Ammina Bibi

Indian social entrepreneur who established Asia's first women-led textile cooperative empowering rural workers

Ammina Bibi (1905-1987) was a visionary social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu, India, who founded the Thozhilalar Koodam (Workers' Cooperative) in 1943 - the first women-led textile cooperative in Asia. Born into a marginalized weaver family, she witnessed the exploitation of rural artisans and dedicated her life to economic empowerment through collective ownership. The cooperative provided fair wages, training in modern weaving techniques, and access to global markets, transforming the lives of over 5,000 women workers by the 1960s. Ammina pioneered microfinance models decades before the term existed, establishing revolving funds to help members start their own businesses. Her work inspired similar cooperatives across South India and earned her the Padma Shri award in 1968. Today, the cooperative continues as Thozhilalar Koodam, preserving traditional crafts while adapting to modern markets. Her legacy is chronicled in Wikipedia and the documentary Weaving Freedom (2015). Ammina's model of combining fair trade principles with cooperative economics remains a blueprint for sustainable development in artisan communities worldwide.