08/31/2026
Hi it’s me 👋
Seven months with Executive Service Corps Southern California, and I’m walking away a better Executive Director.Not because I learned how to have all the answers. Quite the opposite actually!
I learned to ask better questions, listen harder, sit with uncertainty, make decisions with imperfect information, and keep showing up when the work feels bigger than me.
This lesson has brought me back to why I started Neococo Collective
We are a women-led social enterprise creating equitable job opportunities for displaced, refugee, and immigrant women through the art of hand embroidery and handicrafts. Rooted in community, our work connects women’s talents with meaningful, dignified employment; restoring confidence, identity, and belonging through creativity.
But Neococo was never just about design.
Design is the vehicle. The real work is about uplifting women as they rebuild their lives, reclaim their confidence, and create pathways toward economic independence including the opportunity to build businesses of their own. For generations, immigrants and the communities we serve have been the makers behind techniques, traditions and stories across borders and generations. Yet many of these same communities have become some of the people most impacted by a system built on overconsumption, low wages, and disposable labor.
That contradiction is a big part of why Neococo programs exists.
I wanted to create something different where the women making the work are not invisible at the end of the supply chain, but are recognized. Seven months later, I’m still learning but I’m clearer about why I started Neococo, what we are building, and the kind of leader I want to be - Amrita
