Devotion Through Social Action
Bhakti Chai founder’s mission: ‘Passion is in social movement.’
Bhakti Chai
bhaktichai.com
Specialty: Fair Trade Certified Black Tea
Mission: Support for Global Organizations for Women and Girls
Bhakti Chai founder and CEO Brook Eddy visited India in 2002 to learn more about a movement based on “bhakti” (devotion through social action). While there, she recognized a need to promote education and economic empowerment for women and young girls in the region. Upon her return to the states, Brook combined her passion for social action with her love of the spicy Indian chai she’d fallen in love with on her travels into a successful tea enterprise.
Through Eddy’s efforts, and in keeping with the philosophy of “bhakti”, the company has infused charitable work into their business plan from the very beginning. Bhakti Chai allocates a percentage of annual revenue to organizations that work to empower women and girls, including Global Grass Roots, Girls Education International, and Urgent Action Fund.
We spoke with Eddy to discuss what drives their mission—and how they encourage others to follow their lead.
TM: Most tea companies focus on supporting environmental causes globally which is a major concern. Your social focus is a bit different—empowering women and girls on a global scale through human rights, education, employment and more. How did this cause motivate you to launching Bhakti Chai?
Brook: My background is in social policies–not really brewing or selling tea! I learned about chai in India while studying bhakti, which is a belief based on social action. I wanted to start the company to bring something fresh and healthy to people, but also have it mission-driven.
Empowerment is the best resource someone can be offered, to be able to help create generations of successful women through education and reinvestment in their communities. I was aware of UN research that was done on world-backing for investments such as our cause. As a [female]entrepreneur and a single mom with no money, I wanted to help women in other countries accomplish it.
We really had no money to start a giving program; our company started small, but now I can encourage other companies to do what we are doing! Companies can give slowly, say even $100 a month, then progress. We integrated our contributions into our operating budget, and now we can say, “Wow, we made a real impact on these organizations for women and girls”.
TM: What’s lacking for support to aid women and children in countries that don’t have good track records on human rights?
Brook: Women and girls’ programs are often just not funded. Most organizations are formed to aid funding the education for boys. There are issues with human rights, sex trafficking and abuse, but it’s also economic. Our cause helps girls to get an education, which makes them more likely to educate their daughters to in stay in school, and possibly even start their own little businesses. Education teaches them to be healthy, use birth control and have children later in life—that has such a huge effect on this population.
TM: Talk about the Living Your Bhakti Grant.
Brook: We partnered with the Off the Mat Into the World organization, whose mission is [incorporating]the ideals of yoga into the world to help with social change. They train their leaders to start non-profits based on their “bhakti” (their personal devotion). We just recently provided our first grant and we plan to do one every year. The amount of money might not seem a lot—$2,500—but for a non-profit it can be just enough to launch an initial business and find partners to work with. It helps others open the door.
This year our grantee was World Muse, (http://theworldmuse.org/), a social change movement inspired by and for women and girls. Their mission is to connect women to their own personal source of inspiration and help cultivate the necessary resources, tools, and networks to turn that inspiration into activation. We also regularly support the Global Fund for Women and the Global Education Fund.
For us, the main thing is that our mission was truly authentic from the beginning and not an afterthought! Bhakti Chai was built on these ideals; we just didn’t decide five years in to start doing this. Bhakti means devotion through social action, and we led with that. We feel we’re not just talking the talk, we are living it, and it comes through in our contributions to amazing organizations and the way our company runs.
TM: What nonprofit or social movements does Bhatki Chai support?
Brook: I particularly resonate with any movement that works to empower and educate women and girls including nonprofits such as: Urgent Action Fund (urgentactionfund.org) ; Global Fund for Women (www.globalfundforwomen.org); The White House Project (now closed); The Girl Effect (www.girleffect.org), and World Pulse (worldpulse.com), a global network dedicated to bringing the voices, stories, struggles, and triumphs of women and girls around the world to the med
