Tapping into the power of social networks and social media to reach millions online worldwide, MASSIVEGOOD launched today with the goal to raise awareness and funds to support UNITAID’s life-saving efforts to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.

Created via a private-public partnership between leaders in the travel and tourism industry and the Millennium Foundation, MASSIVEGOOD is a global platform that gives travelers in the United States an opportunity to donate $US 2 dollars when purchasing a travel product such as a flight, car rental, or hotel booking. Following the launch in the United States, the Millennium Foundation reports it will also be launching MASSIVEGOOD later this year in UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain. With over 700 million flights purchased each year by travelers worldwide, the potential to raise awareness and funds for global health is significant.

UNITAID, an organization created in 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly to provide additional funding to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, is the beneficiary of funds raised through MASSIVEGOOD. Currently supporting 3 out of 4 children on AIDS treatments globally, UNITAID has committed over $US 200 million dollars to treating people with tuberculosis as well. When every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria, every 15 seconds a person dies from tuberculosis, and every 13 seconds a person dies from HIV/AIDS, the need is urgent for funds to address these global diseases.

MASSIVEGOOD makes it easy for millions of travelers around the globe to make a micro-donation of $US 2 to help treat people who suffer from malaria, tb, and HIV/AIDS.

It will be interesting to see going forward how other professional sectors and public organizations find creative ways to form partnerships and leverage the power of social media and social networks to address pressing global issues of our day. Do you know of other examples of public-private partnerships that aim to solve global issues? Please let us know by leaving a comment below, thanks.

Bravo to the thousands of volunteers worldwide who are assisting with translating Creole mobile text messages to help people in Haiti following the devastating 7.0M earthquake that struck the nation on January 12. 2010.

Many may not have heard of Mission 4636, but this is where a lot of the most remarkable work is taking place. Mission 4636 is a short code emergency response communication system that enables earthquake victims in Haiti to get life-saving aid by sending a free mobile text message. It’s a joint-project of Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS, CrowdFlower and Samasource.

Mission 4636 — named for one of the SMS short codes for Haiti relief efforts — is an outstanding example of global collaboration and the power of human ingenuity to help people and save lives through technology. A huge “hats off” to the volunteers and organizations noted above, as well as to the many other organizations that have come together to make Mission 4636 successful: inSTEDD, DigiCel, local radio networks, local NGOs and the many emergency responders.

In this video interview, Brian Herbert of Ushahidi, Robert Munro of FrontlineSMS, Lukas Biewald of CrowdFlower, and Leila Janah of Samasource share background on how they came together with the support of other organizations on the ground in Haiti to deploy a critical emergency communications system to help save lives and provide emergency resources to people following the catastrophic 7.0M earthquake. This is a massive effort across multiple non-profit and for-profit companies, individual volunteers from around the country and globe (more than 14 countries have been involved in translation).

In the weeks following the tragedy, text messages to the dedicated Haiti emergency short code 4636 increased 10% each day – with about one text a second coming through. Technology and people power are playing a critical role in getting information to military and aid workers on the ground. Beyond the immediate help for people in need in Haiti, the program will build computer centers so Haitian refugees can do valuable digital work, get paid, and bolster the economy around them.

The Full Transcript

Interview #1 with Brian Herbert: Web Developer | Ushahidi

Katrina:Here we are with Brian of Ushahidi. Can you share with us Brian, what is your role and what is Ushahidi?

Brian:Okay, so I’m a web developer with Ushahidi. And Ushahidi is a platform that allows anyone to crowdsource crisis information, or crowdsource anything really, using a mobile phone.

Katrina:

Can you explain, how does Mission 4636 work?

Brian: What happens is that someone on the ground in Haiti will send in a text message of their location and their needs to “4636″, that populates a que that is mostly all Creole messages that we can’t read because we speak English. The volunteers will take the messages, they’ll translate them, and add any additional notes, they’ll categorize them. And when it goes to Ushahidi, we have some volunteers at Tufts University and they do a little bit more in-depth research into each message and we pass it on to the Coast Guard or Southern Command, and they’ll do emergency response.

Katrina:

How did the collaboration come together so quickly between FrontlineSMS, Ushahidi, Samasource, and CrowdFlower?

