Sundeep Ahuja: Hi everybody. My name is Sundeep, and I’m helping to start a company called blissmo. We promote the best of sustainable and organic. We look for certifications on those products, some sort of authenticity. And we introduce them to you at a discount.

A lot of times people want to buy good, they want to buy sustainable, they want to buy organic. But it’s hard to know what actually is legit, it’s hard to find these products, they’re oftentimes expensive. So we said maybe we can find all these products, bring them to the public, and say hey, these are amazing products, equal or better in quality to what you already spend your money on. And by the way, everytime you buy one of these you are voting people-planet positive: it’s better for you, it’s better for the environment.

envisionGood: What inspired you to start blissmo?

Sundeep Ahuja: I looked at my experience in entrepreneurship and technology and looked at the power that consumers have and said, maybe we can harness that power and build a technology platform and build a movement to shift demand to sustainable and organic consumption.

envisionGood: blissmo’s tagline is “buy good. feel great”. Why?

Sundeep Ahuja: Thankfully, we’re at a point now in history where most products and services have alternatives, be it food, or clothing, or shoes that are brought to you in an way that is not only quality but brought to you in a way that’s sustainable and organic. When you buy products, when you wear products, when you consume products and services that are brought to you in a way that’s in line with these values of people-planet positive, you feel good. So that’s what we’re out to do. It’s to help people to get that feeling of “not only do I feel good about something I’m wearing, but I bought good” and that’s where the discount comes in. You get to feel double good. It’s “hey, I saved money on this really cool thing that’s really quality. And by the way, it’s people-planet neutral or positive.

envisionGood: How does blissmo identify “green” businesses?

Sundeep Ahuja: Those products that we can find a certification mechanism, be it fair trade, or be it here in San Francisco, the Green Business Group under the City of San Francisco that will go in and authenticate businesses. So when we can we rely on a third party. Other times there’s no third part verification but it’s in the DNA of the company and we get that from the story of the company, from the genesis of the company.

Patagonia is a great example. We haven’t had the pleasure of working with them yet, but everything about them – part of the navigation on their website, for example, is dedicated to this idea of people-planet positive and sustainability.

envisionGood: How is blissmo different than other group buying sites?

Sundeep Ahuja: We want to make examples of the businesses we promote. Ultimately, if we can make an example of a smaller brand that has a quality product and an authentic, sustainable, organic story behind it, we want to show them to the world and say, this is the kind of company that is going to succeed in the coming century, decade. And this is the type of brand and product that our generation and the generation behind us and ahead of us are choosing with their dollars.

And so, in order to do that we need to be more business friendly. Which means, for example, that we make less money when we work with these businesses. And that’s fine. We’re trying to cover our costs, and make enough so we can keep growing as an organization to further our mission. But not at all gouge the businesses. Ultimately we want them to succeed and to come back and work with us again.

On the community and people side, it’s delivering an experience that they have a relationship with this product that they thank us for. They thank us for introducing them to these products and services. As long as we can continue to deliver on that promise. Our promise is not to deliver the best price. Our promise is to introduce you to quality products and services that are organic and sustainable — at a price that will hopefully get you to give it a try.

As long as we can do that, and consumers say yes, we like this, we appreciate this, then we don’t have to be profit maximizing. We’ll serve the businesses, and the community, and hopefully the world.

envisionGood: What drives you?

Sundeep Ahuja: Honestly, it’s if I”m so fortunate to make a difference. One of the things I remind myself of is that every day is a gift and there’s something about leaving a legacy and leaving something bigger than yourself behind. And what motivates me is to do that in a very positive way.

envisionGood: What is the long-term vision for blissmo?

Sundeep Ahuja: We find that we are moving the needle. The big product lines start doing things that are even more green – green the supply chain, green the products – and we start noticeably seeing emissions coming down. And we don’t wait for politicians, or companies do it for other reasons, but that we (at blissmo help to) empower consumers to say, “you know what? it’s up to us.”

