Artesan Profile: Chindi, India
We recently caught up with Tanushri Shukla, founder of Chindi, a Mumbai based social enterprise working with marginalised women to provide employment through crafts, to learn more about the organization. AG: Tell us about Chindi. What inspired you to work with marginalized women and provide them employment through craft production? C: Chindi is about two […]
Artesan Profile: Bunosilo, India
Tell us about Bunosilo. Bunosilo, started in November 2015, So it’s just 4 months old now! We provide good quality, well fitting, handcrafted clothes made out of hand loomed fabric to the customers worldwide. We aim at promoting the dying craft techniques of our country and to generate sustainable employment opportunities to them. We also […]
Artesan Profile : Connected In Hope
Earlier this month we featured Minke Dancha in our series celebrating International Women’s Day, who works with Connected In Hope. We caught up founder, Ryane Murnane to learn more about the organization. My background is in social work, and my early career was spent in Atlanta working with pregnant women who were battling drug addiction. […]
Artesan Profile : Lumago Designs, Philippines
Lumago, means “to blossom” in the national Filipino language, and was founded by an American Social worker, Whitney Fleming, in 2011 when a huge typhoon devastated parts of the impoverished community on our city’s dumpsite, located next to the Banica River. Subsequently, to find another source of income, a group of women from the community […]
Artesan Profile: Fiber Resource Center, Bangladesh
We were delighted to be introduced to Fiber Resource Center Bangladesh (FRC), an organization that produces fabric and textiles by recycling pineapple fiber and thrilled to have Ummaima Dawood, Director of FRC Bangladesh, share their fascinating story here. FRC Bangladesh, as the name implies, is an organization that researches and develops plant based fibers with […]
Letting serendipity lead to a weaving village in Laos
Guest blogger Mary Louise Marino is a startup social entrepreneur and founder of Indigo Lion Artisan Boutique. Her three-month journey across Southeast Asia and Northeast India is in part to connect with artisan groups, learn about their work, and begin selecting her initial collection for her shop. Serendipity connected her with village weavers in Thabou […]
3 models of social entrepreneurship
Through our work in this sector, we routinely come across highly talented and passionate social entrepreneurs dedicated to developing the skills of the marginalized and disenfranchised through craft production and/or preserving traditional crafts. Their work is often immense as they are not only developing a workforce but running a business too. Many struggle with […]
Artesan Profile: GLO Creations, Rwanda
GLO Creations, a textile design company, founded by Gloria Kamanzi Uwizera in 2008, produces both fashion and home decor items. Derived from the founder’s name, the brand aspires to design and create products that “glow”. With a small team of five, GLO Creations line of products include the following: t-shirts for kids and adults; men […]
Sustainability in Gift, Home Decor and Fashion
This past weekend, we got to visit the Handmade Global Design section at the NY NOW trade show and it was terrific to catch up with some old friends (including Aid to Artisans , Darzah, Child’s Cup Full and Stitchwallah) and make new friends too! With the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals fresh on everyone’s mind, […]
Notes from the field: reflections on working with big retail
by guest blogger Sarah Sternberg For many producer groups and artisans, getting an order from one of the big retailers is the dream. We wanted to learn more about what it takes to achieve that goal and reached out to our friends at Songa Designs to learn more from founder Sarah Sternberg. Three years ago […]