# Ryan Berg

> Ryan Berg is the co-founder and CEO of The Aruna Project, a Cincinnati-based athleisure bag and accessories brand stitched entirely by survivors of sex trafficking. With his wife April, he built a hybrid model that fuses a for-profit fashion label with nonprofit holistic care - transitional housing, counseling, healthcare and a living wage - to create what he calls lifelong freedom. The work started after a single TV news brief about children rescued from a brothel sent him hunting for that brothel on a business trip to India, where he found a two-mile stretch holding an estimated 15,000 enslaved women. The Aruna Project says it has helped free and employ more than 160 women across India and the Tri-State and contributed to an 86% drop in trafficking in that part of India.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at The Aruna Project
- **Organizations:** The Aruna Project, Aruna, Praxis
- **Nationality:** American
- **Known for:** Built a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model where 100% of Aruna products are survivor-made, Helped free and employ more than 160 women across India and the Tri-State region, Associated with an estimated 86% decrease in trafficking rates in the part of India where Aruna works

## Career timeline

- **circa 2013** — Co-founds The Aruna Project with wife April Berg after a trip to Mumbai, India
- **2017** — Cincinnati Aruna 5K at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; runners wear bibs bearing the names of enslaved women
- **present** — Co-Founder and CEO of The Aruna Project, leading a survivor-made athleisure brand and nonprofit

## Achievements

- Built a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model where 100% of Aruna products are survivor-made
- Helped free and employ more than 160 women across India and the Tri-State region
- Associated with an estimated 86% decrease in trafficking rates in the part of India where Aruna works
- Grew Aruna from drawstring bags into a full line of totes, belt bags and backpacks
- Scaled the Aruna 5K to roughly 18 runs nationally, drawing 1,500+ runners to the flagship Cincinnati event
- Selected as a Praxis entrepreneur and MIT Solve community member

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Featured in regional coverage of the Berg family creating an athleisure brand and nonprofit to help human trafficking victims

## Links

- Website: https://arunaproject.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-berg-87a65374
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/arunaproject
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bExOsDedP-k
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arunaproject/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arunaproject/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ryan-berg
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21