Sundeep Ahuja | Founder, blissmo

About: Sundeep is founder of blissmo, a web start-up that promotes sustainable consumption by connecting shoppers with quality sustainable & organic products & services from leading businesses through weekly discounts of up to 50%. Website: blissmo.com

October is the seventh annual Fair Trade Month and we’re excited to join Trendy Lime and Fair Trade USA as a media partner for the year’s biggest fair trade party, the Fair Trade Month Kick-Off, on September 29th.

Taking place at Temple SF, one of the greenest bars in the United States, the kick-off unites Fair Trade USA’s diverse corporate, nonprofit and individual stakeholders in more than 100 events, promotions and fund-raising activities across the United States. Through these events and celebrations, Fair Trade USA aims to generate awareness of Fair Trade’s comprehensive approach to social, economic and environmental empowerment and sustainability among farming communities in the developing world.

If you are in San Francisco, we hope to see you on the 29th! You can register for the event at: http://fairtrademonth.eventbrite.com/ and share the event with friends on Facebook.

The second World Humanitarian Day takes place today, August 19th, to honor and celebrate the work of humanitarian workers. The 19th of August has been chosen by the United Nations to commemorate the work of humanitarian workers as it marks the day when 22 employees of the UN, including the UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, were killed in a bomb attack in 2003 in Baghdad.

In the spirit of World Humanitarian Day today, thank you! to all the humanitarian workers around the globe for the important work you do. This year the focus will be on the actual work and achievements of humanitarian workers in the field, with the theme being “we are humanitarian workers”.

This day of recognition also provides an opportunity to remember and honor those who have lost their lives while helping others. A total of 102 humanitarian workers died in the exercise of their functions in 2009. For more info on the events leading up to the establishment of World Humanitarian Day, please visit the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.

Following up on a successful event last summer, DiasporaCamp DC takes place again this Saturday, July 24, 2010 with the aim to bring together the African Diaspora and people interested in Africa to exchange ideas on entrepreneurship, innovation, and development in Africa.

With over 100 people planning to attend DiasporaCamp DC 2010, the gathering is certain to be an amazing event. We’re happy to announce that the envisionGood team will be in the house to help capture highlights of the event via video interviews. DiasporaCamp DC 2010 takes place at the School of Advanced International Studies – Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

The theme of DiasporaCamp DC 2010 is “Financial Innovations For African Small & Medium-Scale Enterprises”. Given that access to capital is one of the greatest challenges that ventures face, the event’s focus on investment capital for start-up, small, and medium-sized businesses is certain to be informative. Stay tuned for insights we gain at DiasporaCamp DC 2010!

P.S. For highlights from last year’s DiaporaCamp, check out the video below featuring our globetrotting producer Shara Karasic‘s interview with Ashifi Gogo, CEO at Sproxil.com, PhD Innovation Fellow at Dartmouth College, Co-founder at mPedigree.org, and 2009 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. In this interview, Ashifi talks about BarCamp Diaspora, mPedigree, and the future of scientific research in Ghana.

Nelson Mandela, freedom fighter, international statesman, and former President of South Africa, spent 67 years of his life serving his community and fighting for the rights of humanity. Today, July 18th, is his 92nd birthday.

In celebration of the life’s work of Nelson Mandela, non-profit organizations 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation invite the global community to join them in support of an official Mandela Day. Recognized by the United Nations, Mandela Day is an international day to honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela on his birthday and call people to action around the world to take time out to do something good for others in the community.

To celebrate Mandela Day, here is a list of ideas that come to mind. Since we’re based in San Francisco, many of the ideas below are local SF opportunities. What are your favorite ways of getting involved in your community?

