Nicky Clara, Disability Womenpreneur, Owner of Setara Berdaya Group
Jakarta, IO – In 2017, Nicky Clara embarked on a journey to empower persons with disabilities, as well as women. She met a community of persons with disabilities who were still powerless. “I built a weaving business in 2017 in Makassar that empowered people with disabilities. In 2021, we also empowered persons with disabilities in Bali. The reason I opened the business was to encourage them to be more independent, and work together as partners,” explained Nicky, who has been disabled since birth.
Nicky started her business by empowering people with disabilities in Eastern Indonesia, because the highest prevalence of persons with disabilities is not in Java but in Sulawesi. “There are many reasons, such as the vulnerability to natural disasters and their inadequate nutritional level, which is still lower than in Java,” said Nicky, who was born in 1990.
Tenoon, Nicky’s weaving business, allows her to empower women with disabilities who work as weavers and tailors in Eastern Indonesia, where seven weaving villages collaborate. In the culinary business, Nicky and her “Seraya” brand have helped people with disabilities open Seraya coffee stalls.
The culinary and woven fashion businesses Nicky pioneered are flourishing, and they can even export to other countries, thanks to her training in financial literacy. “By gaining financial literacy, I have become more aware of separating business and personal finances,” she said.
Nicky also mentors around 3,500 MSMEs, all the way across Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi, most of whom are staffed by women and persons with disabilities. However, Nicky also faces challenges, such as increasing digital and financial literacy, business legality and access to capital.
Six entities have become part of Setara Berdaya Group, including Tenoon and Seraya. Nicky conveyed that how “Berdaya” means “…to provide equal opportunities to persons with disabilities in Indonesia because all humans deserve to be empowered.
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“However, we cannot do it alone. As MSMEs, we must help each other and work together, so we can level up. Many MSMEs in Indonesia are operated by women at the micro level. I want to invite women’s MSMEs to move up to the middle level, by gaining financial literacy and business legality,” she explained.
In 2023, around 21,000 women and people with disabilities will join the Setara Berdaya ecosystem, consisting of beneficiaries and partners. “I hope people with disabilities and women will have more opportunities in professional industry, vocational industry, and digital creative because, with opportunities and trust, women and people with disabilities can be empowered,” said Nicky. (eka)