How did you get involved in this?
To make a long story short, while I was living in Morocco several years ago, I feel in love with the carpets which happen to be the only craft in Morocco produced entirely by women. Because the carpets are mostly produced in rural villages, I noticed that the women were at a distinct disadvantage when it came to marketing and selling their products.
Because of the women’s lack of mobility and access to the business world, intermediaries have taken advantage of the isolated nature of their rural social structure. By controlling the demand of carpets, these urban dealers obtain the carpets for a fraction of what their market value should be, only to resell them at high-priced urban markets. With the prices offered by these middlemen, the artisans are barely able to pay for their materials, let alone receive compensation for their time and creativity.
Upon returning to the United States I decided to start a fair trade company which conducted business directly with the women artisans.
The rest is history.