10 Ideas & Resources To Find Volunteer Opportunities To Celebrate Mandela Day:

1. Check out volunteer projects or start your own at Citizen Effect
2. Provide technology mentorship at Community Technology Network in San Francisco
3. Check out volunteer opportunities at One Brick – San Francisco
4. Mentor youth through Glide in San Francisco
5. Become a coach or running buddy at Girls On The Run in San Francisco
6. Help build houses with Habitat For Humanity
7. Volunteer with Streetside Stories, to help youth with writing and video projects in San Francisco
8. Check out volunteer opportunities at Volunteer Match or Idealist.org – or put your professional skills to good use, in a few minutes or less at The Extraordinaries
9. Run For Teachers or join the AIDS Walk in San Francisco today
10. Have more time and want to travel? Hands On Disaster Response has a great program for volunteers who want to help out in Haiti

Suggested Reading:

To learn more about Nelson Mandela, this autobiography is a great read: Long Walk To Freedom: An Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

We all know the impact that a quality education can have on the life of a child. Education helps lift people out of poverty, helps to combat disease, gives people a stronger voice, and creates opportunity. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and international statesman, said it best:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson Mandela

If you are in San Francisco this weekend, there’s a fantastic event called Run For Teachers that is taking place this Sunday, July 18th, 2010 to support education in Africa. We highly recommend checking it out.

Founded in 2009 by Steven Lurie, Run For Teachers is a 5K memorial run (or walk) honoring his late sister, Tracey Lurie-Sklar, a teacher, mother, daughter, sister and community leader. Born in Africa on June 13, 1962, Tracey passed away on November 6, 2008. The run is in honor of her work with students both in the US and abroad and her spirit. Proceeds from the event will benefit Teach With Africa.

Teach With Africa is a non-profit organization also based in San Francisco that works to break down the economic and social barriers to education in Africa by sending teams of educators to implement projects in underserved communities through an exchange of teaching and learning.

For highlights from last year’s Run For Teachers event, be sure to watch the video at the top of this post. For background on Teach With Africa, the video below provides a great behind-the-scenes view.

Run For Teachers is sure to be a great event, providing an opportunity to come together for a wonderful cause, while having fun, meeting new people, and getting some exercise at the same time. What could be a better combination!

P.S. Coincidentally, July 18th just so happens to also be Mandela Day, an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognize their individual ability to make an imprint and change the world around them. If you are in San Francisco, you can join Run for Teachers to benefit Teach With Africa, and celebrate Mandela Day all at once. : )

Can clubbers change the world? Michel Smit, Project Lead for Sustainable Dance Club (SDC), a social business dedicated to showing that having fun and taking responsibility for our environmental impact can go hand in hand, thinks so.

Launched in 2006 through a partnership between Enviu -Innovators in Sustainability and architect studio Döll Lab, Michel explains in this talk given at PICNIC’s Green Challenge that SDC’s challenge is to make as many dance clubs and festivals all over the world sustainable in a cool and hip way. The team aims to inspire more young people to lead a more sustainable life style.

Why focus on clubs? In Holland, Michel explains that over 1.5 million young people go to clubs each week. It’s the place where young people communicate and learn about new products. However the clubbing industry, reports Michel, is one of the businesses that at the moment does not think much about sustainability.

In a study to determine the impact of clubbing on the environment, SDC looked at ten clubs in Holland serving over one thousand people, discovering that clubs on average used 30x the amount of water that an average household of four would use. In addition, the clubs produced 40x more waste and used over 150x more energy. Finally, they discovered that one club alone produces roughly 400,000 kg of CO2 a year. Putting this into perspective, it takes 24,000 trees a year to compensate for this amount of CO2.

The concept for Sustainable Dance Club is amazing: by harnessing the power of movement, Sustainable Dance Club turns clubbers from consumers into sources of energy, triggering thoughts about sustainability in a new way. In an environment where the DJ usually reacts to the energy of the crowd, Sustainable Dance Club has also developed a way to make the energy produced by the clubbers visible on the dance floor. So as you dance, you can see the energy you are producing.

The environmental impact is impressive:

• 30% energy consumption reduced
• 50% water consumption reduced
• 50% refuse generated
• 30% CO2 emissions reduced

If you are in Rotterdam, be sure to check out Club Watt, the world’s first Sustainable Dance Club. Dance on! : )

(Photo thanks to llRed on Flickr.)

