Thursday, May 21, 2009
Are you a Social Entrepreneur?
Monday, May 18, 2009
All About the People - Economics I
Last weekend, Rebecca wrote that you can choose to make a difference. I’m going to pick up on that theme and take it a bit further.
We all know that we’re in the midst of the most serious economic downturn in most of our lifetimes. With sincere apologies to those who are out of work, and those who have seen their savings evaporate, let me suggest that things are much worse in other parts of the world.
Fair Trade helps to address this issue by ensuring that those who work get a living wage for their work. For an organization to achieve (and maintain) Fair Trade certification, it must demonstrate that a process is in place to determine that living wage which will then serve as a “minimum wage” for all its workers.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
All About the People - Choose to Make a Difference
Every day consciously or unconsciously we choose to “make a difference” in the lives of those who are close to our hearts. These thoughts-become-actions could take the form of a note of affirmation to your spouse or child greeting them on the bathroom mirror, a spontaneously-purchased macchiato for a co-worker, or simply delivering a “random act of kindness” to someone within your own community.
It is in this giving that we DO receive. It may come as a tender hug & kiss, an enthusiastic high-five, or an appreciative smile! All of these actions assist in building and maintaining relationships! But it does require something of each of us ~ a call to respond and to act!
Often in the hecticness of our lives we lose track that we are also residents of a much larger community ~ a global community! In our attempt to bring understanding to this concept, we as humans tend to “shrink our world” to a size we can comprehend. However, technology continually challenges us with the ever-expanding realization that we are all residents of a vibrant, diverse, colorful federation. Just as with living within our family and working communities, being residents of this global community has its accompanying social responsibility.
When we arrive at that place of acknowledging our residency and its corresponding responsibilities, most of us feel entirely overwhelmed! But if we can grasp that it is first and foremost “relationship”, it provides us with a framework on which everything is hung!
Previously we have spoken about “why (we) should care”. Through the establishment of its principles, Fair Trade assists in providing essential framework for implementing our social responsibility. Ulitilizing those principles, we at Kingdom Ventures, Inc. work to bring about economic empowerment to our suppliers through the vehicle of relationships. It is our heart to invest in the lives of others to bring hope, restore dignity, and plan for their economic sustainability.
As residents in this dynamic, diverse world-wide community, we each, at minimum, have one role to play. Economically it is the role of an educated and appreciative consumer! But it is not for your consumption alone. Catch the Fair Trade vision, invite others along on the live-changing journey, and together let us make it a priority to be deliberate in how we live, invest, shop ….and relate…in our global community!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Why should you care about Fair Trade?
- Alleviate poverty and create social and economic opportunities
- Create transparency and accountability at every stage of the trading chain
- Assist producers in learning how to access new markets
- Educate that Fair Trade can be a means towards improving living standards, health and education in many disadvantaged areas.
- Ensure that producers are paid a fair wage for their work.
- Support safe and healthy working conditions free from physical, psychological, sexual or verbal harassment.
- Respect and support the UN convention on the Rights of the Child
- Promote environmental sustainability
- Celebrate cultural diversity
These principles are very important to us and are the driving force behind why we work so hard at developing and promoting KVI.
According to a paper written by Terrence H. Witkowski for the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice in Fall 2005, despite promising trends, Fair Trade remains a relatively small industry, estimated at 0.01 percent of all world trade. This means there's a lot of room for growth - the industry is still characterized by networks of relatively small, non-profit organizations, rather than large profit making corporations.
We want to persuade you to join our cause and grow this industry. If perhaps not a retailer, as a consumer who makes the decision to buy Fair Trade.
Starting next week, in a feature entitled "All About the People" we will begin to show you our first hand accounts of how Fair Trade has made a difference in the lives of our suppliers. If you're going to choose to buy a fashionable piece or a unique gift why not let your purchase work two-fold - at keeping you trendy and helping someone earn a decent enough wage to support himself/herself and his/her family.