2012 AnnuAl RepoRt

Friends and Partners, We are very pleased to present our first annual report.

Our goal in these pages is to provide you with a clear view of who we are, what we do, and why—the core beliefs and goals that motivate us.

As you know, we are a small but dedicated and fast-growing organization. We can happily report that we have accomplished many of our initial goals by: establishing international partnerships with more than 50 women-led enterprises and supporting their operations with technical assistance, product development, training and capacity building expertise,

oPening fair trade markets for over 1,000 products from more than 25 countries,

building a vibrant and attractive e-commerce platform that processed more than 1,500 orders last year, growing online sales by 45 percent,

creating a national distribution network of nearly 200 retail outlets, becoming recognized nationally as a leader in the areas of fair trade, market access for the poor, and self-sustaining income generation, and

raising awareness of our partners’ community development work and the challenges they face.

Most importantly to all of us, we have increased the incomes of thousands of women and their families in marginalized, impoverished communities around the world.

With the solid foundation we have built since launching Global Goods Partners six years ago, we are advancing our mission to alleviate poverty by creating permanent self-sustaining and growing income for women artisans and their families. Yet in the years to come, we will continue to strive to achieve so much more with our partners around the world.

We also write this report with a very important and personal reflection:  we owe our deepest gratitude to our supporters, many of whom are friends and family, many of whom have become new friends, and all of whom are part of our growing GGP family.

With appreciation and best wishes,

Joan shifrin and catherine lieber shimonyGGP Co-Founders

global goods Partners reVenue groWth

GGP’s mission centers on poverty alleviation and social justice. The women-led community organizations that GGP supports are on the front lines of social, political, cultural and economic change. The nonprofit groups, cooperatives and social enterprises that GGP partners with throughout the world provide not only a fair living wage to women artisans but also effective training and education programs that emphasize human rights and dignity—critical components required to achieve meaningful and lasting change in marginalized communities.

GGP diligently evaluates its prospective partners to ensure that each one is a fair trade entity that follows the criteria listed below. Each GGP partner:  

Is managed by a local leader (most often a woman) and demonstrates democratic, inclusive governing principles,

maintains a strong focus on the well-being of women, 

ProVides leadership and skills training,

addresses long-term solutions to social, political and economic inequities in their communities,

belieVes in the promotion of individuals’ basic human rights, including the right to food security, shelter, education, and health care for women and their families,

addresses the needs of the most marginalized populations while preserving the local environment, and

Often engages its community in advocacy to hold local governments accountable.

our partners

Today, in cooperation with more than 30 partners in 18 countries, GGP is helping to strengthen their capacity, operations, product lines and access to the US marketplace. In the past several years, we have provided and introduced valuable training resources to our partners in areas ranging from business management, product development and design, and financial literacy.

AsiA

Afghanistan Afghan Institute of Learning DOSTI Kandahar Treasure

Cambodia Artisans Association of Cambodia Friends International

india Community Friendly Movement Destiny Reflection

nepal Friends Handicrafts

pakistan Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA)

thailand-Burma Border Borderline Women’s Education for Advancement and Empowerment (WEAVE)

AfRiCA

Kenya Heshima Kenya

Rwanda INEZA

south Africa Streetwires

swaziland Gone Rural Imvelo Eswatini

tanzania Maasai Women Development Organization (MWEDO)

the AMeRiCAs

Argentina Pampa Brava

Bolivia Alma de los Andes Artesania Sorata Artetropic Asociacion de Artesanos Andinos Comunidad Winay

Brazil Tropicalia

Colombia Chocofibres CREATA Opitagua Uniqueland

Guatemala Aj Quen Kiej de los Bosques

Mexico El Hombre Sobre la Tierra

peru Mantay Manuela Ramos Sumaq Qara

Where We Work

We are committed to strengthening the capacity of our partners with ongoing training and guidance from our staff, industry and development experts, training programs offered by local and international organizations and our small grants program. 