Brian: After the earthquake hit, Josh Nesbit of FrontlineSMS came to us with the opportunity to use a short code to collect this information to be put into Ushahidi. But the only problem was that everything was in Creole so we had to get everything translated. So from that point we had to develop some software which is before CrowdFlower and Samasource came along. We started translating the messages that we’re coming in and sending them to Ushahidi and inSTEDD with the Thomson Reuters Foundation using the Emergency Information Service.

Katrina: I understand that a lot of the cell networks were down, right? Originally. So how did you get the word out that this service existed? How did you let people know to call or text message “4636″?

Brian: So in the very beginning, Nicoletti Tata with inSTEDD was actually on the ground at Port au Prince airport. And he was able to go out to various radio stations and have them broadcast the number to have people text in their location and needs. And that’s how we’ve been doing it so far: through the radio channels. And also through the diaspora here in the United States and Canada they’re letting their friends and family know.

Interview #2 with Robert Munro: Translation Volunteer Coordinator | FrontlineSMS

Robert: So my role right now is coordinating all the translators who are reading every single messsage as they come in, translating them, geo-coding them, and then passing them on to the teams that coordinate the emergency response.

Katrina:

Why did you look to crowdsourcing as a way to translate messages?

Robert: So with FrontlineSMS, we’re looking at ways to automate the processing of messages but this is not easy when you get a lot of variation as you do in Creole between spellings. So we had to make the decision very early on to crowdsource rather than automate the process.

Katrina: How did you partner with Samasource to assist with this crowdsourcing effort?

Robert: Samasource wasn’t onboard early on. We just managed to find all our volunteers
through connections with different social networks. It was very viral – the volunteers themselves took it upon themselves to make known that this effort was going on and spread the word.

Katrina: How are you partnering with Samasource and CrowdFlower?

Robert: CrowdFlower and Samasource have been partnering together for some time. Samasource had already been training a team of about 100 people in Haiti for micro-tasking. So, the opportunity to move away from volunteers to relying on paid workers in country, creating jobs and adding local knowledge to the further evolution of this project has been a wonderful process.

Katrina: What has been the biggest success of Mission 4636?

Robert: I think the biggest success has been the way that people from all around the world have been able to come together and make a very real-time difference at a very remote location in the world, saving people’s lives.

Katrina: So, in addition to the technology of the platform you’re using to power Mission 4636, you’re also taking advantage of social media and social networking, and perhaps other tools where people are able to find out about volunteer opportunities through Mission 4636. Are people using Twitter, Facebook, things like that?

Robert: They’re using both and Facebook has been great. Certainly, the ability to connect to people remotely and put out messages like this has been instrumental in getting many volunteers involved.

Interview #3 with:
Lukas Biewald: Founder | CrowdFlower
Leila Janah: Founder | Samasource

Katrina:

What’s next for Mission 4636?

Leila: The project started off with volunteer translators from around the world. And Samasource specializes in providing digital work opportunities for the people who need them most. So we thought it would be amazing if we could get Haitians who are on the ground and affected by the earthquake and who have lost their livelihoods to earn money by doing these translations.

And so we had actually accepted a partner organization called “1000 Jobs Haiti”, which is affiliated with Paul Farmer’s group, Partners in Health, about twenty minutes before the earthquake happened. And right afterwards they told us that people in Haiti need jobs now more than ever. And there have been people fleeing Port au Prince and arriving in neighboring towns like Mirebalais where our partner is based with no livelihood and no future job prospects. So jobs are really at the core of rebuilding Haiti. And as tragic as the earthquake was, it’s really exciting that we can use this as an opportunity to create jobs. So we’re shipping Netbooks – twenty Netbooks I think are scheduled to arrive in Port au Prince next week and we’ll have internet access running in Mirebalais the following week and between fifteen and twenty paid Haitian translators working on “Mission 4636″ text messages as their first contract before the month is over. And we hope to be able to transition them to other kinds of digital work after that.

Katrina:

What is the business model for this? Is the State Department or who is supporting this initiative?

Leila: Well a number of aid organizations actually need this information and it’s really costly for them to send their people out on the ground looking for disaster victims, so I think this system makes relief much more efficient. And so perhaps some of the money that would have been allocated to having extra people in the field to deal with this can now be allocated to paying for this translation. And in the future this might be a model that governments can fund for 911 or similar emergency response services.

