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Global Goods Partners is a social enterprise dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by strengthening women-led development initiatives for marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

History
Global Goods Partners was founded in 2005 by Catherine Lieber Shimony and Joan Shifrin. They founded the Global Goods Partners as a result of their experiences in previous projects both women were involved with while employed by nonprofit organizations like The Global Fund for Children (GFC) and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS).

Collaborating in these projects brought the founders into contact with women in several countries across the globe who were supporting themselves by producing various products in community based organizations (CBOs) and microenterprises.


Prior to founding Global Goods, both of us worked for years as development professionals, focusing on everything from child labor issues to disaster relief. Our jobs took us to different parts of the world, where we met amazing women who were creating beautiful, exquisitely made items. These women were “amazing” not just because of their talent but because of their spirit. Despite poverty and great odds, they were supporting themselves and their families and trying to find new ways to improve their lives. On many occasions, the women were working as part of community-based organizations or microenterprises, which not only provided them with training and support, but also offered healthcare and education programs for their children. These organizations were making a real, measurable impact, not just in terms of greater income for the women, but also as agents of positive change in their communities.
-Catherine Shimony & Joan Shifrin, founders, GGP



The GGP founders expanded these already thriving concepts and founded the organization in order to create and sustain markets in the US for the produced goods with a strong emphasis on fair trade and conscious shopping.

Vision
GGP believes that improving the financial status of women globally is an integral part of eradicating poverty and building civil society: a broadly representative civil society cannot be created without the voices of women. At its roots, women’s empowerment is about women gaining the skills and confidence to develop themselves as human beings and challenging existing male-dominated power structures in order to participate fully as equals, in their families, communities, and countries. Supporting women’s cooperatives and microenterprises is one way of promoting empowerment. When women receive the tools to learn a craft, manage their finances, or start and run a business they gain experience, confidence, practical skills, and economic independence. These skills and experience enable women to move beyond achieving simple economic improvements to making a real positive impact on the well-being of their families and their communities.

Work

As a non-profit organization, Global Goods Partners pursues its mission by partnering with community based organizations (CBOs), associations, and cooperatives worldwide that integrate their commitment to community development – specifically, improvements in education, health, women’s rights, and employment opportunities with socially responsible income-generating enterprises. GGP provides its partners with direct access to new markets in the United States, increasing both their revenue and global awareness of their work. GGP goes beyond that of the typical grant-maker or fair trade organization.
Rather than simply sell products or fund programs, GGP:

•Provides added revenue, capacity-building grants, and technical assistance to promote the long-term success of its partners’ income-generating and community-development work, with the goal of achieving financial stability

•Supports community-based initiatives for meaningful learning, improved healthcare, equal participation of women in society, and safe and fair employment;

•Offers individuals, schools, organizations, and companies in the US easy and engaging ways to learn about global issues, promote social justice, and improve lives around the world;

•Offers schools and nonprofit organizations innovative fundraising programs to generate funds for their operations.

Community Based Organizations
Global Goods’ partners are community-based organizations, social enterprises, and artisan cooperatives that pair the production and sale of handcrafted items with local development programs to improve the quality of life in their communities. CBO partners are addressing long-term solutions to the social, political, and economic inequities that exist in their communities and countries.

CBOs uphold core fair-trade principles, including paying fair wages, providing clean and safe workplaces, and respecting the environment. Beyond helping women and families to earn a fair and reliable income, CBOs use revenue to offer programs and activities that advance the long-term, sustainable development of their communities. The majority of GGP’s partners maintain a strong focus on the well-being of women, and in many cases are also founded, led, and managed by women. Examples of their programs include:

•Literacy programs for women

•Health care and education for families and children

•Activities to address women’s rights and gender equality

•Business training and microenterprise development

•Educational support for school-going children

•Early childhood development

•Leadership training and advocacy

GGP has direct and transparent communication with all of its partners and has made site visits to a majority of them to learn firsthand about their program activities and enterprise operations. All of the CBOs are managed by local leaders and engage their communities in program activities and advocacy, addressing the needs of the most marginalized populations while preserving the local environment. Significantly, each CBO is actively working toward the UN Millennium Development Goals in their communities.

An example of a GGP CBO is Minga Peru, a grassroots human rights organization in the Peruvian Amazon. The Minga women use natural resources in their rainforest environment to make handbags and jewelry and GGP helps them access both the local and global market. In this way, GGP provides much needed revenue both to individual producers and to Minga’s training programs in human rights, health, and the sustainable management of resources. To date, Minga has improved reproductive health care by training over 500 women to serve as primary health educators; influenced thousands of community members to exercise their human rights through an award winning radio show, Bienvenida Salud; and promoted increased understanding of reproductive health in the Amazon.

Education/Fundraisers
In addition to supporting CBOs in the Global South, GGP partners with educational institutions. Educational content is incorporated into all of GGP’s marketing pieces and product packaging in order to raise awareness of the economic, social and political challenges that the CBOs face.

GGP’s primary markets are school fundraisers, special events, and corporate sales. The school fundraisers are specially designed to engage children at an educational level by encouraging active global responsibility—raising funds for their schools, educating their community about important global issues and supporting women and families in impoverished areas of Africa, Asia and the Americas—a lesson that complements what they are learning in the classroom. GGP helps teach students and the community that a simple, local act—the purchase of a colorful scarf, a treasure box or earrings—has a direct impact on a community far away.