Jones was inspired by a project in an MSLOC course called "How do we take the MSLOC program global?" She says, "During the process of going through that project, I decided I needed to make sure I was prepared to work in a global economy upon graduation from the program, and the best way I learn is through experience."

The Jodphur training center teaches women skills that can be conducted in the home such as beautician work, henna, tailoring and embroidery. "As part of the culture, family traditions, and dowry agreements in conservative Rajasthan (the state in which Jodhpur is located) many women cannot work outside of the home because work would interfere with household duties. Yet the mainly Muslim community the center serves is a poor one," notes Jones.

By starting with an organizational needs assessment, Jones learned that while the training center did a good job of teaching income-generating skills, the students lacked business and networking skills. "I worked with the women on social networking skills and created a professional bio for each woman to be inserted into a portfolio showcasing her work," says Jones.

Jones won a worldwide Foundation for Sustainable Development grant competition that funded her second project - to conduct an embroidery camp for women who could not afford the training center's fees. The six-day embroidery camp she implemented also included a competition where women could win sewing machines. Finally, it provided women with materials for continuing their embroidery work and gave them contacts with people in the textile industry. "Overall, the embroidery camp was the most successful and fulfilling project I worked on with Sambal Sansthan," she says.

A third project, done at the request of the organization's head, involved assessing the impact of receiving microloans on the villages surrounding Jodhpur. She found the most impact was made in villages where women received the loans using the Self-Help Group (SHG) model, and she recommended wider use. This model involves groups of 10 women, led by a leader, assistant and accountant, working together on overseeing the use of the loans and supporting each other to pay back the loans.

Now back in the United States and continuing her MSLOC studies, Jones is beginning a capstone project where she is looking at corporate social responsibility. She would like to understand expectations that organizations have for developing responsibility in their people through participation in responsible leadership development programs. "I am trying to uncover what competencies they hope to develop in their future leaders as a result of their participation in these programs, and the methodologies they are utilizing to teach the corresponding skills. Finally, I'd like to understand how effective the methodologies for teaching ‘responsible skills' are," she notes.

Like many students in the MSLOC program, Jones continues to be concerned about how to help organizations make world a better place.

Photos: (Top) Women attend a class at the Sambal Sansthan training center in Jodphur, India, where Kate Jones (bottom photo) did her internship.