Panel on Fair Trade and Responsible Sourcing

Last Thursday NYWSE held a panel on fair trade and responsible sourcing, hosted by ABC Home in their lovely community room.  The panel included Amy Chender and Marisa Guber from ABC Home, Patti Carpenter from Carpenter + Co, Rebecca Kousky from Nest, and Liz Wald from Etsy.  Most people are familiar with ABC Home and their strong commitment to socially responsible business practices. At Nest, Rebecca raises funds for micro loans to women in developing countries to build craft-based businesses but also works with established designers to mentor other women. Patti is the founder of her company and designs products for the higher end of the market, working with co-ops from Africa and South America.  Liz at Etsy provides a marketplace for individual artists to sell their handcrafted products.  Several panelists are NYWSE members, and what a fascinating and brilliant group they are!   They drew on their experiences as product designers, retailers, and micro lenders to regale us with the ups and downs of operating in the fair trade world.  Or as Patti put it, the "fairly traded" world.  There was some discussion on whether or not certification makes sense, with Patti stating that many companies operate under fair trade principles but don't bother to apply for certification.  The effect on the producers is the same.  But the retailers on the panel felt that certification is worthwhile as a way to let consumers feel more confident about a product.  Hmmmm, what to do?  Let's discuss!

Another point the panel made is the need to find a balance between protecting the integrity of indigenous designs and creating product designs that will sell in the western market.  A challenge I can relate to!  Working under fair trade practices means that products sometimes sell at a higher price but Marisa mentioned a Harvard study that showed that people are willing to pay more for a product that is responsibly sourced.   Amy and Patti talked about the need to educate both the consumer and retailer on fair trade and on the reasons that these beautiful handcrafted products are worth the price.

A very enlightening and thought-provoking evening.  I look forward to more.

Incubator Training Partner – Geri Stengel (Ventureneer.com, Stengel Solutions, and the New School)

On March 21st, Geri Stengel, former director of Dow Jones Information Services, talked to the New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE) Incubator participants about everything under the sun related to marketing and market research. She said that she has the uncommon interest of writing business plans and when she realized this, she knew she had a potential career as a consultant. It seems that her tenacity to “figure it all out” accounts for her multi-faceted success ranging from quantitative strategy to the creative aspects of marketing.

Ms. Stengel’s business strategy and marketing firm ’Stengel Solutions” reflects her broad interests in a suite of service offerings that include individualized marketing expertise and business strategy implementation.

Another dimension of Ms. Stengel’s character and professional career is her philanthropic penchant for developing and growing other fledgling entrepreneurs. For example, she is a mentor with the New York Women Social Entrepreneurs Incubator program, where she coaches a start-up organization, and she is part of the advisory board with the National Association of Women’s Business Owners-NYC. A natural educator, she is also an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship at The New School in New York City.

Anastasia Holmes, founder of Start Your Engine NYC, discusses Learning Curves with the Incubator program

My Blog Post: What I have enjoyed learning most during the Incubator process, is everything

Learning Curves

Some days, when the work is piling up and the deadlines are approaching, I need to put the stress into perspective and remind myself why I’m starting a nonprofit and what I enjoy about it.

One reason I’m creating Start Your Engine, a health and fitness program for low-income women, is because I have the social entrepreneur’s drive to solve a social problem.  Another reason is because I like brainstorming and program development. Of course, part of any entrepreneur’s drive is also the dream to “work for myself.”

The most important reason I’m creating this program is to provide an environment where women can learn about healthy living rather than just going through the motions at a gym or picking a new diet. The things I learned on my journey achieving a healthy lifestyle I wanted to share—specifically with women who couldn’t afford trainers and coaches and counselors.

April 23: NYWSE Incubator Participants Present Ventures at 1st Fast Forward Fund Investor Pitch Session

   

Launching a new era of youth activism, youth social entrepreneurs from New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE) pitched their ventures for philanthropic investment before the Student Directors of the Fast Forward Fund (FFF) in the first youth-to-youth social investment pitch for investments up to $25,000.  While Generation Y is often most recognized for its affinity to Facebook, this generation is redefining philanthropy in two ways.  First, through innovative funding practices like youth-to-youth investing, and second by supporting social entrepreneurship, or mission-driven enterprises.

 

Thirteen Student Directors of FFF from Bard College’s Globalization and International Affairs Program reviewed investment pitches presented by participants of NYWSE’s Incubator Program at the Levin Institute in New York City.  FFF is at the forefront of innovative social investment, enabling young people to leverage relatively small individual donations to make a large-scale impact.  Its mission is to harness this generation’s financial resources, passion, and energy to advance global sustainability and human dignity.  Their portfolios invest in the areas of climate change and energy; poverty alleviation; public health; and human rights and peace.  One Bard College student declared after the April 23 FFF pitch: “To me the pitch session was a meeting for youth to inspire other youth... Funding should not be the reason we should sit down, but the reason we would stand up and fight.”

 

Potential investments are youth-led and proposed by pipeline nominating institutions such as the NYWSE Incubator Program, the Clinton Global Initiative University, Teach for America’s Social Entrepreneurship Institute, and the Global Engagement Summit.  Next year they will be joined by others like Acumen, Ashoka, and Echoing Green.

 

Six NYWSE Incubator entrepreneurs pitched their diverse social ventures. The NYWSE Incubator develops new female-led social ventures through an intensive six-month support program. These female-run social ventures are a mix of not-for-profit and for-profit businesses with a triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit), including:
• Early Earners – Online education destination for youth and families promoting positive financial habits
• Girl Guides USA – Outdoor program that develops girls’ environmentalism, leadership and teamwork
• Illume – Online mentoring and career resource for young women from illiterate families in India
• Out Against Abuse – Online resource to stop domestic violence in the South Asian community
• Public Stuff – Software to connect government and citizens to improve services and community life
• Start Your Engine – Exercise, nutrition, stress and time management program for low-income women

Zoe Timms, creator of the Women's Education Project, puts the Social in Social Entrepreneur

My blog post: How my approach to securing funding for my venture has evolved through the Incubator program

In 2002, I established Women's Education Project as a 501(C)(3) to help young women from poor families, succeed in college and begin careers. At garden parties with family and friends, I was able to fund the first center, "Sudar" in Madurai, South India. The dollar goes far in India so within the next few years, we were able to hire staff, rent a center (with computer lab, library, and garden), offer 25 scholarships annually and provide 60 students with academic support. In 2008, we started our second center, "Ushassu" in Hyderabad. Today, 100 students attend WEP centers in South India.