“Cultivating a community that empowers the lives of artisan producers and consumers through sustainable craft and fashion.“
Welcome to the Artesan Gateway!
As a resource and networking tool for the global artisan community, individuals and groups who produce craft products and the social businesses that support them, the Artesan Gateway provides the following:
-Network with like-minded organizations;
-Expand your opportunity for collaboration and business opportunities;
-Keep up on trends and best practices within the sector;
-Engage with consumers in innovative ways.
Throughout the global artisan and craft community, there exist social entrepreneurs, NGOs and producer groups, each of whom provide the means to sustainable livelihoods to those who experience barriers to steady employment (be they traditional artisans whose skills are no longer being put to use, or the unskilled).
Each of these organizations (for-profit or nonprofit) share similar challenges: access to market; product development/design; networking opportunities to share best practices and collaborate in order to grow their business.
At their core, these organizations are focussed on providing sustainable employment and livelihoods for an otherwise disenfranchised population. In so doing, they each face challenges in: distinguishing themselves in a saturated marketplace; and access to human and capital resources to enable them to grow.
With a global perspective and experience in community development and income generating projects, the Artesan Gateway provides expertise in organizational scan to assess needs and opportunities. Through the Artesan Gateway network, one has access to convening’s, a wider network that is deeply engaged in the sector, strategies to develop one’s brand and develop internal resources to allow for growth.
The network allows you to expand your ability to engage in meaningful conversations with like-minded organizations and consumers in the sector. Collectively, these seemingly insignificant activities, will in the long run allow you to increase the number of disenfranchised individuals you can employ and build a following of like-minded consumers and peers to help you along your journey, and in so doing, will enable broader access to the marketplace.
About the Founder
Through my travels and work in the two-thirds world, I’ve been struck by the sheer will and determination of the men, women, and children who have learned a new skill to financially support themselves and their families. These individuals have learned to make pottery, design jewelry, and use their imaginations to create recycled products—to name just a few skills.
Having started my career in microfinance in India followed by working with a wide range of grassroots organizations including the Peace Corps, in Fiji which included working with local women’s groups focused on income generation, my focus has always been capacity building. I am committed to initiatives that positively impact the lives of people who are vulnerable and in the process of transition brought on by technological, social, economic and political change, by helping shape the functioning of civil society through the development and application best practice.
This has led to my ongoing involvement with social enterprises who are focused on providing employment and skills training through craft production, as a means of economic sustainability.
The world is a small place and by creating the Artesan Gateway, my goal is to make it even smaller by creating a network of business, organizations and indivdiuals who collectively, can have a positive impact in the lives of those seeking a sustainable livelihood.