Namrata Bali organises urban and rural women into handicraft cooperatives in the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), where she now serves as its Director. She was the Secretary of SEWA from 2001 to 2003 and General Secretary of SEWA from 2003 to 2005. She is a member of SEWA’s Core Committee, the Editor of SEWA’s fortnightly magazine Anasooya, the Editor of the girls’ magazine Aakashganga, the Chair of the SEWA Video Cooperative, and the Director for the Radio Unit, Rudi No Radio. She has been the Director of the SEWA Academy for 21 years, which is the main centre for training, research and communications. She continues to give training on documentary work and other issues related to the informal economy, and has organised a series of Exposure Dialogue programmes for national as well as international participants. She is also the Managing Trustee of the Indian Academy for Self Employed Women, and on the Board of Trustees for the Mahila Sewa Trust, the Lokswasthya Trust and the Shram Shakti Trust. Ms. Bali specialises in textile design and studies in labour and cooperatives, and has presented papers nationally and internationally on several issues involving working class women. She is the Vice President of the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), and a member of its Executive Committee.

As a representative of SEWA / IASEW to IFWEA my main task has always been to forefront the voice of women from the informal economy and their member-based organisations, to address their educational needs and issues. I have in my position tried to build the capacities of these grassroots organisations, growing workers’ education locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. I strive for a fair and just world where we value the knowledge wisdom of the illiterate. I have strong communication and interpersonal skills as a trainer / teacher/ communicator using different ICT tools, and a passion for continued learning which I in turn share with all the participants with whom I interact in IFWEA and SEWA.