Today is World Refugee Day, a special day to remember the over 40 million people worldwide who have been uprooted from their homes due to conflict, persecution and natural disasters.

In the video below, António Guterres of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees calls attention to these refugees, and shares that in the last decade a million refugees have been able to return home every year. However, due to the persistence of conflict in places from Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo, only a quarter as many were able to return home last year – the lowest number in two decades.

Although we often see media photographs of refugees living in isolated refugee camps, the reality is that four-fifths of refugees live in the developing world, mostly in urban cities. Guterres talks about the generosity of the many developing countries that host these refugees. Specifically, Guterres spotlights and thanks Tanzania which has granted over 160,000 people from neighboring Burundi citizenship in their new home, Tanzania.

In a speech given in Washington, D.C. on World Refugee Day last year, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie acknowledged that “the threat of climate change, the competition for resources, and ever-growing global inequality have created deepening, intractable conflicts. Mass migrations will be a feature of our future. We must look beyond the simple numbers,” she said, “and look instead at the individual.”

There are a number of ways to help refugees. A number of ways are noted below. If you know of other ways to help, please do share in the comments below.

Ways To Help Refugees:

1. Be Informed – sigh up for updates from UNHCR
2. Spread the Word
3. Volunteer – visit United Nations Volunteers
4. Get Active Via Social Networks
5. Donate To Help Refugees
6. Give Work. Learn About Samasource

Related Interviews

• Leila Janah, Founder of Samasource, On Using Computers To Create Jobs, Helping Refugees in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya

First, a quick shout-out of thanks to Cynthia Hellen of Girls Who Rock New York for connecting me with her friends Kyle Westaway and Anthony Dodero at The Blind Project.

Last week I had the good fortune to meet with Kyle and Anthony to learn about The Blind Project, as well as to learn about their new fashion brand called Biographe. In this interview, Kyle and Anthony tell us about the origins of The Blind Project, an organization comprised of a team of passionate professionals who contribute talents and skills to empower survivors of the commercial sex trade in Southeast Asia.

Right now millions of women and children are enslaved and exploited in the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade. According to a recent report from the U.S. State Department, over 12 million people are trafficked each year. Treated like meaningless commodities, victims are sold and bought, and sold and bought again. Often, even when rescued, many fall back into the trade because of limited resources, scarce economic opportunities, and/or negative social stigmas.

This is Part I of a three-part series. Please also see Part II and III (coming soon!) where Kyle and Anthony talk about “Biographe”, the for-profit initiative of The Blind Project. Biographe is a global fashion brand that provides dignified work and training opportunities to survivors of human trafficking.

Part I: Behind-The-Scenes: The Story of The Blind Project

Katrina: Well I’m super excited to meet with both of you, so thank you so much for joining. I’m with Anthony and Kyle of The Blind Project. And, can you please share what is The Blind Project?

Anthony: Yes, absolutely. The Blind Project is an organization. It started in New York City about three and a half years ago. I’m one of the co-founders, and there are two others, Chad Riley and Liem Nguyen.

We were roommates at the time. And we were all working in creative fields and we were inspired to go to Southeast Asia to investigate the issue of human trafficking and how it existed and really just ask questions about how we can be a part of the solution.

Katrina: And what got you initially interested in this issue?

Anthony: My journey is that I actually worked with another friend of mine on a documentary – this was back in college. And it really focused on human trafficking in the U.S. And at the time, I had never heard of it, and it was really a wake-up call to me that this was happening in my own backyard. Then, fast forward a few years later and I’m living with these guys in New York City. We’re all in a sense “burned out with our careers” and wanted to do more with our talents. A friend of ours handed us a book called “Terrify No More” which is written by Gary Haugen of IJM. And (the book) really detailed the problem of human trafficking and what was going on in Cambodia. And that for us sparked this interest in, hey, let’s go see for ourselves really, is it hype? is it sensationalized? Let’s see what the truth is behind closed doors. That was the initial launch for us going.

