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Kristin Kagetsu

2023 Fellow

Co-Founder and CEO, Saathi

Kristin Kagetsu
India

Kristin Kagetsu is one of the co-founders and CEO of Saathi, a social enterprise in India dedicated to providing a sustainable solution for menstrual hygiene to women and girls. Saathi developed biodegradable and compostable sanitary pads from banana fiber and recently has created a new plastic avoidance program. Saathi measures its impact according to 9 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: increasing income for farmers, employing women, providing access to pads and education around them, measuring the plastic waste eliminated and CO2 emissions reduced. Kristin has a passion for sustainable manufacturing and women’s issues. As an undergraduate, she worked on multiple projects including plastic bottle recycling, waste management, and natural product development with the MIT Design Lab (D-Lab) in Brazil, Nicaragua, and India. Her first product launch was of a set of natural dye crayons that she developed with an NGO in Uttarakhand where she fell in love with India. Kristin also volunteered with the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), to structure and expand the national collegiate team to better support over 60 collegiate chapters, as well as to develop SASE leadership in the Northeast. Since its founding, Saathi has been recognized globally by Time Magazine, Fast Company, UN Environment Program, UNIDO, Allure, Vogue and others, for its social impact, innovation and sustainability. She is an MIT DLab ScaleUps Fellow, Asia Game Changer Awardee, Global Citizen Awardee, Asia Society Young Leader, TEDx speaker, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Fellow, Cartier Women’s Initiative Finalist, and recognized by the Indian Department of MSME. 

 

What Kristin can offer other fellows: 

Kristin can offer her knowledge on hiring and training interns, share programs Saathi has participated in that have helped them, provide insight on finding your why and share her knowledge of problem solving/systems thinking. 

 

Connect with Kristin on social media: 

Business website: www.saathipads.com 

Business LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/saathipads/ 

Personal LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/saathipads/ 

Business Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaathiPads/ 

Business Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaathiPads 

Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saathipads/ 

Business YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SaathiPads