Growing up in a family of seven, sisters Beth Kapsch and Kristi Jo (KJ) Lewis know what it’s like to relate to others for the good of the community. Each grew up and dedicated their lives working with women and family policy issues and equitable international development. Beth worked at the Oregon Commission on Children and Families as an advocate and lobbyist for fair wage and responsible family policies, while KJ found her home in South Africa working for a non-profit launching domestic violence shelters in the Cape Flats townships.
The real seeds of Global Sistergoods were planted in 2005, when both sisters were in transition, contemplating their next move to help woman and family justice. Commenting on a trip to Africa, KJ stated: “The image of poor and helpless rural women did not reflect the strong and resilient African women I knew. If only the world knew their stories and the amazing work they do, perhaps perception would change.” A friend suggested, “Why not start a business and tell their stories through the crafts?” And that’s how it started–Beth and KJ’s business of being and promoting “change agents.”
In it’s fourth year, Global Sistergoods and it’s goal to advance economic development among economically disadvantage women artisans is thriving, even during tough economic times. Working with 18 different artisans or collectives on three continents, Global Sistergoods continues to differentiate itself in the fair trade market by emphasizing women as economic drivers in sustainable international development. Beth and KJ both know from experience that women who are disempowered economically have few choices, yet when these women are given opportunities, “they do not squander” and their communities thrive. The company provides technical assistance to the artisans–when required–on issues concerning exporting, quality control, setting price points, product design and development and shipping. Beth and KJ have noticed a change in customer’s manners with the change in the economy, however, people’s buying habits have started to benefit Global Sistergoods.
“People are being more careful about spending and looking for quality over quantity. People are voting with their dollar–a good thing for fair trade.”–KJ.
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Tags: fair trade retail, fair trade retailers, Global Sistergoods, Women and fair trade, women artisans
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great post, Ali! Well done, very interesting article.
Thanks, Josh! I think the story of Global Sistergoods is very empowering.