Katrina: That’s amazing.

So this platform is completely revolutionizing the way that emergency response takes place, first of all, and with rebuilding efforts.

I can’t imagine with previous natural disasters it didn’t seem like there was a really quick way, a communications systems in place to respond as quickly. And you’ve demonstrated with your partnerships that that’s possible.

How do you see future emergency response delivery?

Lukas: You know, I had never thought of this application of our technology, and it feels really good. It feels like a natural use of our routing and our quality control and our task-doing software. It’s a great application, and we’d love to see it used for something that saves lives.

Leila: And likewise, this is a really exciting application of paid crowdsourcing. You know, having the crowd be Samasource workers is really exciting for us. And the workers needn’t be in the same location as the disaster. In this case it happens to be really useful because Haitian Creole is not really spoken outside of the Haitian community. But one can imagine other situations where the disaster response is crowdsourced, and maybe the crowd is some combination of people in-country and out-of-country in order to get the fastest results.

Lukas: Yeah, there’s something really powerful about imagining that a disadvantaged person in the Congo, for example, could help someone in Haiti. I mean we obviously haven’t gotten to the point where that’s something that’s set up yet, but there’s something that feels really amazing about that.

Katrina: Is there anything else you’d like to add? Any parting thoughts that you’d like to share?

Leila: I really think this whole project is not just an example of the power of crowdsourcing to be manifested in new ways like in disaster response, but also the power of social media and the new technology we have. I mean, between Skype and Twitter and Google Documents, we’ve been able to collaborate with people that I’ve never met in person, and I think Lukas has just met a tiny fraction of them in person. And that would never have been possible even just a couple of years ago.

Mission 4636: Helping People in Haiti | Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS, CrowdFlower, Samasource

About: Mission 4636 is a short code emergency response communication system that enables earthquake victims in Haiti to get life saving aid by sending a free mobile text message. Mission 4636 is a joint-project of Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS, CrowdFlower, and Samasource. Website: www.samasource.org/haiti

I had the good fortune to meet with Maria Glauser, Co-Founder of The Hub Oaxaca, via Skype this week. Maria is leading a panel at the upcoming social venture capital/social enterprise conference, Connection Miami. In this video interview, Maria shares insights on Mexican business culture and explains how social entrepreneurs need to consider unique cultural factors when doing business in Latin America. Thank you, Maria, for your time to meet for this interview!

The Full Transcript

Katrina: Thank you so much for joining me, Maria. You are the Co-Director of The Hub in London. However, you are currently in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Maria: Yes, that’s correct. I worked in London for the last five years, before I moved to Oaxaca, Mexico three months ago. In London I was working with a team of people there, particularly Jonathan who is one of the co-founders of The Hub. So it was basically five years of starting up what we thought was a local organization at the beginning. But that inspired other people around the world. And, as you know, there are about fifteen and growing, the number of Hubs around the world – inspired by what we did in London.

Three months ago I came to Oaxaca, which in a way I came back to Latin America where I’m from. I’m originally from Paraguay. So I’m here, helping the team here start up their Hub, supporting them, and in a way “Latin-izing” the experience of The Hub to make sure it’s truly a global organization. Really, adapting the model to the realities of a small city in Mexico.

Katrina:

Fantastic. And what is the landscape of social enterprise as a business model in Mexico, and in Oaxaca specifically?

Maria: It’s completely different. For a business model for the The Hub based in Europe, where space is an issue – any city based in Europe is going to be full of people. So The Hub has a self-sustaining model based on the income of the membership. Whereas in Mexico, space is not an issue, it is full of free spaces, beautiful public spaces. People are used to getting any culture, or support, or any of those things for free. So we really need to re-think the way we’re doing The Hub here to make sure it’s adapted to the local economy but without losing the self-sustainability of the project.

Katrina: And, what got you interested in social enterprise to begin with, Maria? How did you become involved yourself?