BraCeLets For CHanGe

In a novel collaboration with our partner in Guatemala, Kiej de los Bosques, we launched a new program in late 2011 to embed micro-grants into the price of a product. With the purchase of each Bracelet for Change, a portion of the funds are set aside as a matching grant to split the cost with a Guatemalan woman of providing clean water, healthy food, and a safe home for her and her family. each bracelet buys a different product: brown is an organic garden, dark blue is a water filter, light blue is a solar kit, and rust is a smokeless stove. the Bracelets for Change quickly became one of the most popular products on our site, and as a result we have channeled more than $6,000 in grant funds to Kiej de los Bosques, enabling their artisans to purchase 22 smokeless stoves, 40 water filters, 19 solar kits, and 2 organic gardens.

Fiscal year 2012 grants aWarded

ImpaCt

As Global Goods Partners enters its seventh year, we have made measuring our impact a priority. We have a detailed application process to vet potential partners but until recently did not have a formal way of tracking our partners’ progress over time. Over the past year, we worked with a team of Capstone students from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service to develop a comprehensive survey that we sent to our partners this spring and will continue to send out each year. We asked our partners to report on everything from business indicators (sales numbers and jobs created) to social indicators (advances in education, access to health care, food security, shelter, financial services, decision-making, and work environment).

The data we collected this year will serve as the baseline data against which we will compare the results of future surveys. Although it was the first year that we launched this new project, and many of our groups find it challenging to gather data because of their small size and limited resources, we received responses from 23 of 32 potential respondents. We look forward to updating you annually, but in the meantime, here are some of our initial findings:

“60 percent of female artisans report increased decision making capabilities at home. Before, women did not contribute money to the family and this contributed towards the imposition of machismo. today all women bring income to the family and often equal, sometimes greater than the amount the husband.”

Sumaq Qara, Peru

interesting Facts

WHERE WE WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2012 GRANTS AWARDED

OUR PARTNERS’ AVERAGE NUMBER OF

ARTISANS HAS INCREASED BY 45%

SINCE WE BEGAN WORKING WITH THEM

63% RESPONSE RATE

WHERE WE WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2012 GRANTS AWARDED

OUR PARTNERS’ AVERAGE NUMBER OF

ARTISANS HAS INCREASED BY 45%

SINCE WE BEGAN WORKING WITH THEM

63% RESPONSE RATE

WHERE WE WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2012 GRANTS AWARDED

OUR PARTNERS’ AVERAGE NUMBER OF

ARTISANS HAS INCREASED BY 45%

SINCE WE BEGAN WORKING WITH THEM

63% RESPONSE RATE

WHERE WE WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2012 GRANTS AWARDED

OUR PARTNERS’ AVERAGE NUMBER OF

ARTISANS HAS INCREASED BY 45%

SINCE WE BEGAN WORKING WITH THEM

63% RESPONSE RATE

WHERE WE WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2012 GRANTS AWARDED

OUR PARTNERS’ AVERAGE NUMBER OF

ARTISANS HAS INCREASED BY 45%

SINCE WE BEGAN WORKING WITH THEM

63% RESPONSE RATE

marKetpLaCe

Our mission at Global Goods Partners is to increase market access for our partners, and in one word, that means SALES! We sell our partners’ products through three primary channels:

Retail: Visitors to our e-commerce site www.globalgoodspartners.org choose from hundreds of handmade gifts. We have thousands of shoppers a year and have recently enhanced the look and user experience on our site. We added product reviews, streamlined the navigation and checkout process, and improved our backend reporting to make sure we stock up on the products that our customers are most interested in. This past fiscal year, online retail sales grew 18 percent.

Wholesale: In the summer of 2010 we began offering Global Goods Partners’ products wholesale to stores across the country. Today, we have over 700 registered wholesale accounts online (and growing every day!), with 200 retailers ordering on a regular basis. We have a booth at the New York International Gift Fair twice a year, and are known by retailers as the place to get high-quality, stylish fair trade products. Our wholesale orders grew close to 150 percent in the past fiscal year.

Custom/Private Label: Global Goods Partners’ custom clients range from small, independent designers that are interested in sustainable production but lack the experience and contact with qualified artisans to large retail chains interested in carrying fair trade products. We partner with nonprofits like United Cerebral Palsy and the Women’s Refugee Commission to supply ethically-produced gala décor and donor gifts. We supply mission-consistent products to Amnesty International that they resell to raise funds for their own operations.

