Karen Piegorsch is the Founder and President of Synergo Arts, a nonprofit organization, and CEO of Synergo LLC, a design company based in the U.S.  Synergo provides ergonomic solutions to artisans and entrepreneurs in the developing world, mostly in Guatemala.

She has a background in physical therapy and industrial engineering, in addition to a PhD in public health. This allows her to conceive practical solutions that improve productivity and product quality, potentially increasing earning potential while preventing serious damage to the artisans' health.

Karen tells Global X how she was able to build an ergonomic bench that helped artisans achieve in two days what used to take them three. More importantly, she noticed that for these women, "pain was not the limiting factor anymore. They just stopped working because they had other things to do, not because they were in such a pain."

Through THRIVE, Satish Somepalli provides low-cost LED lighting systems to rural areas where electricity is scarce.

LED lights replace kerosene lamps, which are so expensive to use that they need to be subsidized by the Indian Government. They are also dangerous and do not produce much light compared to the energy they use.

Thrive's lamps are safe, consume very low power, provide clean and powerful lighting, and do not emit any smoke.

So says Satish Somepalli to Global X!

Global X interviews Rahul Barkataky, founder of the Community Friendly Movement in New Delhi.

CFM creates a global market for handmade products made by artisan communities, thus creating employment opportunities for those who are dependent on handicrafts for their livelihood.

Rahul Barkataky describes a project they launched in Gujarat, an area that was devastated by earthquake in 2001. CFM was able to provide US$10,000 to a group of 375 women --a very significant impact.

Much more remains to be done, but Rahul Barkataky is optimistic: "Poverty may not be completely eradicated ten years from now, but there will be more positive stories with real impact. It will be a better place than now."

Elizabeth Hausler explains to Global X that she was finishing her Ph.D. in engineering at Berkeley when an earthquake hit India and killed 20,000 people. That's when she realized that "it's not the earthquake that kills people, it's the building collapsing."

She looked for a solution and launched Build Change to build earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries and change construction practices permanently so that homeowners in seismically active developing countries can sleep at night.