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World of Good

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 8 months ago

 


 

 

 

 

W.O.G  - Mission

 

our mission

At World of Good, Inc., we create opportunities for hundreds of artisan cooperatives around the world to share their best work with you by serving as a bridge to the U.S. retail market. We respectfully assist artisans by providing access to fair wages, safe working conditions and long-term economic sustainability. Learn more about the principles of fair trade. We also re-invest 10% of our profits in the artisan communities through our non-profit partner, the World of Good: Development Organization, a 501(c)(3) focused on strengthening standards for handcrafts in the international fair trade industry and also improving the lives of thousands of artisans through community development projects.

 

The mission of World of Good is threefold:

 

To make purchasing Fair Trade artisan products easy for consumers - primarily through bringing Fair Trade options to the mainstream retail market

To help the communities and artisans that create these beautiful products by:

paying a fair wage in the local context

ensuring healthy and safe working conditions within the local context

building long-term trade relationships

encouraging environmentally sustainable practices

providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible

To educate consumers about the benefits of purchasing fair trade products

a good beginning

In our first full year of business last year, World of Good sold over 100,000 handmade items crafted by 133 artisan groups in 31 countries - all of which helped make actual, concrete improvements in the lives of over 2,500 artisans and their families.

 

We created employment for the disabled in Cambodia, and for HIV positive women in Swaziland. We promoted anti-child-labor activism in India, provided Tsunami relief in Sri Lanka and supported educational programs in Guatemala and Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can't find what you're looking for? Just want a quick overview? Start here with our frequently asked questions. Enjoy your exploration of a world of good things!

 

What is the mission of World of Good?

World of Good was formed to create a bridge between individuals in the US looking for beautiful and interesting handcrafted products and small artisan organizations around the world who could really benefit from the opportunity to share their handcrafts with the world. Every item on the World of Good kiosk is not only beautiful but also carries with it the promise of economic and social improvement of artisan communities around the world.

 

Who started World of Good? And Why?

World of Good was started in Berkeley, California by Priya and Siddharth, two friends who graduated from the UC Berkeley Business School. Priya Haji, is now the CEO and was motivated to help very low-income women around the world improve their lives through fair trade. She wanted to figure out a way to get their exquisite products to hundreds of amazing stores (like yours) and return the benefit back to the producer communities. Siddharth Sanghvi, VP of Marketing, had a background in marketing and technology and quit his job to work on creating a brand that could connect artisans and consumers and convince shoppers to choose ethically sourced products that would help communities around the world! They were joined by a growing bunch of other smart and caring people who make up the many teams at World of Good and that have partnered to find the best products around the world for your store.

 

How do these products help women around the world?

Sixty to seventy percent of the artisans providing fair trade handcrafted products are women. Often these women are mothers and the sole wage earners in the home. A lot of these products allow the women to work on a very flexible schedule and to capitalize on the limited resources at hand e.g. they can make beautiful crafts from grass and twigs (woven baskets), dirt (clay pots), and from trash (recycled bottlecap purses!). Through their work in Fair Trade craft production, women not only improve the lives of their families, but improve their own lives as well. Many women artisans report that their work has given them self esteem and the opportunity to participate in decision making in their communities. Increased income ensures better nutrition, better schooling for their children, and an improvement in housing and living standards.

 

At the same time, the real challenge for rural craft producers is that they have little access to the formal market to sell their products, or to negotiate fair prices. Often times, they are not well compensated for their work and undervalued - Women are paid 30-40% less than men for comparable work. We want to help fix that!

 

How do you guarantee that the producers are treated well and will really benefit?

World of Good goes through a rigorous process when partnering with new producer groups, and we follow fair trade principles in all our activities.

1. We only work with producer groups that are mission driven and focused on improving the lives of the artisan communities. All of our partners are affiliated with larger social and economic development programs like international Fair Trade organizations, Peace Corps, United Nations Development Program, micro-enterprise programs, etc. We verify the practices of each producer group through one of these partner organizations, or through a site visit.

2. We then screen each individual product to assess for the environmental footprint, the production process, the compensation to the artisans, and the benefit to the community.

 

How does World of Good actually help these organizations?

 

After we screen the organization and their practices and accept the producer group as a partner, we focus on working with the producer group according to fair trade principles.

 

We make a 0% interest loan for 50% of the order to fund the production and pay the balance to the producer when the product lands.

This may not seem important, but most companies pay 30 to 180 days after delivery which means that poor communities that cannot borrow money cannot engage in trade.

We make long term commitments to work with the producer groups and grow with them year over year creating sustainable incomes for artisans

We provide technical assistance and market feedback so the products are always improving and ever changing

We ensure that the artisan producers receive a fair wage in the local context

In addition to all of these commitments World of Good donates 10% of our profits to World of Good Development Organization, which gives grants supporting projects to improve the lives of the artisans and their families in producer communities. To find out more about the initiatives of the non-profit please visit www.worldofgood.org.

 

How do we tell customers about all this?

It is really important for us to share the hope and excitement of these special handmade items with your customers. Every World of Good product has a distinct story tag that tells the reader about the producer group and any special characteristics of the product. The kiosk display and other merchandising material are also designed to help tell the story. We also offer additional detailed information on our website where customers can learn more about our producers and products. On the wholesale website you can also download posters and other support materials that you can put in your store to explain the products.

 

What if a customer knows of a craft producer group that can benefit from partnering with World of Good?

We love suggestions from our customers! Please ask them to go straight to our website and complete the web form at www.worldofgood.com/suppliers with all their information. Remember, we only work with producer groups that meet our mission driven and fair trade requirements. We will screen all the submissions and contact them as soon as possible.

 

What if someone has questions about a particular product or about one of the groups that World of Good works with?

We love questions and we love to hear from our customers. Please let them know that if they go to the World of Good website they can actually find contacts for any person on our team. They can always email info@worldofgood.com or call 510.528.8400. We look forward to talking to them!

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas for helping war-scarred countries

 

 

I should also make an honorable mention of Eccos, a Columbian outsourcer of trained call center staffers. Sounds pedestrian, but the twist is that the staffers are individuals who have physical disabilities caused by the nation’s armed conflict. It is a for-profit company with a serious social conscience, and possibly with a model that could be replicated in other battle-scarred countries…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digg!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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