Challenge: expand artisan incomes by creating a new line of contemporary products that incorporate the community’s traditional skill set.

BaCkground: GGp’s partner, el Hombre sobre la tierra (Hst), is a grassroots development organization that addresses the needs of 20 mayan villages across the Yucatan, providing programs in agriculture, food security, economic empowerment, education, and human rights. Hst’s income generation program focuses on embroidery workshops to preserve and enrich colorful traditional designs. most mayans in the region live in poor conditions, achieve only low levels of education and experience alienation from the spanish-speaking majority, who claim a monopoly on political, economic and social power. Cultural norms make progress particularly challenging for women in the region, preventing them from owning land and working outside the home.

the women working with el Hombre sobre la tierra’s income generation program are adept at the centuries-old embroidery tradition for which mayan communities across mexico are renown but, until recently, the products they made had little appeal outside of the local market.

Solution: GGp recognized the opportunity to help Hst generate more income by creating a new line of contemporary-styled products that would showcase this cherished embroidery technique. With jewelry as GGp’s top-selling product line, GGp paired new York-based jewelry designer, alessandra plasa, and Hst with the goal of creating a jewelry line with strong appeal to american buyers.

over a period of six months, alessandra and the Hst team created a set of drawings for textile necklaces, bracelets and earrings that are sculptural, yet delicate; crafty, yet contemporary. the group prepared multiple prototypes, which went through several rounds of revisions, fine-tuning, and testing.

seizing on the trend of fabric, string, and knotted jewelry, plasa, in collaboration with Global Goods partners, helped a group, which lacked exposure to the changing sensibilities of the u.s. market, create a product that is cutting edge, stylish, and on-trend. at the same time, by basing the products on the embroidery technique from the region, a traditional art form was preserved and the artisans were able to experiment within a medium in which they were comfortable. not only did the collaboration lead to viable products, but it also generated design inspiration and creativity among a group that needed fresh concepts to grow its income generation program.

outCome: as a result of the collaboration, Global Goods partners commissioned stock of 19 new products from Hst. In just the first year of sales, the new jewelry line led to a 225 percent increase in GGp purchasing from Hst and in the last year sales have increased tenfold.

CaSe StudY: el hombre Sobre la tierra, mexico

As large brands are increasingly interested in sourcing sustainably-produced and fair trade products, they are turning to organizations like Global Goods Partners to do so to ensure credibility, authenticity, and delivery. This past year, we produced a line of nine products designed by Club Monaco that were featured in their stores across the world as part of the brand’s beach boutique line. Our custom production grew 60 percent last fiscal year.

I hail from a very small village in West Bengal’s Nadia district. My father was extremely poor and supported the family as a daily laborer working in rented land. Since childhood I used to help my father with his work.

When I was around 13 or 14 I started working with a lady from our neighborhood helping her make necklaces. Even though I worked very hard, I was paid extremely low and the money I earned was hardly enough to sustain my family. The lady told me that she had another job opportunity for me in Mumbai where I would be paid well and hence that would solve the family’s financial crisis. My father believed the lady and sent me to her. Later I realized that she had sold me to a brothel in Mumbai, which is at least 2000 km away from my home, and the people spoke in a different language. I was put up with many young girls, some even younger than me. I still had no clue or idea of what they were going to do with me. The building was dark and full of hidden chambers, where they used to hide the girls when there were police raids or maybe just to punish them.

I noticed police raids were futile as most of the time the girls came back even after the rescue operation. I remember that I kept on crying for days. One of the other girls told me that crying wouldn’t help and that I would have to accept this life. I lost hope of being rescued because I noticed that the girls who got away kept coming back—which happens when the traffickers bribe the police.

But one day I got rescued by a team of men who were from the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) after which I was put in a shelter home. I then had to fight my case in court and face the trauma of being diagnosed with HIV. I thought that I would have to spend my entire life in a shelter and I would die because of my disease.

the Writers studio, based in new york city, invited global goods Partners to be part of its 25th anniversary celebration in april 2012. a group of highly-acclaimed poets and writers, including Jill bialosky, edward hirsch, Julie otsuka, Philip schultz and Jean Valentine, read a series of compelling life narratives based on interviews with women artisans. the story below was recorded by a woman artisan working with our partner, destiny, a social enterprise in calcutta, india, that provides sustainable livelihoods to formerly trafficked sex workers.

destiny reflection artisan, calcutta, india

SChool FundraiSing

the Global Goods partners Fundraising program continues to be a strong educational component of our work. schools and nonprofits can sign up to sell our products and receive a percentage of all purchases made on their behalf. the program is designed to help organizations raise funds and spread awareness about fair trade and our community based partners.