Maria: I grew up in a house where that was, where social issues were the topic of every conversation – during lunchtime, evening. Both my mom and my dad were involved in founding fifteen or twenty organizations (like this one: iniciativa-amotocodie.org). It’s only recently or lately since I got to London that I understood more about this social enterprise model where you can combine elements from for-profits and not-for-profits.

Katrina:

Is this a new model in Mexico, or have a lot of Mexican business people been doing it this way for a long time – the idea of bridging business with social impact?

Maria:It’s actually very new. So in Oaxaca particularly the business sector is very small, it’s very traditional. Say, the people who have been in power, or have the businesses, have always had them and they are doing it (business). The social sector is very grassroots. So there’s a big disconnection where the money and power is and where the social sector is. So, I think the challenge and opportunity for The Hub here is to connect both worlds, as we’re proving to be doing fine by coordinating events and engaging the people.

Katrina: And, how did you choose Oaxaca, out of all the places in Latin America you could have started?

Maria: Because of a great writer who lives here. I’m on his rooftop right now. This is his office: Gustavo Esteva and the team here. I had read about them. I read a lot of essays and books he wrote about education and how society could be different, and about autonomy and radical democracy – issues that were really attractive to me for a long time. So when I was in London, about three years ago I decided to come here for a month as a sabbatical to learn all about him and we worked together for awhile. And when I was here I met a group of people who already had the idea of starting something like The Hub, without knowing The Hub, so we connected both ideas.

Katrina:

You’ve been in this sector for quite some time, what insights or lessons learned can you share?

Maria: Advice I can give to people, is to ask. Engage with other people. Conversations and events are a fantastic way of getting to know other people who are interested in the same thing you are.

Katrina: A lot of the things you’re shared are pretty universal, whether you’re in London or Oaxaca or San Francisco – the idea of talking with people and reaching out and collaborating. What are some of the cultural differences from your experience of working in say, London, and in Oaxaca?

Are there any unique cultural differences that social entrepreneurs need to take into consideration beyond the Spanish language?

Maria: Big ones. There are big ones. Particularly around time and timing of projects and engaging. I can tell you about one story, one little story, of a particular event. We were at an event at the newly opened Hub here and there were two people trying to offer advice and support to a member project who was doing a cycling project, part of a cycling movement here. And, he was petrified. There were two girls trying to give him, like “hey, I can give put you in touch with this guy, you can follow up on this, and I’ll send you an email…” And that’s the London way, the northern way of doing things. It’s quick, fast, I just met you and I give you all these contacts, I’m really good, bye. (smile) And the guy was petrified, he could not even answer. So I had to step in and say, “thank you girls, thank you so much, we’ll think about it and see how we do”.

Later on talking with him I understood that according to the culture here, if you don’t spend a day with someone understanding the project that they do, you can’t offer help because it doesn’t work. You need to really respect that, engage with them, praise the work they’re doing, value it, and then think about your own ideas.

Katrina: It’s always great to look at role models and mentors to help us as we’re embarking on new endeavors. Who are your mentors – you mentioned the writer you are staying with now.

Do you have any other mentors or role models who you can talk about and how they’ve influenced your work?

Maria: Well, I think Gustavo Esteva is definitely one, he’s one of my main ones. I think there are going to be many throughout life because we change as well. One of the constant ones, I think, has also been my mom and my dad, just because of their example, and the discipline of persevering. And in terms of inspiration, just everyday people – the members of any Hubs I’ve visited are very inspiring and they are the reason we are bothering, really.

Katrina: Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise is coming up in Miami in March, and you’re planning to attend. What are you looking forward to most?

Maria: Meeting with my project partners. We’re just about to start a new project, creating a community of Hubs in Latin America. So we’re going to be meeting after many months of not seeing each another. Also, I look forward to hosting our panel, we’re hosting a panel on what we’re doing there [in Latin America] and anyone who’s interested is invited to come co-create with us what this community of Hubs in Latin America might look like, how to adapt the model, what partnerships, what’s the business model around it, what partnerships can we do, who wants to help, who wants to get help. So I think [this conference] is an important meeting point for the region.

Katrina:Wonderful. We’ll look forward to seeing you. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet.

Maria:You’re welcome.

