With the Impact Week Northeast India (NEI), we took the Impact Week for the second time in one year to this large country. Hosted in Guwahati, the former capital and biggest city of the state Assam, we specifically chose a location that is a little “off track”. The northeast of India is still not as relevant to tourism and big corporations as the central part of the country. However, it is without a doubt the most diverse and culturally rich area with different ethnicities, religions and languages.

In cooperation with the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) and six universities, we organised an Impact Week not only for students of Guwahati, but opened the registration for the entire northeast
region. Supported by the two main sponsors Lufthansa & SAP, participants of the Impact Week NEI came from a variety of companies and agencies from three different countries.  Land of Assam Tea Junior coach Abiti from Guwahti works in the tea industry. Connecting small farmers with big companies in the west and helping them with trade negotiations drove her to the Impact Week. Her vision: building more independent fair trade tea startups that no longer rely on intermediaries. Abiti‘s student group won the first place for their idea and she continues to support her team whenever they need her help.

Planting and gardening
Before the students pitched their ideas in front of the jury, the organising team went into the IIE‘s garden and planted a pomegranate tree symbolizing the growth potential of this project. Later, during the award ceremony, jury member Hartmut Klose told the students: „We are only here to plant the seeds – the gardening however is done by the students“.