But my life has changed since I joined Destiny; I am an independent woman now. I have been able to move out of the shelter home to a women’s hostel. I still remember the faces of the little girls who used to be locked in the dark chambers during police raids and the torture and inhuman life of the brothels.

My only mission now is to help Destiny grow bigger and create work opportunities for many other girls like me so that they can start their life again. I have regained a positive outlook towards life and I am confident that I can overcome any problems.

thirteen-year

old Jake taft hosted a

global goods Partners

fundraiser in rye,

new york (2010)

Global Goods Partners wishes to thank the many generous individuals and organizations that have supported our work over the past six years. Without them, our impact in the communities with which we partner would not be possible.

Yasmine Abellard

our supporters

$25,000 and above

anonymous (2)american Jewish World servicedobkin Family Foundationsonia & Paul Joneskathleen & scott kapnicklenox hill cardiovascular Foundation, inc.george e. robertscatherine lieber shimony & rony shimonythe shin creek trustJohn h. sladesylvan/laureate Foundation

taslitz Family charitable Fund

$10,000-24,999

the barbara and Frank lieber Family charitable trustbeyond the 11ththe bresky Foundationglobal Fleet sales, inc.the global Fund for childrenJewish Women’s Foundation of new york, isha koachthe lester Fundmex-am cultural Foundationthe morrison & Foerster FoundationVicki & richard PitbladdoVeronique Pittmansg Foundationsterling PartnersWindmill lane Foundation

$1,000-9,999

anonymous (2)the andrew goodman Foundationclara binghamcurtis and stacey lane Fundkathy & Jordan dechtmanherbert donnerJoan & robert eigenhelen engelhardterika neumayer designsmichele & morton Fischsheryl & Jeff Fluges goulderPam greenmarjorie & robert hirschhornJanis kanter & tatum mccormickkatie & eric kronfeldbarbara & Frank lieberlynne & michael lieberlisa & Paul metselaarthe norton Familysarah & Peter o’hagan - gs givesmichelle oresPark 6 Foundationmr. & mrs. richard Pitbladdo, sr.Julia raiskinseaboard corporationshana alexander charitable Foundationdonna & larry shelleyJoan shifrin & michael Fabermolly shifrinstephanie & Fred shumanlouise silversteinnancy & mitchell steirdana & andy stoneraul tavdyelectra toubthe Wally Foundation

$300-999

anonymous (2)sylvia & christopher addisonmaya ajmera & david hollandersuzy & elias ainatchiellyn & John bankmartha berzonbarbara boersmashelley brazier & tom Williamsonamy cherry-abitbol & Pierre abitbolPeggy & Jon Federstacey orr gallantmarla gittermanthe giving circlecatherine hirsch & Jimmy Whitebarbara krakowlabaton sucharow Foundationbeth lustbaderJody & giulio martinihelene miller & James kaseJonathan novakdonna m. & robert olsenJacqueline Parris-rosetracy Pollan & michael J. Foxdana randallrae kaplan reyes & luis o. reyesnoah & robert rifkinrebecca & david russolawrence schwartzelaine shifrinthalianmyra Wagner & glen spearJane Wilner

our supporters

$150-299

anonymous (3)barry & teri Volpert Foundationdolores basscynthia Palmer bussardloyti cheng & raymond linlucy dasilvalenore dechtmansharon Federesther FishmanJane ellen & david gersteinPatricia gilroy & Jeffrey deneroffbarbara & eugene greenealthea harlin & Peter rossleslie Joneslisa krakowmargaret laceysusan & larry lieberbrenda malonekathryn meyerlaurel & david rabinJan smithcynthia Weeks