Maria Glauser | Co-Founder, The Hub Oaxaca [Mexico]:

About: Hub Oaxaca seeks to establish a space and a network that connects, supports and inspires those with a passion for creating social change in Oaxaca, in Mexico and beyond. Website: www.huboaxaca.wordpress.com

I’m always intrigued by the behind-the-scenes story that leads smart and ambitious entrepreneurs to launch their ventures. Last week I had the good fortune to meet up with the delightful Carol Tran, Founder of ChicMeetsGeek, to learn how she became inspired to start a business aimed at bringing together her two worlds of cultural chic and intellectual geek.

A biotech attorney by day, Carol is also a board member of the San Francisco Opera and can be found geeking out at Hack-a-thon events at Google. In this video interview, Carol tells us about her newest venture, ChicMeetsGeek, which aims to bring together San Francisco’s cultural and intellectual communites – while at the same time, raising money for a local non-profit. Proceeds from the silent auction at ChicMeetsGeek’s upcoming event on February 4th will support non-profit, Build.org. See you there!

(Photo thanks to IFRC Flickr Creative Commons.)
Across the world, our hearts are broken for Haiti. For a people who have suffered so much and lived on so little for generations, it’s incomprehensible to imagine the added devastation of the 7.0 earthquake that hit the country last week. Many blogs have provided excellent posts on ways to help, including this post from Care2.

As events unfold each day, we’ve learned that the best way to help immediately is via cash donations to highly respected organizations like Partners in Health and Doctors Without Borders. Both organizations have a stellar reputation for effectiveness, integrity, a long-term established presence in the country, and success in achieving results.

The second question therefore is, “in what other ways can I help?”

Here are a number of other ways to help:

1. Help find missing people by tagging photos. Visit The Extraordinaries.
2. Volunteer your time and skills over the next 12 months. Search Global Volunteer Network. Also, Habitat for Humanity is expected to have opportunities to volunteer in coming months – updated info to be released soon.
3. Volunteer in design, engineering, or construction in the coming months. Visit Architecture for Humanity.
4. Recycle old mobile phones to provide disaster relief in Haiti.
5. Visit Care2 and click daily: with each click, sponsors donate to earthquake relief through Oxfam.
6. Provide relief to Haiti via iPhone app CauseWorld. Sponsors donate, you choose the cause (select Relief for Haiti).
7. Organize a fundraiser to support Partners in Health, a highly respected organization that has been working in Haiti for over twenty years.
8. Medical suppliers are requested to donate supplies. Check out the list of supplies needed by Partners in Health.
9. Download Music for Relief featuring Linkin Park, Alanis Morissette, and More Top Artists: Proceeds go to Haiti Relief.
10. If you play social games on Zynga, spruce up your farm, fish, or poker game with special virtual goods that support Haiti Relief efforts.
11. Stay informed. Great sources of info include Facebook Global Disaster Relief and New York Times.
12. Spread the word of ways to help via Facebook, Twitter, and word of mouth.

Know of other ways to help? Please leave a comment, thanks!

(9: 20)

Q: What are you hearing from your people regarding the (security) and slow pace of this? – Katie Couric

A: We’re speaking to our folks on the telephone daily via satellite phones… The overwhelming message we’re getting from our folks on the ground … is of the really extraordinary peacefulness and calm. Two of my colleagues said that the first two nights, the only noise coming from areas where there are 50,000 people lying in varying degrees of terrible distress with cradling loved ones and everything else, is that of singing, of taking care of one another, of washing each other, of great comforting of a community – not even taking care of only family members, but of really taking care of one another. – Ophelia Dahl, President, Partners in Health

Thanks to Noel Cunningham of the Cunningham Foundation, I was recently introduced to Ashley Shuyler, the Founder & Executive Director of AfricAid, a Colorado-based non-profit focused on providing sustainable educational opportunities for girls in Tanzania.

Ashley is a vibrant and dedicated social entrepreneur who is currently returning to Tanzania to continue the work of AfricAid as they prepare to launch the Kisa Project, a new venture focused on capturing and sharing the stories of African girls through digital storytelling.  At twenty four years old, Ashley was inspired to start AfricAid following travels to Tanzania with her family when she was eleven years old. Her passion to use her skills to make a difference in the lives of others is an example of a new generation of up and coming social entrepreneurs who are pioneering new methods of community engagement and economic development on a local and global scale.