Katrina: And what is IJM?

Anthony: International Justice Mission. For those of you who don’t know, check out their website. Amazing organization. They do a lot of on-the-ground stuff in Southeast Asia, all over the world. Their focus really is on bringing down these brothel owners. They build cases, they document. They don’t just go in and pull these women out of exploitive situations. They really build surmounting evidence so that they can bring change on the legal side.

Kyle: So that’s how I actually got introduced to this issue as well, through IJM separately. Anthony and team were reading a book and I was in law school in Virginia. International Justice Mission is an amazing organization. And they tend to work on the rescue side and on the legal prosecution side, so it had that appeal to me. We co-founded a campus chapter at my school. And I just learned a ton about what the issue was, how it was going on, the extent of trafficking.

Katrina: Is that how you both connected with one another? Through IJM?

Kyle and Anthony: No. (laughter)

Katrina: How did the two of you meet?

Kyle: I think it was through a mutual friend of ours, through a non-profit fundraiser or something.

Anthony: Yes, through mutual interests. The Blind Project was just starting and we were looking for more people to help out and you know, Kyle is just amazing. He has a lot of skills that I don’t have, and that is really what our team is all about. It’s about using our collective skills.

Collecting Data: Field Research & Meeting With Partners In Southeast Asia

Katrina: That’s fantastic. So Anthony, you are one of the co-founders, and you and your friends traveled to Southeast Asia to check out the scene for yourself, right?

Anthony: I think for us it was that two of us quit our jobs. We needed a change. And this was something that we felt we could be invested in. We were very passionate about it. This was something that really touched us on the emotional side. And even being a woman’s rights issue, it was something that we could be a part of the solution.

So we spent a month over there. We literally did cold calls. We looked in phone books and looked in any organization that was doing work on the ground, and said “hey, we want to get together with you, we want to see what you are doing to combat this issue, and maybe how we can be a part of that solution”.

What we found is that a lot of organizations did not have the infrastructure – they were doing amazing things on the ground, things that we could not be doing. But what we found was a lack of, basically, in what our strengths were: marketing, business development – they did not have any of that. And that was basically what focused us in on where we are at now.

Katrina: That’s amazing. And what did you experience when you were in Southeast Asia speaking with these organizations?

Anthony: There’s a great organization called Hagar that were intially working with a few years ago and they do phenomenal work. And so we investigated their after-care facilities. The other side of it which looking back now I think was a little bit of probably a mistake, is that we did go into some brothels. We kind of had this mentality like “we’re going to be these heroes – we’re going to go in and we’re going to pull these women out, and we’re going to rescue them and bring them to these shelters where they can be protected”.

And we found some girls. I think the youngest was eleven years old. We tried to purchase her out. We tried to bring her out, and they would not let her go. She was from Vietnam and the brothel owner would not negotiate a deal to let her leave the brothel.

And I think on the emotional side for me it was one of the lowest places as far as me feeling like I could not do anything. I’ll give the analogy. You know you walk around New York City or wherever you live in the States and you see homeless people. There are things you can do. And this was the first time in my life that I felt that I could not do anything. And I left emotionally torn, angry. And it became this fuel over the months to get this started and to continue to do it after all these years, I still think back to that girl.

Katrina: And how are the women and girls rescued? Do they escape of their own accord?

Kyle: Generally what happens is they either figure out a way to escape or leave, or they are somehow rescued by a police raid or something like that. Those are the two general ways that it happens.

Anthony: Part of it is getting the word out regarding which organizations can take them in. That’s part of it, a lot of these women do not know where they can go. So that’s a big tip if they hear that an organization will help them, that’s a big plus for them to take that risk and leave. A lot of them can’t go back to their home villages. It’s very difficult for them to be accepted back, so these shelters are a great step that brings them back and rehabilitates them to a place where they are strong again.

