Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Berg.
Hi Ryan, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
While en route to South Asia for a work trip I learned of twelve children being freed from a brothel. I had no idea sex trafficking existed. In the margins of the work trip, I wanted to learn more to see if there was anything I could do to help bring change. I was not prepared. I found a brothel. Entered the dark corridor and was struck with the smell of stale urine and rats resting in leisure. As I started up the steps, I could hear the sound of abuse. At the top of the stairs, it opened to a musty hallway with women lined up next to small closet-sized rooms with little more than a mattress and pull curtain. I had never seen trafficking face to face. I was devastated. I left that brothel but was determined to return to help create a pathway to freedom.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have a vertically integrated model that frees women from human trafficking, helps them heal from their trauma, equips them with employable skills, then offers them full-time employment and housing. Every step of the way has been layered with challenge after challenge.
We’ve been impressed with Aruna Project, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Aruna is an impact-driven athleisure brand creating lifelong freedom for survivors of human trafficking. By combining the best of nonprofit and business we envision a day when every woman is free to choose her own adventure.
Through our Training Centers is some of the most dense human trafficking environments, we create a pathway to freedom through equipping women with financially incentivized skill & trade development and trauma care & counseling.
Once freed, she enters into transitional housing leading to independent living and is offered employment in our Freedom Business where she earns a competitive wage, retirement savings, access to health care, ongoing individualized counseling all in a community of care with a sisterhood of others who have overcome.
All Aruna functional luxury bags and accessories are handcrafted by the Artisans using eco-friendly fabric and trims with a story-telling interior print showcasing the Artisan’s names. Not only is the product exceptionally functional and stylish, it has incredible personal impact.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was very curious, tirelessly competitive, and deeply compassionate.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@arunaproject.com
- Website: arunaproject.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/arunaproject