In support of its mission, AfricAid provides funding for scholarships, school building projects, leadership training, vocational and teacher training, school supplies, school lunch programs, and works in conjunction with the local initiatives of Tanzanians and other African leaders committed to education.

Ashley Shuyler, Founder of AfricAid:

About: AfricAid supports girls’ education in Africa in order to provide young women with the opportunity to transform their own lives and the futures of their communities. Website: www.africaid.com

Music is one of the most universal languages we have: it brings people together, transcending cultures, borders, continents, and more. An amazing gift, music can set the scene, lift one’s spirits, and connect people, without even requiring an exchange of words. Given how much I love music, I’m especially thrilled to be attending the annual San Francisco Music Tech Summit on December 7th. I look forward to meeting entrepreneurs and innovators in music, as well as learning about new business models that are evolving within the industry. I’m also looking forward to hearing about new online music services that are emerging in the face of lightening-speed changes in technology.

The SF MusicTech Summit brings together visionaries in the music-technology space, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. SF Music Tech is: music + business + technology, all rolled into one. What could possibly be better than that?! It’s gonna rock!

To join this awesome event, register at the following link and be sure to add discount code “envisionGood” for 15% off : http://sfmts5.eventbrite.com/

This interview is Part III in a 3-Part series. In this video interview, social entrepreneur Eve Blossom tells us about her social enterprise Lulan.com. Specifically, Eve outlines her distribution strategy to sell Lulan products around the world. By sourcing from local communities in southeast Asia, Lulan is creating jobs, strengthening communities, and helping to prevent human trafficking.

Eve Blossom, Founder of Lulan Artisans:

About: Lulan creates sophisticated contemporary designs in order to enhance the economic development and quality of life of the weavers, spinners, dyers and finishers they work with in southeast Asia. Website: www.lulan.com

The Full Transcript

Katrina: Hi everyone, this is Katrina of envisionGood. This is Part II of a three-part series with social entrepreneur, Eve Blossom. Eve is a friend of mine and she’s a designer, and a business woman. And she’s leveraging business and design to help prevent human trafficking. Here we are with Eve of Lulan Artisans.

[Excerpt from Part I]

Eve:

I witnessed first-hand human trafficking – the sale of a young, little girl. That was when I was living in Asia. And it was at that moment that I realized that these artisan groups that I wanted to work with are actually at-risk of falling into human trafficking. And when I did the research of human trafficking, I realized that economic option is the key.

Part II:

Katrina:

What insights can you share with aspiring social entrepreneurs?

Eve: I have a lot to say to young social entrepreneurs who … If they are interested in this issue, contact me. Copy my model. The more of us, the more we are doing this work, the better. My objective is for people to look at Lulan and say, “wow this can be done” and “this can scale” and “we can make a huge impact and we can make a difference”. And if there are thousands of Lulan type of companies, then we’re going to be successful.

And what I always say to people is, so I’m using textiles and design, but you can use jewelry, you can use lighting, you can use furniture, you can use metal, you can use glass, you can use anything, pottery, I mean basketry. You can use anything. There are millions and millions of artisans around the world. So my message is: Come join. Come do.”

Katrina:Thank you so much, Eve.

Eve:Thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to tell the story.

Eve Blossom, Founder of Lulan Artisans:

About: Lulan creates sophisticated contemporary designs in order to enhance the economic development and quality of life of the weavers, spinners, dyers and finishers they work with in southeast Asia. Website: www.lulan.com

Human trafficking, according to the United Nations, involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transfering, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. In essence, human trafficking is modern-day slavery, most often sex slavery, and to a lesser degree, forced labor and other forms of slavery. A recent report by the U.S. State Department indicates that approximately 12.3 million people (mostly women and children) worldwide are victims of sex slavery, and forced or bonded labor each year. The current recession is boosting global human trafficking, according to this report.

How does a company like Lulan Artisans prevent human trafficking? How can design and textiles help build communities, create jobs, provide health care, & provide education? In this interview with social entrepreneur Eve Blossom, founder of Lulan Artisans, Eve shares the story of how she started her social enterprise. Eve explains that by creating jobs for over 800 people in southeast Asia, Lulan provides critical economic opportunities that help prevent the desperation that often leads people to fall into human trafficking.

