from one generation to the next. Though few now use earthenware pots for daily cooking, potters continue crafting them, sustaining a significant market that connects modern Bangladesh to its ancient roots.
Jannatul's brand focuses on terracotta dinnerware, clay pots, and products made from rattan, bamboo, and seagrass—all biodegradable and intimately tied to the land. Her clay pots preserve food temperature, lock in moisture, and add essential minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium to food. The earthen water bottles she creates offer a BPA-free alternative to plastic, with clay's alkaline properties removing acidity from water while providing natural cooling.
But here's what makes Bhumi Artisan part of the Voice Up movement: All products are handmade by women artisans, with the brand offering skills training and fair wages to support their financial independence. While enhancing the charm and elegance of home interiors, these handicrafts sing the song of Bengal's soul—defiant yet grounded, all at once.
When you purchase from Bhumi Artisan, you're not buying pottery. You're buying a woman's power to say no, to make choices, to protect herself.
Contact: bhumiartisan.com | sales@bhumiartisan.com | +8801950110582
Sultana: Dreaming Global from Coconut Shells
Khaarh represents everything Voice Up believes about starting where you are with what you have. Sultana launched her brand in June 2025—just months before this book went to print—working with coconut shells, gypsum, and Shital Pati, a mat woven from cane or murta plants.
Though still in early stages, Khaarh's offerings include artificial bird nests, charming soup bowls, spoons and utensils made from coconut shells, plus tissue boxes and vanity bags crafted from Shital Pati. She also produces artisan soaps using coffee, rice, carrot, and aloe vera, recently adding wooden chopping boards to her product line.
The brand uses gypsum for several products, all recyclable and biodegradable. As a purely artisan brand, Sultana dreams of entering the global market someday.
This is what Tamoso understood when he designed his Women Entrepreneurs Bangladesh project: You don't need to be established for decades to deserve a platform. You don't need massive operations to have a story worth telling. Sultana's dream of reaching global markets is exactly what Voice Up and BaSE Bangladesh can help nurture—through skills, quality, story, and ethical market access.
Every global brand started exactly where Sultana is right now—with a dream, dedication, and the courage to begin.
Contact: Facebook @khaarh | rs.cu87@gmail.com | +8801601379556
Khadeja Akter: The Happy Entrepreneur
When Khadeja Akter says she identifies as "a happy businesswoman," she's describing something profound about sustainable entrepreneurship. Her brand Swapno Kutir—which translates roughly to "Dream Cottage"—is dedicated solely to Jamdani Nakshi Jhadu, decorative brooms for cleaning beds crafted from coconut leaf stems and bound with colorful woven cane.
These aren't ordinary brooms. The decorative binding is what makes them Nakshi—a title commonly used for hand-embroidered quilts known as Nakshi Kantha. Nakshi translates to "ornamented" in English. Jamdani, a traditional fabric used in saris, is added to the name due to the gorgeous colors of the bindings.
Swapno Kutir began its journey in 2023. Due to high demand, Khadeja's monthly sales are sufficient for her own contentment. Her Jhadus are completely handmade, lightweight, and environmentally friendly—a signature handcrafted item still used in almost every household in Bangladesh, something plastic brooms couldn't replace.
Here's what makes Khadeja's story so important for the Voice Up movement: She's not chasing unsustainable growth. She's not measuring success by venture capital standards. She's building something that provides her with financial independence, preserves cultural heritage, and serves her community—all while maintaining her own wellbeing.
That's what purpose-driven business actually looks like.
Contact: Facebook @SwapnoKutir | Shopnokutirshopbd@gmail.com | +8801317627273
Malobika Dipanwita Roy: Preserving What Plastic Almost Destroyed
Gunoboti isn't just a handicraft brand—it's a lifeline for Bangladesh's traditional artisan communities whose family trade, once upon a time, was crafting items for everyday use. Decades ago, these artisans lost their market to cheap plastic. Some, including many octogenarians, still survive.
Malobika Dipanwita Roy, Gunoboti's owner and CEO, aims to preserve traditions predating Bangladesh's rapid, unplanned urbanization by reviving forgotten products that connect Bangladeshis to their roots. These include Hat Kholui, a bamboo or cane fishing pot once used by Bengal's fishers; Korai Dala Dhakon, a flat bamboo tray for washing rice and lentils or drying spices and herbs; and Khauwa Chalon, a bamboo steamer with a cane handle.
Not only the products but their names are becoming extinct, increasingly unrecognizable as Bangla words in Bangladesh—a country with a monolingual Bangla-speaking majority. Gunoboti organizes workshops where traditional weavers and makers teach younger generations to craft with rattan and other natural materials.
Despite financial challenges, Gunoboti has persevered, securing the Research for Change fund from Oxfam Bangladesh in 2024 and a finalist grant from AGIYE 2.0, organized by the Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative in 2023.
Malobika envisions cultural exchanges with other countries to learn about their heritage and create products that sustain both the environment and artisan communities worldwide facing similar struggles.
This is what Tamoso meant when he said his project was about "economic revolution disguised as storytelling." Gunoboti doesn't just sell bamboo products—it's fighting cultural extinction, environmental destruction, and economic marginalization all at once.
Contact: gunoboti.org | gunoboti.guni@gmail.com | WhatsApp: +8801886429466