Bridging health and education, the nutritive way

Meet our alumnus Uma Maheswari, founder of We-Mana, a social enterprise, inclined towards seeing an expanded awareness about nutrition.

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How often do we connect health and nutrition with education? Uma Maheswari did connect the three and founded a social enterprise with a commitment to help individuals and communities realise the significance of a right understanding of health, food, and nutrition. Uma is a social entrepreneur, a student, an educator, and a teacher. Armed with nearly 20 years of experience in the social space, she founded We-Mana Nutrition.

We-Mana’s nutrition bars are all-natural, vegetarian, ready-to-eat bars made from ragi, soya, peanut, jaggery, cardamom, and dates brought together in a very affordable package. These health bars were ideated in my kitchen, new recipes of bars were tried, hand moulded, and perfected here. Gradually, We-mana moved out of the kitchen, was registered, and grew commercially. 

Today, there are many partner NGOs for children, homes for elderly and women with special needs who regularly order these bars from us. We-Mana products are available at 35 stores across Bangalore. During the pandemic, We-mana bars were distributed to help frontline workers; and funds were raised to provide these bars to more and more people. Over time the demand grew to more than 20,000 bars. Qualitative feedback from teachers and caretakers and awards and accolades keep coming my way as I keep moving ahead one step at a time.

Start from where you are, don’t let your limitations stop you from pursuing your passion and don’t hesitate to partner, collaborate, and get like-minded people along. Never give up! It’s not easy but passion and desire should prevail.”

Uma Maheswari did her M.A. Development in 2012 – 14