For this mother's day, we wanted to profile a few brands that are truly making a social impact across the globe. We wanted to do these brands justice by not only throwing together a simple wish list, but also helping spread their message to you. As a result, we've compiled "mini-interviews" from each brand to give you an idea of just how impactful our purchasing decisions as consumers can be.
Soko leverages technology to connect online consumers to global makers and handcrafted jewelry from the developing world. In Africa, the dominant source of technology is the mobile phone, and while most may not have computers, many do have phones. Soko transforms the mobile phone into a tool that expands access to economic opportunity for artisans in underserved communities. The mobile platform also enables Soko to cut the traditional middleman to reduce logistical costs and therefore increase profits for the artisans. Soko’s impact has been tremendous, and their blog is a must read for anyone interested in obtaining a glimpse into the culture of these artisans. All Soko products are crafted by these artisans and are mailed directly from Soko’s offices in Nairobi, Kenya. Impressively, the average order arrives in 7-10 business days, and Soko is able to offer extremely low international shipping rates ($5-$14 depending on the order size, and free for orders above $150).
Q. We know that you originally launched under the name, "SasAfrica", but what does Soko stand for or mean?
Soko means marketplace in Swahili, the national language of Kenya. At Soko, our mission is to create an online marketplace so that small-scale producers in the developing world can participate in global trade. Soko has developed the first e-commerce marketplace that enables talented artisans to post and sell their products online, even if they do not have access to a computer or a bank account. Our innovation leverages existing communications technology and infrastructure to pioneer a completely new marketplace. This new marketplace grants artisans unprecedented direct access to the web economy, and international consumers direct access to a new marketplace of high quality, handmade goods.
Q. How did you quickly realize that you could empower craftsmen in Kenya through a mobile platform, and how long did it take for you to build everything?
We co-founded Soko in 2011 after recognizing a global need, as well as global opportunity, to disrupt the systemic patterns of poverty found across the developing world’s creative economy. Working in bottom of the pyramid communities around the world, we were inspired to develop a solution to answer the disconnect between the incredible cultural value of the goods artisans make and the disproportionality small amount of money they can earn from these goods. We realized that by leveraging pervasive technology and existing infrastructure in an innovative way, we could create a platform to enable any talented artisan to participate in international trade. The Soko solution transforms the ubiquitous mobile phone into a tool that expands access to economic opportunity for artisans in underserved communities, disrupting the traditional export supply chain to revolutionize the way money and goods are transacted into a peer-to-peer exchange. We've been working on Soko for 2.5 years. We spent the first year developing our first prototypes and have since them been rolling out successively improving iterations with our artisan and online consumer communities!
Q. What is your impact on the local economy in these developing countries?
Behind agriculture, the artisan craft industry is the second largest employer in the developing world. This industry creates jobs, fosters economic communities, sustains traditions and heritage and is an important component of healthy and sustainable development. This sector is labor intensive and involves a significant number of poor people, especially women, and those less able to enter gainful employment. Despite the developing world’s share of production, individual craftspeople have no direct access to this worldwide consumer demand. A large percentage of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa is self-employed in the informal economy, where they turn to the production of crafts and handmade goods, a skill that roots them deeply in culture and community, and which helps them supplement their meager incomes. However, the sale of their crafts are limited to the local economy with it’s inconsistent demand. Meanwhile, international consumers pay on average up to 10 times the cost of production and vendors receive just a fraction of the potential profit that could be earned if the tools and opportunity existed for artisans to competitively enter the global marketplace as independent entrepreneurs. There are hundreds of millions of small-scale producers making valuable goods in emerging economies around the world. However, these producers cannot access the worldwide consumer demand for their unique and low cost products because they, like over 70% of the world’s population, are living and working on the other side of the digital divide, unable to benefit from the innovation and economic opportunity the Internet provides.
Q. Where do you see Soko in 10 years?
Success for Soko would see us reaching global scale to impact the lives of tens of thousands of small-scale producers. This competitive, successful marketplace would not only provide livelihood and entrepreneurial growth opportunities in emerging economies, but protect cultural heritage and promote environmentally friendly, small scale production as a viable and profitable model of trading fairly between technologically and geographically distant communities as well. Success would mean that Soko successfully changes the dialogue around international trade, proving that mobile technology and agile, innovative business models can disrupt traditional “ways of doing business” in the developing world to create life changing opportunity for stakeholders that have been excluded from economic participation in national and global economies until now. Success would mean globalizing (and normalizing!) a model of international direct trade that is fair, transparent, environmentally friendly, and massively distributed.
Bird & Stone’s mission is to “inspire, educate, and most importantly help shape the dreams of deserving women who are aspiring to be independent, financially stable, and educated”. Elana Reinholtz and Cindy Gallin founded the company after traveling and volunteering across the world. Today, Elana continues to pursue Bird & Stone’s mission and was recently selected as a “Top 50 under 40” by American Express, who sponsors the Social Enterprise Alliance in developing the next generation of social enterprise leaders. All of the jewelry is handmade in the United States, but a portion of the proceeds is invested in select partners, currently via microloans, through the SiSi Fund. Check out Bird & Stone’s blog for some highlights on the women that they have been able to help through this partnership.
