Tina Eckert
Founder and Managing Director of Karmalaya
Categories: Alumni, Social Entrepreneurs
***Alumna of the Ashoka Visionary Program (CEE) 2020/21***
Tina, born in 1982 in Salzburg, is the founder and managing director of the award-winning social travel enterprise Karmalaya heart work & soul travel.
She studied communication science at the university in Salzburg and finished her studies in 2008 with a diploma thesis about travel tourism – as she also was also working as a travel journalist at the Salzburger Nachrichten from 2005-2011.
In 2010 she went to Nepal to establish her social travel enterprise Karmalaya, which till now generated impact for more than 18.000 beneficiaries worldwide. Karmalaya supports local NGOs in developing countries with international volunteers – skills- and needs-based. And also creates tours and experiences off the beaten track – to promote and support community-based tourism and create jobs and income especially in rural areas. At the current over 50 projects in 13 destinations with focus on Nepal and Uganda are supported by Karmalaya. Most of the projects are focusing on women empowerment, social entrepreneurship, education and health.
Covid-19 has triggered an unprecedented crisis to Karmalaya. Tina, as a passionate, positive entrepreneur at heart, did not give up. She deepened her education in mindfulness, obtained a license for business consulting and established a mindful-based Online-training (fearlessheart school) to promote (social) entrepreneurship and encourage and empower people to follow their heart by also creating impact.
