Surekha Kulkarni, founder of the nonprofit Beaded Treasures Project (BTP), is a social entrepreneur, jewelry artist, and award-winning advocate for disadvantaged women in the community.  She serves as the Executive Director without any compensation and proceeds of sale of her jewelry are entirely donated to the Project.

Kulkarni’s work has generated national and local attention.  She has been featured in the Family Circle Magazine as well as several local tv stations, radio and print publications. She has received numerous highly competitive awards including the *WLKY Bell Award (2016), *Volunteer of the Year by Volunteers of America (2016), * Pyramid Award of Excellence for Social Innovation by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (2016), *Women of Distinction by Center for Women and Families (2017), and *Daughters of Greatness by the Muhammad Ali Center (2017).

The Beaded Treasures Project which started in 2012 as a small group of 10 refugee women working to complete a single retail project, has grown under Kulkarni’s leadership into a full-fledged female driven entrepreneurial enterprise, has trained over 250 women and has a limitless capacity to grow.  The program provides disadvantaged women in Metro Louisville with tools and resources to overcome barriers to success.  Using a microcredit approach to entrepreneurship, BTP trains women in jewelry making and other home-based skills as well as basic financial literacy to build self-confidence and promote economic self-sufficiency.  The objective is not merely to learn a crafting skill but to use art making as a medium of empowerment. 

“I want to be a part of the transformation in the lives of the women we serve.  Transformation from:

Diffident to confident.  

Dependent to Independent.  

Helpless to Empowered

That’s what keeps me going.”