Sara Pressman

Female

Brooklyn, NY

United States

Profile Information:

Profession / role:

Institutional Partnerships Coordinator

Company / organisation:

Mercado Global

Website (if you have one):

www.mercadoglobal.org

My primary role in relation to fashion is:

Other

I am looking to discover or buy

Jobs

I am looking to sell or offer

Jobs

About me / About business or organisation:

Founded in 2004, Mercado Global empowers indigenous women to break the cycle of poverty by connecting them to international markets, fostering sustainable livelihoods, and pioneering a socially responsible business model within the fashion industry.

Career history / Company history:

When Founder and Executive Director, Ruth DeGolia, traveled to Guatemala to study indigenous communities for her undergraduate thesis, she witnessed poverty first-hand. She found indigenous women weavers who were extremely talented, yet struggled to feed their families. Ruth returned to the US and started MG by selling these hand-made products on Yale’s campus. The products sold so quickly that she soon expanded the reach of the organization by involving student groups from universities across the country and eventually, retail partners.

In 2005, MG partnered with its first client, ABC Carpet & Home, paving the way for more partnerships with international retailers from Asia to the U.S., including Anthropologie, Calypso St. Barth, J.Crew, and Levi Strauss & Co., among others.

MG takes a unique approach to fighting poverty through market access. This is possible through a dual revenue model that pairs product sales with private and institutional funding to provide rural indigenous women the opportunity to earn an income and participate in educational classes and technical trainings.

In 2007, after realizing the importance of teaching women to better manage their increased income, MG launched the Community-Based Education Program to maximize the organization’s impact on artisans’ lives. This spurred a core curriculum to educate and empower indigenous women artisans in Guatemala in four key areas: entrepreneurship and business development, women’s health, leadership, and financial management.

MG started with a network of a few dozen artisans, and today, 12 years later, we have had long-term impact and partnership with over 450 women and over 2,700 dependents from more than 40 indigenous communities, expanding the scope of possibility for rural indigenous women.

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