Marketplace Literacy Project

The mission of this non-profit organization is to enable marketplace literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals through educational programs and through dissemination of educational materials to improve the practices of businesses, governments, not-for-profit organizations, and educators. Whereas microfinancing and vocational literacy have been emphasized in recent decades, our emphasis on generic consumer and entrepreneurial literacy supplements these very important efforts in the economic realm and addresses a central need.
In the US, the organization aims to disseminate educational materials to enable marketplace literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals. In a project with the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension, interviews with teachers and clients of nutrition education and observations of their interactions were used to develop educational materials that are currently being assessed in the state of Illinois. Future plans include developing educational materials that enable marketplace literacy in adult education and developing e-educational approaches to enable consumer and entrepreneurial literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals.

In India, the organization aims to provide education to enable entrepreneurial and consumer literacy among low-literate, low-income buyers and sellers. We have developed an innovative consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program for individuals with low literacy. We use a variety of methods such as picture sorting and role play to teach individuals basic concepts for being informed consumers, and for starting a very small business. Education is provided in Chennai and nearby rural areas in Tamil Nadu, India, through our local partner, Marketplace Literacy Communities (MLC Trust). Educational programs are used to evaluate and modify the curriculum and educational materials. We have documented this program in a book published by Springer in an education series in alliance with UNESCO. We are working with Marketplace Literacy Communities to scale this program through video-based means.

In the state of Tamil Nadu, we are working with Madura Micro-Finance Limited (MMFL) to enable video based self-administered marketplace literacy education to groups of women, using a movie about empowerment produced for educational purposes as an emotional platform. This Micro Business Education (MBE) program developed with Madura Micro Finance Limited is being continuously tested, modified, and assessed by our local partner, Marketplace Literacy Communities, in a number of areas in Chennai and in villages nearby.

In the state of Andhra Pradesh, working with the Byraju Foundation, we have created video-based episodes and support materials to facilitate marketplace literacy education.

Video Introduction

What is Marketplace Literacy?

Resources

Powerpoint Slides of Marketplace Literacy with Materials

"Marketplace Literacy: A Key to Unleashing Rural Consumption and Entrepreneurship" - Wall Street Journal - September 2009

Enabling Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces (Springer 2008 , In alliance with UNESCO)