Q. Where do you draw inspiration from in your jewelry creations?
We draw inspiration from cultures and civilizations to cities and landscapes. Anthropology is really at the heart of it. We love cultures and it's evident in our collections. Recently, we created the Cleopatra bracelet (coming soon!) a delicate but strong turquoise and brass bracelet inspired by the great ancient Egyptian ruler and most powerful woman of her time. We also have a winter collection called "Urban Warrior" which mixes gunmetal and crystals with chain to embody the architecture of New York City paired with the toughness of living in this powerful and high energy city. In the future, we hope to travel to places which inspire us and draw inspiration for our pieces while passing along the cultural lessons we will learn in our blogs for customers to be right there with us.
Q. How do you find the organizations with whom you partner with?
This year, we will be working with the SiSi fund, a microfinance collaborative with 70 widowed entrepreneurs in rural Kenya. It was the organization I first volunteered with one year ago that started the impetus for a socially conscious jewelry line that benefits women starting businesses as a path out of extreme poverty. The organization that runs the fund, Common Ground for Africa, does unbelievable work in Kiminini in terms of education, financial backing, and leadership training so that the women will teach other and eventually become an example for other villages nearby.
Q. Where do you see Bird & Stone in 10 years?
I have a vision where Bird & Stone expands our impact in an effort to equip more women that need resources and opportunities in order to advance out of extreme poverty. At the moment, with a portion of our profits, we support a handful of entrepreneurs in Kenya through microloans and financial training that is taught on-the-ground by local female Kenyans. In the future, I'd love for Bird & Stone to fund and fuel additional programs to provide a 'mini business degree' with experts from around Kenya including topics like branding, accounting, managing, operations, etc. These kinds of business skills will be helpful to any aspiring entrepreneur and will only aid in a more rapid effort to narrow the opportunity gap for women.
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Senhoa is one of the few socially companies jewelry companies that we’ve come across that advocates for change in southeast Asia. The company first began its pilot program in Seim Reap, Combodia, and quickly became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit in early 2010. A year later, the foundation founded Senhoa LLC to produce and sell jewelry, handmade by survivors and those who are vulnerable to human trafficking. Their growth has been aided through the partnership of several high profile names, including supermodel Coco Rocha, who designed her first jewelry collection with Senhoa, and Julie Ragnolia (fashion stylist for Victoria Beckham, Rihanna, and Tyra Banks) who also designed a collection for Senhoa in late 2012. Proceeds from sales help the foundation provide job training and education to survivors. Additionally, Senhoa has opened a preschool and community center on the outskirts of Siem Reap as a preventative project of human trafficking. The Senhoa Foundation website provides a wealth of great information for the impact that they’ve been able to achieve through jewelry.
Q. What does "Senhoa" mean?
Senhoa (pronounced "suh-no-a") is a combination of two Vietnamese words--"sen" (lotus) and "hoa" (flower). A lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with breathtaking beauty, untouched by its impure surroundings. It was through this imagery that "Senhoa" was conceptualized to represent the women and children we work with.
Q. It's great that Mr. John Kimmel and Normerica are able to cover all of Senhoa's overhead. Does this enable the women who make the jewelry to receive a better income than normal?
We are blessed to have the support of Mr. John Kimmel and his team at Normerica and their generosity of covering Senhoa's overhead operations so that 100% of all public donations go directly toward the field to help women, children and families in need at our Lotus Kids' Club (preschool and community/family development program) and Lotus House (residential facility/healing center for young women who have been subjected to gender-based violence). Our jewelry program, however, just transitioned into a social business in January 2014. This means that all proceeds from the sales of Senhoa jewelry are remitted back to sustaining and improving the program and that moving forward from this year we will not rely on donations to fund the program. All program costs, including artisan salaries, come from the sales of the jewelry. However, this does not mean that their salaries are dependent on the amount of sales. Regardless of the amount of sales, we offer our artisans a fair living wage and benefits such as paid holidays and annual leave, medical leave, a health fund, social programs, life skills education (math, English, Khmer, computer and practical life skills classes such as savings, self-improvement, sexual health, etc.) and tuition to private school and university if they wish to pursue these studies. The more sales we bring in, the more we are able to offer additional and improved services to our artisans, continue to raise their salaries and provide bonuses for them.
Q. Where do you see Senhoa in 10 years?
In the next few years, we would love to open a boutique in Siem Reap, Cambodia and have the girls in our program help out with sales and eventually help run the store. We are working on teaching them business skills and want to provide them with access to higher education and skills training, as well as provide them opportunities to hone their leadership abilities. We want to empower our young women with the tools they need to take care of themselves and their families and to become agents of change and help others. We are also looking to be carried at retail stores in the US and abroad and to open our own retail store in California.
Photo Credits:
Soko: Soko Website
Bird & Stone: BeGood Clothing
Senhoa: Nigel Barker
Do you have any socially conscious brands that you can recommend? Please let us know in the comment box below!
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