The Full Transcript:

Katrina: Here we are with Eve of Lulan Artisans. [What is the story of Lulan Artisans?]

Eve: I was lucky enough as an architect to be able to live and work and travel throughout Southeast Asia. And meet these weavers, artisans, and saw the quality of their work and the incredible techniques they used. And how sustainable they were because they use this process they’ve used for centuries. And I thought, what they’re lacking is actually the skill that I have – which is design and understanding other markets and distribution and understanding what would sell in the West, and also understanding the fresh, trendy color ways, and contemporary designs. So, I decided that we could actually partner, and create a really great economic opportunity for these artisans.

It took many years for me to start my company, because they were not ready, the market was not ready, and I was not ready. So I actually went to business school, and I would do my research, and I would get back to them and see where they were, do they understand duty, do they understand importing, do they understand exporting, do they understand dye lot issues, deliverables.

We started working together, and I decided I would launch my company. I really looked at the market, and decided around 2003-2004 that the market was ready. So I did a collection with these textile consultants and we started the business.

Katrina: Can you share a little bit about the artisans who you work with? How did you find the artisans?

Eve: What we did when we started the company we started working in four different countries: we are in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and then we added India, since we launched. And we’re working with now over 800 spinners, dyers, and finishers. This is hand-woven, high quality, low-impact dyes that we use.

The artisans – how I found them was over a long period of time because I was researching the market, how to work with them, and if the market was ready. And in doing so, I would collect these cooperatives names and I would go through other NGOs and nonprofits and I would find them. And over the years another village or town would say, “you should look at this group.” And, I’ve built a really great relationship over the years with them.

Katrina:

How has this business over the years impacted the lives of the artisans you work with?

Eve:

I witnessed first-hand human trafficking – the sale of a young, little girl. That was when I was living in Asia. And it was at that moment that I realized that these artisan groups that I wanted to work with are actually at-risk of falling into human trafficking. And when I did the research of human trafficking, I realized that economic option is the key.

And you actually have to be in the villages, towns and the cities. Because there’s urban migration that’s happening, and people do come to the cities. And there’s certain places where there are these influxion points as we call it – and people can fall into trouble, right.

So when one group is moving from a town to a city, or a village to a city, they can get themselves into trouble. But there are opportunities to keep people in villages and towns, and not everybody wants to go to the city. So we believe in our business model, we need to be in all three places. So the countries that I am in , Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and India, are countries with some of the worst human trafficking issues. So we feel those are the right countries to be in. And so what we believe in is just creating jobs, it’s just about economic options. And when you do that, we do it for the whole community.

So we’re not just hiring women. We’re hiring women and men, because they then see the value in it. The men are actually the dyers and finishers. And then when you do that, safety comes from a community, so you really want to make a community strong.

So we’re doing education for the kids of the weavers. We pay for the books, uniforms, and monthly fees. We also do housing allowances. And in some places we’re doing women’s literacy classes, day care, health care. We don’t do everything for all groups. We let them choose what’s meaningful to them.

Katrina:

And all these [community services] are supported by the sale of the products?

Eve: Yes, so we’re a for-profit social venture. And the reason we believe strongly in this model is that it’s the right model to teach the weavers and the artisans. So, for example, when they work with us they learn about market forces. They learn what sells in a market, why a color doesn’t sell. If a color is off, they understand that it doesn’t sell because it’s off. And they’re learning so much, they’re becoming so savvy.

You know, human trafficking is a marketplace. And unfortunately, the commodity is a person. So I decided to create an alternative marketplace in order to prevent human trafficking. We believe in prevention. That’s where we do most of our work.

Katrina:

Do you find that there’s a backlash from the human traffickers themselves?

Eve:No. Because all we’re doing is, it makes it better for the government, it makes it better for the country, all we’re doing is creating jobs. As long as we stay on the economic side, we’re fine. It’s just about job creation and community strengthening.

Eve Blossom, Founder of Lulan Artisans:

About: Lulan creates sophisticated contemporary designs in order to enhance the economic development and quality of life of the weavers, spinners, dyers and finishers they work with in southeast Asia. Website: www.lulan.com