Day 3 Goods for a Cause: Article 22

Day 4 Goods for a Cause: Inhabitat

In my work as a social worker and a business coach I support leaders to run organizations that make a difference in the world.   In this season of giving, you can support one of the featured organizations in its  effort to do good works.   Each organization has fair-trade certification or has otherwise established that it pays its artisans a living wage.  Its products meets Western standards of taste and quality. Many of the organizations were founded by women.

Article 22 is a small social enterprise fashion company that creates luxurious, sustainable, hand-made products with natural dyes that are that are as chic as they are eco-friendly!  With Article 22 products there is “a traceable link” between artisan-producers and fashion-consumers. Every purchase supports the development of communities in Laos; products are fair-trade and green.

As an instructor in management at Antioch University Santa Barbara, I teach my students how to develop critical thinking skills and what managing a socially responsible organization means.   That is why Elizabeth Suda, the founder of ARTICLE 22, caught my attention.  She started to think about how, and by whom, the goods we consume are made while working in the Merchandising Department at Coach, Inc.

In 2008, she departed from her native New York and set off for Laos, where she worked and learned about hand weaving, natural dyeing and the role these and other crafts play in the sustainable, socio-economic development of traditional communities. While consulting for the RISE Project of Swiss NGO, Helvetas, Elizabeth saw artisans making spoons from war scrap metal. She had an idea: bracelets made from bombs that would tell a story, reconnect their buyers with history, and generate much needed income for artisan families.

I love scarves and one of their Mariner Striped Scarves caught my eye.  This striped scarf is made using indigo leaves to create different natural dyes of blue, green and purplish-black and is hand woven into variegated stripes that lend a contemporary aesthetic. This is a human-friendly item.

Watch this video to learn more about Laos and the Peace Bomb Bracelet Project of Article 22.  By the way, the organization is named after Article 22 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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We would love to hear what you think about Article 22 and the Goods for a Cause Holiday Blog!

Appreciatively,

Lynn

Dr. Lynn K. Jones is a Certified Personal and Executive Coach.  Her doctoral work completed at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University concerned organizational culture; she coaches, consults and trains organizations on what they need to do to create organizational cultures that are aligned with their vision and values.

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