Meet 3 Social Impact Entrepreneurs Transforming Communities
They've proved that a profitable business can go hand in hand with social impact. Hear three entrepreneurs share in their own words how they built their businesses and why they are hopeful for the future.
Meet 3 Social Impact Entrepreneurs Transforming Communities
Meet Gogontle Basiami in Botswana, Aakriti Srivastava in India, and Celina Portillo in El Salvador. These three young social impact entrepreneurs are running impact-driven enterprises in vastly different industries and regions, yet are united by their commitment to using business for good. They create opportunities for hundreds of others, creating community transformation in ways we could never accomplish on our own.
As we close the year, we introduce you to these entrepreneurs whose businesses are giving us hope for the future.
How Aakriti Srivastava Revived a Camel Economy with Purpose
Aakriti Srivastava co-founded Bahula Naturals in May 2022 to create India’s first net-zero emissions camel milk industry. Bahula Naturals is a GOOD FOOD brand that ensures healthy, nutritious food to conscious consumers while creating sustainable livelihoods for agro-pastoralist communities. The sustainable, community-based business works with over 4,000 pastoralists across Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, producing artisanal camel milk cheeses, ghee, cookies, and other products alongside indigenous crops. Under her leadership, camel populations have increased in the regions where they operate. Many herders now earn Rs 70,000-80,000 ($820-$940 USD) monthly—the first in India to do so.
I grew up in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Following the regional norms, my parents mapped out my career early on. They wanted me to be a doctor; however, I turned out to be the odd one in the family, defying that norm to become a journalist.
Eight years ago, that decision led me to the edge of the Thar Desert. Fresh out of journalism school, I was interning with a climate-focused nonprofit that sent me to Rajasthan to document women artisans. What was meant to be a week-long stay turned into three months. This is where I discovered a pastoral community in crisis. A 2015 law prohibiting camel slaughter had devastated herder incomes, with camel prices plummeting by over 90% and populations declining by over 37%. Yet this remained the world’s most populated desert. I became curious and started researching how to help these communities from multiple angles.
After years of research, my co-founders and I launched Bahula Naturals in May 2022. The name means “plurality” in Hindi, reflecting our vision of bringing communities together. I keep my personal philosophy at the center of everything we do: if your presence in a room cannot make somebody smile, what bigger change can you bring? I believe deeply that the fundamental design of a business is how you impact other people. Unless a company is having a positive impact, it’s not a business.
Building that impact came with significant challenges. We had to set up solar-powered chilling units in remote desert locations, create entirely new sustainable supply chains from scratch, and convince pastoral families to participate in something completely new. That’s where TechnoServe made all the difference. We’re far from the mainstream markets, and they helped us get the right time and attention from major supermarket chains—not just product placement, but meaningful conversations about pastoral food systems. Their support was instrumental in helping us navigate the complexities of rural livelihoods.
Today, we work with over 4,000 agro-pastoralists to produce GOOD FOOD products from resilient regions like artisanal cheeses, ghee, cookies, and indigenous crops such as drought-resilient black wheat. We’ve installed 3,000 biogas plants and eight solar-powered chilling units. Most remarkably, camel populations have increased in our regions, and many herders now earn Rs 70,000-80,000 INR ($820-$940 USD) monthly—a pioneering feat in the Indian camel milk market.
Reflecting on 2025, I’m most proud of how my team has grown. About 98% of my team are people from the community. Where I once had to handle every business meeting and pitch, it’s now other people on the team who rise to the occasion. For 2026, my resolution is to bring more discipline to the processes and to myself and the organization. Professionally, Bahula will cross Indian borders into global markets. But my deepest mission remains to return to the 4,000 households I surveyed in the first year and hear them talk about how the challenges around camels are no longer the same. I’m learning to balance growth with purpose, delegation with vision—and that’s what 2026 is about.
How Gogontle Basiami Fights Period Poverty through Social Enterprise
Gogontle Basiami founded Bloom Sanitary Pads in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana, a former mining town that became a “ghost town” after its primary employer closed in 2013. Today, Bloom is a social enterprise that fights period poverty. It produces 250 sanitary pads per minute, supplies over 300 retailers across Botswana and South Africa, and has created 25 jobs in a community where youth employment opportunities were scarce. In 2025, Gogontle was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Africa list.
I grew up as the youngest of nine children in rural Botswana, about 45 miles from where I operate now. We studied by a kerosene lamp at night. My mother was educated only through grade seven, but she understood the value of education better than anyone I’ve ever met. Her inspiration carried me through public school and eventually to university, where I studied mechanical engineering. I had incredible support along the way—my siblings, a librarian and social studies teacher who instilled discipline, and a Peace Corps volunteer from the U.S. who taught me how to type on a computer and believed in me when I needed it most.
