CARRYING FORWARD THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST

The new year is traditionally a time for setting intentions, resolving to make changes, and for creating a vision for the year ahead. On New Year’s Eve as my husband and I rang in 2020 with friends we’ve known for over 20 years, I was struck by the realization that it might not be so important to focus on what’s new, or what’s next, or what to change in the new year, but to focus instead what we’ve built to last.

Knowing most neighbors walked to her house for the party, our hostess Theresa forbid the group from making any Irish exits (aka. sneaking out without a word) before the clock struck midnight. When the countdown came and the confetti flew, I saw Theresa’s smile beaming beneath her New Year’s crown. Moments later, as a couple of guests rushed to find a broom and dustpan for confetti cleanup, she quickly stopped them, “please don’t, I just want to enjoy the sparkle until January 2!” Theresa reminded us that her husband had suffered serious health scares twice at the holidays, which made each new year worthy of a hardy and extended celebration. Her attitude of gratitude got me thinking about all of the things worth celebrating and keeping in the new year and in the new decade ahead.

The decade now behind us was my favorite so far. Three kids in and out of high school, three in college and one out. For me, 2019 was wonderful, and it was awful. On the wonderful side, I began the year celebrating my 16th year in business working with women around the world. I started a PhD program and also got the opportunity to teach business students at the University of Colorado for the first time. Talk about learning new things! However, my team and I all decided to exit Global Girlfriend due to differences with the parent company I had chosen to merge with years before. This was incredibly painful for me, but also necessary to live the values I believe in - especially in valuing the work of women artisans around the world.

I also turned 50. Reflecting on that milestone, the last decade taught me:

Time Flies

Work hard something you believe in

Go Places

Embrace change

Stay Curious

Don’t forget to take care of your body

I plan to carry these lessons with me and move into 2020 with gratitude striving to remember that:

Family & Friends Come First

There’s Always More to Learn

A life’s work takes a lifetime

Leaving Global Girlfriend was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. It felt like losing my identity and sense of purpose. But I’m still me, still here, still working as an advocate for women in the global economy. Doing something I’ve wanted to do since my late 20’s, which is pursing my PhD, now at 50. So my life’s work is in the middle, just like I hope my life to be, and there’s a lot to be grateful for in this time of change.

Here’s to a very Happy New Year of making an impact and making time for the things that matter most!

The problems artisan social enterprises face with getting certified for international buyers

There is no doubt that 3rd party certification programs were devised with the best of intentions. Since the late 1980’s/early 1990’s several fair trade, fair labor, organic, and ethical business certification and labeling organizations have been leading the charge in educating consumers on ethical business standards, while trying to serve as “watchdog” organizations calling out companies and factories who are using sub-par to inhumane labor practices.

The crafts and natural cosmetics industries are both growing sectors, each contributing $30 billion in trade, and social enterprises in Africa are at the forefront of these sectors. As the pioneers of ‘ethical business’, the craft and natural cosmetics sectors have been putting these standards into action long before there was even a name for it. With the increasing importance of transparency and because they’re closest to the start of the value chain – these social enterprises feel more and more pressure to align with and comply with these global standards, to get the label or seal for customers and consumers alike.

While some of these standards have some flexibility, for the most part they are often designed without understanding the complexities social enterprises may face when working towards compliance. There is often a need for substantial human and financial resources to ensure that the standards are implemented effectively – which is taxing on these businesses which already operate on narrow margins due to the social impact they are already creating with their employees and communities. Additionally, there is often an assumption that without these standards, these social enterprises may be exploiting and/or taking advantage of workers – when in reality, it’s not so black and white.

This is not to say there is not value in third party certifications and standards. Being able to demonstrate the impact which each social enterprise creates not only builds the credibility of these businesses but also gives them a tool to communicate exactly what they are doing (in the form of a globally recognized seal). But what becomes burdensome is the substantial investment of both time and money that social enterprises must invest to reach these standards – in addition to the need to fit into a ‘one size fits all’ approach by having not taking into context the different models of craft and natural cosmetics businesses.

Often, this pressure to comply comes from large retailers at the end of the value chain who want to demonstrate compliance with ethical standards consumers are asking for. In the era of asking ‘who made your clothes’ these retailers know that consumers want to know more about where their products are coming from – and these 3rd party assessments provide a global standard for this. But who is ultimately responsible for the cost?

Many of the social enterprises are already complying with most requirements of these standards but may not have the official seal or label to prove it. They often feel the pressure to bear the cost to acquire seals and labels because they need the business of these large customers – but it is difficult to find the support to help with the additional investment required for them to comply.

Let’s take the living wage for example, which most social enterprises are striving towards paying. Making an assumption that a substantial study, conducted by the social enterprise or other party, has already been conducted to determine what the living wage is within their country, the social enterprise now needs to work on increasing wages in a sustainable way – without putting too much pressure on the cashflow and finances of the business. This is not a process which can happen overnight and there is a delicate dance which needs to occur to increase marketing activities, to increase sales, to bring in more income in order to handle the required increase in wages. One solution would be to increase pricing, but this is a challenge as price increases are always dependent upon what the market is willing to pay and customers are in a position to simply not purchase products if prices become too high. A lot to think about, right?

A more effective and sustainable solution would be to develop standards that allow social enterprises to show the wage growth of their employees and producers vs. reaching an aspirational “living wage” since so many employees working in craft and natural cosmetics would have (or have had) no employment prior to the opportunities the social enterprises are creating.

The cost of creating impact and compliance, more often than not, sits with the social enterprise, regardless of the investment which they need to make in order to comply. But does it have to be this way? How can we work towards sharing the responsibility of impact along the value chain?

Standards and compliance should be a discussion between the buyer and the social enterprise, to understand the investment requirements for reaching compliance and work together to ensure that the strategy to achieve is realistic and manageable by the social enterprise.

Large retailers could provide financial support for the audit, financial support to make facility or process upgrades and make efforts to understand the social enterprises which they work with better. Instead of just stating ‘comply’, get to know the artisan business and the specific context in which they work. Providing additional ‘support’ will share the burden throughout the value chain – but not require substantial increase in pricing.

Standards need to be able adapt to different business contexts. Across Africa, the Middle East and the world – there are numerous models and organizational structures and the standard should not be a ‘one size fits all’. As previously mentioned - there should be a new understanding of employment looking at increasing wages, comparing what employees made before to their “growth wages” showing upward mobility instead of an arbitrary standard of a “living wage”.

Retailers could also add an “empowerment fund” component to their pricing adding a $1 give back to social enterprises for products sold or some other creative solution that helps them market their involvement to consumers and gives support back to the organizations. This provides an increase per product for the social enterprise, while being transparent to consumers on where their money is going.

Increase the transparency throughout the value chain – social enterprises at producer level are expected to provide information and documentation on their good business practices; why can’t this happen at the top of the value chain as well? It’s happening more with certifications such as B Corp and WFTO, but could this become the new normal?

Engage more government and non-profit certifies to get involved in the certification process, perhaps offering subsidies, scholarships or grants to achieve these 3rd party certifications and standards. Let’s think in innovative ways – perhaps certified companies that see a result in sales can sponsor smaller businesses following in the footsteps? Let’s just share the burden rather than having it sit on the back of the companies.

If there is increased demand to see a certificate, a label or a seal to show consumers that products are from ‘ethical business’ then the responsibility should be shared with every player who is involved in bringing that product to market. I’ve said this before and will continue to spread the word - we’re stronger together and working to find a solution which works for everyone is going to be the key to driving impact and encourage more suppliers to get on board with compliance.