Ritu Jadwani

Ritu Jadwani is a doctoral student and Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), specializing in merchandising and sustainable entrepreneurship.12 Her academic and professional work focuses on several key areas:

Academic Pursuits

Jadwani is pursuing a Ph.D. in merchandising at UNL's Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences.1 Her research interests include:

• Sustainable entrepreneurship
• Ethical fashion design
• Supporting underrepresented women in entrepreneurship
• Working with refugee women to understand their challenges in entrepreneurship

Sustainable and Ethical Fashion

Jadwani is passionate about promoting sustainable and ethical fashion practices:

• She showcased a sustainable ethical collection at Omaha Fashion Week in the emerging designer category.1
• Her designs feature hand block printed natural dyed fabrics using the "Ajrakh" technique from Gujarat, Western India, and hand-woven double ikkat fabrics from Southern India.1
• She creates contemporary looks that blend modern and traditional styles, incorporating Indian textiles and crafts.1

Social Entrepreneurship

Jadwani is the founder of Namaste NYC, an initiative that supports women in India:

• The project works with physically disabled women and victims of domestic violence and abuse.1
• It provides training in sewing and hand embroidery to help women become financially independent.1
• Namaste NYC produces handcrafted ethical accessories like scarves, clothing, and handbags, paying fair wages to the artisans.1

Awards and Recognition

Jadwani has received several accolades for her work:

• She earned the Promising Leader Award for a graduate student at UNL.3
• Jadwani was honored with the Promising Graduate Student Leader Award at the Nebraska DEI Impact Awards.45

Through her research, design work, and social entrepreneurship, Ritu Jadwani aims to promote sustainable practices in the fashion industry while supporting underrepresented women and preserving traditional crafts and textiles.1