Anthony’s Advice On Direct Efforts To Rescue Victims
Anthony: (On attempts to rescue victims directly): I won’t do this anymore and I don’t recommend anyone else to do it. I think it’s unsafe and I think a lot of times it’s actually more detriment to the women.

Kyle Talks About What You Can Do To Help
Kyle: For people with good intentions out there, there are so many ways that your talents can be used that trying to make that rescue is probably futile and is most likely counter-productive.

Katrina: So based on your experience, you decided with your friends to start The Blind Project. Can you share a little bit more about what The Blind Project is and how it helps these women and the victims of sex trafficking?

Anthony: That title, the name of our organization, comes from the fact that we ourselves were a bit blind to this issue. So that is where the word comes up and also it’s because a lot of people don’t know about it. A lot of people don’t realize that this issue exists in this world today. So it’s part of our job to put the world out there and get people discussing about the issue.

Kyle: The secondary meaning of the idea of The Blind Project is not only that our eyes in the west were blind, but that these women are blind to the potential of what their life could be. A lot of them are trafficked at the age of eleven, twelve, thirteen years old, and they’re told that their only value is really in the brothel. So we want to open their eyes to the potential of what their life could be.

The Solution: Preventing Human Trafficking Through Skills Training & Dignified Work

We spent the last three years going back and forth with a bunch of trips, and learned a lot over the last three, four years, and have come to realize that the commercial sex trade has so many different elements to it. But I think one of the most pre-dominate elements is economic in nature.

And we’ve realized that what makes these women vulnerable to the sex trade is that they are living in abject poverty. And what is probably the biggest hurdle for them to come out of that if they can escape of if they are rescued is how can they put food on their table – for them and their families.

After hearing a lot of stories and meeting women face-to-face, and talking with a ton of organizations we felt that we should probably look at an economic solution. That is probably the best way that we can do our contribution to solve this problem.

Thank you so much Kyle and Anthony for sharing your insights and for time to do this interview.

Stay tuned for Part II of this interview with Kyle and Anthony. To learn more about another extraordinary organization that is creating economic opportunities as a way to prevent human trafficking, check out our previous interview with Eve Blossom, Founder of Lulan Artisans.

Anthony Dodero | Co-Founder, The Blind Project

About: Anthony co-founded The Blind Project, an organization that empowers survivors of the commercial sex trade in Southeast Asia through media and a new global fashion brand called Biographe. Website: www.TheBlindProject.org & www.BeABiographer.com

Kyle Westaway | Director of Business Development, The Blind Project

About: By day, Kyle is founder of Westaway Law and an attorney with experience focused on entertainment, small to mid-sized businesses and non-profits. After hours, Kyle leads business development efforts at The Blind Project, an organization comprised of passionate individuals who have joined together to contribute talents and skills to empower survivors of the commercial sex trade in Southeast Asia. Website: www.TheBlindProject.org & www.WestawayLaw.com

Women Deliver 2010, a global conference on maternal health, takes place in Washington DC this week, June 7-9, 2010. The theme of the conference is: “Delivering solutions for girls and women”, with a focus on political, economic, social/cultural, and technological solutions. To join the conference via live webcast, check out http://livestream.com/womendeliver or visit envisionGood where we will be featuring the live webcast.

What Is The Mission Of Women Deliver?

Launched at a groundbreaking conference in 2007, Women Deliver works globally to generate political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 — to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health. The initiative builds on commitments, partnerships, and networks mobilized at the conference, fighting to end the deluge of preventable deaths that kill between 350,000 – 500,000 girls and women from pregnancy-related causes every year. Women Deliver’s message is that maternal health is both a human right and a practical necessity for sustainable development.

Women Deliver 2010 builds on the success of the Women Deliver 2007 conference during which over 2,000 participants from 115 countries gathered to engage in discussions focused on Women’s and Newborn Health, Promoting Women in the World, Expanding Financial Resources, Advancing Human Rights, and Building Political Will. Participants in 2007 included more than 100 government officials from more than 30 countries. To follow Women Deliver 2010 conversations on Twitter, check out @womendeliver and #wd2010.