In 2017, during a university challenge, I identified a critical problem. The government wanted to provide sanitary pads to schoolgirls, but Botswana had no local manufacturers—only expensive imports. I saw both a problem and an opportunity. I started researching materials and production methods. I didn’t win the challenge, but I made it to the top 10, and more importantly, I had found my mission.
I deliberately chose to locate my manufacturing plant in Selebi-Phikwe. It is my hometown region, a place that had lost hope after the mines closed around 2013. I wanted to rebuild economic activity where it was needed most. Today, most of my employees are young people from this community, most of whom didn’t finish high school. As a company, we’re proving that one business can transform an entire town.
When TechnoServe approached me two years into operations, my operational efficiency was low. I did my due diligence, looked at their success stories, and decided to partner with them. That decision has been transformational. Today, we have grown our revenue by 123%. They were instrumental in helping us with record-keeping, management, and overall operational improvements. The partnership gave us the foundation we needed to scale and succeed.
This year has been incredible. Being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Africa list was an honor I never imagined. We’ve distributed thousands of pads across the country, created sustainable employment, and provided menstrual education in schools and rural communities. But what matters most to me is that we’re making a space for people to have conversations about menstrual health—breaking stigma while building livelihoods.
The impact ripples outward. We’re directly or indirectly influencing an estimated 75 people in our community. Young people who thought they had no future now have jobs, income, and dignity. Girls who were missing school because of period poverty can now stay in their classrooms.
As I look toward 2026, I remain focused on deepening that community impact and expanding Bloom’s reach. My journey proves what my mother always believed: that education and opportunity can transform lives. I was fortunate to have others—teachers, volunteers, mentors—who believed in me and gave me opportunities when I needed them most. Now, through Bloom, I’m trying to create those same opportunities for others in my community. That’s what drives me forward.
Celina Portillo’s Empowering Business for Salvadoran Mothers
Celina Portillo founded Auténtico Catering in El Salvador a decade ago, starting from her home kitchen with the mission to support mothers in all areas of their lives. Today, the company is a trusted name in corporate and social events, creating jobs for young mothers and creating what Celina calls a “domino effect” of positive impact that spreads through families and communities.
A decade ago, I was a mother in El Salvador, looking around at my community and seeing a gap. Women, especially mothers like myself, lacked support for organizing life’s celebrations. We were juggling parenthood, work, and relationships, and we needed someone who understood that. So I started cooking in my home kitchen.
I named the company Auténtico—authentic—because that’s what I believe business should be. Honest. Truthful. Reminiscent of the care that goes into home-cooked meals. But from the very beginning, this was never just about food. My mission was to help mothers in all areas of their lives, including their roles as parents, friends, and businesswomen.
Hiring and mentoring mothers is a core value of mine. Many of my staff are young mothers—women who often lack formal training but are willing to learn. Empowering women is very important to me. I don’t require experience; I require attitude. I try to be a mirror for my employees, helping them recognize their own capabilities. Teaching staff skills like cooking and scaling also improved their emotional and self-perception, empowering them to see themselves as capable cooks and potentially increasing their income. That transformation is what keeps me going.
I’ll be honest—when I first started, I lacked knowledge of how to manage a business. I was focusing heavily on service over financial health. When I participated in TechnoServe’s entrepreneurial programs, the information was overwhelming at first. But the programs provided essential tools that helped the company align and grow. The hardest lesson was delegation. Like many founders, I viewed the business as my baby. But through TechnoServe’s support, I learned that good financial health enables delegation. Learning to let go allowed the company to flourish.
The growth has been remarkable. Since we began operating in 2015, our sales have grown by 470%. At that time, my operations were just three people delivering food out of my car. Now, I employ ten people (a number that doubled from five just this year) and deliver from our two company catering vehicles. I’m so proud of the growth we have achieved together, and I know it wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of my team.
Celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2025 has been a milestone year for me. It’s the year I finally recognized my venture as a true business—not just an entrepreneurial endeavor, but a real, profitable company with happy employees whose positive impact spreads into families and communities. The ripple effect extends outward, in what I describe as a domino effect, to employees’ families and broader society.
Looking toward 2026, I’m seeking a year of balance. Balance between work and free time for myself and my staff, many of whom are mothers. I want to continue helping other entrepreneurs develop businesses with meaning beyond just profit. My vision honors where I started—a mother building something meaningful from her kitchen—while recognizing how far authentic care can reach. As I move into my second decade, I’m committed to continuing to empower mothers and build community across El Salvador.
The Ripple Effect of Social Impact Entrepreneurs
Aakriti, Gogontle, and Celina’s social entrepreneurship stories demonstrate how targeted support can unlock entrepreneurial potential. Through training, partnership, and access to markets, these entrepreneurs are not only building successful enterprises but also creating a ripple effect across entire communities. Their journeys reflect what’s possible when determination meets the right support: sustainable impact, stronger communities, and pathways to lasting change.
