WorldCrafts
Using commerce to make a differece.
By Blake Tommey Photos by Cary Norton
Director: Andrea Mullins
What is it? WorldCrafts is a non-profit organization that imports and sells hand-made crafts created by artisans living in poverty all over the world. Mullins and her team provide a market to artisan groups from about 35 countries, selling items ranging from Christmas ornaments and jewelry to journals and table sets. “I’ve been to the poorest places of the world and seen what it is like to live in abject poverty,” Mullins says. “We provide people with a market and an income so they can have basic needs met such as food, shelter and healthcare.”
History: In 1996, a missionary in Thailand working among women exiting prostitution was impressed by intricate Christmas ornaments the women handmade. “She contacted our parent company, the Women’s Missionary Union, and asked if we would help sell the ornaments and bring the women out of poverty,” Mullins says.
WorldCrafts was born, and from one product in Thailand, the organization has expanded to more than 350 products.
What makes it unique? WorldCrafts is a member of the Fair Trade Federation and abides by fair trade principles with artisan groups. “Part of that means we’re here for the long-term,” Mullins explains. “You want to bring sustainable income to the people you work with, so we help our artisans develop new products, new designs and new colors. So as a product runs its two to three-year lifespan, they have new items ready to go.” Under fair trade principles, WorldCrafts also ensures artisans are given fair wages, humane working conditions and investment funding back into the production of new crafts.
WorldCrafts sells products through its catalog and website, where consumers can read stories from artisan groups all over the world, including India, Indonesia and China.
“Our business is not about the product. It’s about the people,” Mullins explains. “If you’re going to give a gift, why not buy something that is not only beautiful, but is also helping a woman leave prostitution or keeping a young girl from being sold into slavery by her father?”
A day in the life: Mullins and Production Coordinator Kristi Griem spend their days on Internet phone service Skype and email communicating with artisan leaders and assessing products. They negotiate a gamut of faith holidays, geography, languages, tsunamis and customs crises to place orders, analyze shipping costs, pay for raw materials and handle order mistakes. “These aren’t manufactured goods,” Mullins explains. “Business becomes very complex when you’re the one who puts food on their table, but the pay off is tremendous for our artisans.”
Staff size: Eight What’s ahead: Mullins and her team are not expanding to other countries but rather moving deeper into the countries from which they import and investing in their existing artisan groups.
