Indego Africa is a 501(c)(3) non-profit social enterprise that advances woman-owned cooperatives of African artisans toward sustainable, economic independence through market access and education. Indego Africa first partners with for-profit cooperatives of women artisans in Rwanda and markets and sells their handmade accessories and home décor products on its e-commerce site and to U.S. brands and retail chains, including Anthropologie, DANNIJO, J.Crew, Madewell, and Nicole Miller. Indego Africa then pools 100% of its profits from sales with donations to fund training programs for its partners in financial management, entrepreneurship, literacy, and computers – all of which are taught by Rwanda’s top university students.
Through their partnership with Indego Africa, artisan women entrepreneurs generate income through product sales to meet their families’ critical needs while also acquiring the necessary skills to run their own profitable businesses over the long-term. Indego Africa is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study and a recipient of the Fair Trade Federation’s Most Positive Change in a Producer Community Award and the Templeton Freedom Award in Social Entrepreneurship.
How can anyone make a difference in a world marked by genocide, civil war, refugee crises, disease epidemics? With conscience, hope, and sweat equity, Dr. Zachary Kaufman and the other contributors to this book have offered aid, created organizations serving victims of human rights violations, and learned from set-backs and failures. Their insight into challenges of sustainable fund-raising, organizational design and management, and skepticism about young Western volunteers can inspire and instruct others who hope to address suffering and injustice through initiative, analysis, and commitment.”