About
Click here for a downloadable version of our company vision and story
Vision
Maya aims to educate and empower women from all walks of life in Bangladesh.
Using the web as the starting point, Maya will be the catalyst that will encourage women to share health specific knowledge and experiences and form an engaged community, thus helping raise awareness of womens’ issues.
The Maya Story
Maya is founded by Ivy Huq Russell, a former investment banker based in London and mother to a 2 year old daughter, Ameena.
Ivy grew up in Bangladesh before moving to the UK for university and her career. When she was pregnant with Ameena Ivy quickly realised the importance of being able to access information about her pregnancy and health in general. In London, Ivy was made aware of multiple online resources that gave her a mix of factual information as well as connections with other women going through similar situations.
Ivy felt that women in Bangladesh should be able to get a hold of this kind of information and share their experiences in a way that is tailored for the nuances of life in Bangladesh, and the idea for Maya was born. Maya is named after Ivy’s mother who recovered from breast cancer in 2009.
Why Maya
Women in Bangladesh, whether in rural or urban areas, simply do not have access to quality information that will help them make the best choice with regards to their health. Access to information resources to do with maternity and child health are even more pertinent. Moreover, women in Bangladesh find it difficult to get advice about their health beyond their family.
As a result, Bangladeshi women are not always aware of what his happening with their health and the options that are available to them. Even when they do get advice from family or medical practitioners, the information they receive is not always of the highest quality and may not cover all the areas that are required. Finally, women do not have a platform where they can share their opinions and experiences freely.
Vision
Maya aims to educate and empower women from all walks of life in Bangladesh.
Using the web as the starting point, Maya will be the catalyst that will encourage women to share health specific knowledge and experiences and form an engaged community, thus helping raise awareness of womens’ issues.
The Maya Story
Maya is founded by Ivy Huq Russell, a former investment banker based in London and mother to a 2 year old daughter, Ameena.
Ivy grew up in Bangladesh before moving to the UK for university and her career. When she was pregnant with Ameena Ivy quickly realised the importance of being able to access information about her pregnancy and health in general. In London, Ivy was made aware of multiple online resources that gave her a mix of factual information as well as connections with other women going through similar situations.
Ivy felt that women in Bangladesh should be able to get a hold of this kind of information and share their experiences in a way that is tailored for the nuances of life in Bangladesh, and the idea for Maya was born. Maya is named after Ivy’s mother who recovered from breast cancer in 2009.
Why Maya
Women in Bangladesh, whether in rural or urban areas, simply do not have access to quality information that will help them make the best choice with regards to their health. Access to information resources to do with maternity and child health are even more pertinent. Moreover, women in Bangladesh find it difficult to get advice about their health beyond their family.
As a result, Bangladeshi women are not always aware of what his happening with their health and the options that are available to them. Even when they do get advice from family or medical practitioners, the information they receive is not always of the highest quality and may not cover all the areas that are required. Finally, women do not have a platform where they can share their opinions and experiences freely.
Maternity Facts:
- 3.5m births each year in Bangladesh (World Bank, 2008)
- 22% of all births in Bangladesh are to women under 24 (USAID 2006)
- 33% of women 15-19 are mothers or are pregnant. Legal marriage age in Bangladesh is 18 (World Bank, 2007)
- 51% of all pregnant women receive prenatal care (World Bank, 2008)
- 18% of births are attended by a skilled birth attendant (World Bank, 2008)
- 600,000 had maternal complications, only 32% sought help (USAID 2006)
- 12,000 women die each year at birth (World Bank, 2007)
Maya aims to address these highly important issues and aims to reach women both online and offline, ultimately achieving 3 things:
- Raise awareness
- Make high quality information accessible
- Connect women with support, services and each other
Maya Believes in 3 Core Principles
The Popularisation of Science:
The Maya website contains extensive information on womens’ health obtained through partnership with one of the world’s most reputed and trusted sources, UK National Health Service (NHS). The content will be provided in English and translated across the board into Bangla. The Maya team will also be dedicated to continually generating further quality content for its users by sourcing from other quality content providers, commissioning bespoke articles and inviting contributions from experts and prominent women
Building a Community:
Maya will bring together women with access to the internet to form Bangladesh’s first dedicated
female community online. By engaging users with an array of tools and resources, Maya will encourage them to share their experiences and opinions on the site, thus creating a platform for women to learn from one and other.
Breaking the Digital Divide:
Maya will benefit the wider population by leveraging the web platform to join together the many localised, siloed initiatives to do with women and in particular, maternal health. In turn, we believe that Maya will empower women from all walks of life by providing them with access to not only information but a community. This will help raise the profile of important issues, such as localised problems, and give women a collective voice when influencing institutions and government bodies on women specific initiatives.
Maya is Akin to a Social Enterprise
We believe in the benefits of running a ‘for-profit’ organization, although our overarching aim is not the pursuit of profits. While we want Maya to be profitable so as to be self sustainable, our aim is to manage Maya by focusing on serving our user community and giving them the best experience possible.
The Maya Team
Ivy H. Russell, Founder and Managing Director
Tirana Khan, Product Manager
Sonali Sharmin, Operations Associate
Muhammad Nazimuddaula, User Experience Designer
Rezaur Rahman, Web Developer
With special thanks to Rifat Nabi and Ayub Shahriar at G&R, Mujtaba Morshed from U of T.
Advisors:
Sayeeda Rahman, UNESCO
Dr Siham Sudderuddin, Great Ormond Street Hospital
Bibi Russell, Fashion Entrepreneur and UN Special Envoy
Eva Keogan, British Mummy Blogger (nixdminx.com)
Click here for a downloadable version of our company vision and story
Building a Community:
Maya will bring together women with access to the internet to form Bangladesh’s first dedicated
female community online. By engaging users with an array of tools and resources, Maya will encourage them to share their experiences and opinions on the site, thus creating a platform for women to learn from one and other.
Breaking the Digital Divide:
Maya will benefit the wider population by leveraging the web platform to join together the many localised, siloed initiatives to do with women and in particular, maternal health. In turn, we believe that Maya will empower women from all walks of life by providing them with access to not only information but a community. This will help raise the profile of important issues, such as localised problems, and give women a collective voice when influencing institutions and government bodies on women specific initiatives.
Maya is Akin to a Social Enterprise
We believe in the benefits of running a ‘for-profit’ organization, although our overarching aim is not the pursuit of profits. While we want Maya to be profitable so as to be self sustainable, our aim is to manage Maya by focusing on serving our user community and giving them the best experience possible.
The Maya Team
Ivy H. Russell, Founder and Managing Director
Tirana Khan, Product Manager
Sonali Sharmin, Operations Associate
Muhammad Nazimuddaula, User Experience Designer
Rezaur Rahman, Web Developer
With special thanks to Rifat Nabi and Ayub Shahriar at G&R, Mujtaba Morshed from U of T.
Advisors:
Sayeeda Rahman, UNESCO
Dr Siham Sudderuddin, Great Ormond Street Hospital
Bibi Russell, Fashion Entrepreneur and UN Special Envoy
Eva Keogan, British Mummy Blogger (nixdminx.com)
Click here for a downloadable version of our company vision and story
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Last reviewed: Thu, Aug 18th 2011, 15:18
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