Driven by its founder Hasina Kharbhih, the Shillong-headquartered organisation has scaled its operations across India, Nepal, Bangladesh,Thailand and Myanmar and helped over 74,000 survivors.
A close look at where Impulse stands today reveals how a grassroots strategy born in Northeast India became a permanent blueprint for cross-border justice and economic freedom. Speaking to businessline, Kharbhih reflected on the milestone with a sense of grounded urgency. Being reflective, she said that that she views the recognition not as a final destination, but rather as a poignant reminder of the responsibility they carry and the distance they still have to travel.
When asked about the organisation’s next steps, Kharbhih revealed a bold roadmap designed for the coming decade. The core objective is to transition entirely from creating individual interventions to building large-scale systems of transformation.
These systems are meant to be fully owned, adapted, and scaled by local communities, public institutions, and governments across international borders. Kharbhih points out that migration and trafficking do not recognise borders, which means institutional solutions cannot remain confined within them either.
To achieve this global harmony, the next phase of the Impulse Model is intentionally breaking away from traditional administrative methods. The organisation is introducing data-driven prevention by leveraging tech-driven innovation for the early identification of vulnerabilities and seamless cross-border stakeholder coordination.
Leadership
However, Kharbhih is quick to clarify that they want to build stronger systems while ensuring that technology never replaces the human connection and dignity that are central to their work.Simultaneously, the organisation is shifting its focus toward creating deep economic resilience. Kharbhih explains that the future is about moving from merely helping communities survive to enabling them to lead their own social and economic transformation.
“This means that sustainable livelihoods, green enterprises, agro-forestry, and artisan empowerment will become the primary weapons used to eradicate the root financial vulnerabilities that trigger unsafe migration in the first place. This long-term sustainability relies heavily on a radical restructuring of organisational power through decentralised leadership,” she said.
Kharbhih strongly believes that organisations cannot depend on a single founder or just one generation. She envisions the next decade as a time when more young leaders, trafficking survivors, community heads, and local women take absolute ownership of the vision, carrying it forward in ways that may look entirely different from how the journey began.
Impulse’s next chapter is about proving that transformative change can become a permanent, borderless movement, by seamlessly weaving together advanced data systems with grassroots economic empowerment.
Published on September 11, 2026