$50-149

anonymous (4)doris & ralph arnheimnancy & bill barnettJerri bartholomewanne batmalemargo berdeshevskylaura berkowitzlorri bernsteinJane biggermichael birdsall & roger haasekaren blanksteinValerie bogdasarianPatricia breskymary sherwood brockJill brownnatalie browncenter for creative learningmary clelandcarrie doezemaelizabeth dolakbridget donahueJudy eicklynn & James Fostersherry Frankel

Gifts In-Kindanonymousamhi corporationamerican university Washington college of lawarent Foxksenia avdulovakelly bahashaudrey bakerlinda barnettida benedettoshelley brazier & tom WilliamsonVlad caamanonancy chuangsylvia coateskatie couric

carmen teresa de la Villeamy decewdavid dreszermatthew emrymichael Fabersuzanna Finleygil Fontimayorgibson, dunn & crutcherholly hatfieldPamela hobbsJeremy hockensteinelaine linrebecca lysenstephanie makrisdebra marks

mooncake Foodsmorrison & Foerster, llPnew york university robert F. Wagner graduate school of Public servicenew york university stern school of businessmichelle oresana ottmanJim PaceVeronique Pittmanalessandra Plasaivan rebolledorewire marketing/alex sepulvedarock-it cargo

marcela sanhuezaalan schneiderseaboard corporationdonna & larry shelleyJoan shifrinmolly shifrincatherine lieber shimonyrony shimonyJaime soperrozhia tabnakelectra toubrob tsaiashley tysoneva Vaithe Wrtiers studio

Internstori andersonJessica baroffJulia baskinJulia bereslavskiyPriya bhayanaalex blairnicole bucherianna byersanja crowderelizabeth deWanamanda dornPeter FreemanJulia greenwaldPriya guptaella hayslettnaomi heislerkelly Jacksonannie kapnickanna kichorowskylauren lefty

Volunteersyasmine abellardalyssa alimurungPamela alimurunglivvy barnettbecky bavingermatt behrleela bhashyamcaroline burwellhannafew chankane cullimoredanielle dimichelomorgan dixonkhulan enkhboldanna Fabernora Fabersharon Federandrea Fidlerhayley Flugivanna gatonstephanie gent

tanya malikawara mendydalia millerlisa molinarokatie nashkristina nikforovamaddy o’hagancaroline ottalexa PetersonPaz Peterssonisaac raisnerrebecca russokelly sandovalramona selvarajahapril solerhamsini sridharanyoomi thompsoncelia Waggoneryang yang Zhougabe Zucker

lena Fruminnancy gluckalice & donald goldsmithdebra gordonnancy granatrachel greenbergdan hargrovebarbara hillmary hillsara hillmargaret hluchming-i-huangmichele imhofVivian Johnsonelizabeth karpowiczdori kleinevelyne kleinherbert kronishsandi leerhita lippitzdebra marksdavid marksmarilyn mattsonterry & bill mcnicholsWendy minormarcy oelhafen

deborah olsonFrances ouradaaudrey Panrosita Pildescarol Pinetakisha riveradeborah rogersnichole roman bhattymarcia J. ryanVirginia m. ryannaomi sachssuzanne savageamy schearmitchell schearsally schwartzstanford sherizenthe shroff-mehta Familysusan & robert smithJake taftsachi toeppFen truitttrish tullmancarol Vander Wiltcarla Wrightrobert Zimelisori Zoha

katie henriquesJenny Jacksonmegan Johnstonnatalie kiwajkoJeffrey lazarusgabriella s. lewinrachel millerellie monahanJames monroerosanna montillaamy nelsonmylene ongPrat Pandasara Pandolfidan Pargeenancy Phamdaphne alice Philipkarima rasulleah redfieldadam redstone

geoff ryanrichard shengemma shimonyJohanna teeriJillian tuckerVanessa Vecchiarelloemily Wattstali Weinbergamanda Wingard-Phillipschia-Ju Wu

www.globalgoodspartners.org800-461-3594

ggP staFF

linda barnettDirector of School and Nonprofit Programs

Jennifer gootmanExecutive Director

kelly JacksonMarketing and Sales Coordinator

sara lopez-isaacsDirector of Operations

Joan shifrinCo-Founder and Co-President

catherine lieber shimonyCo-Founder and Co-President

ggP board oF directors

debra marksGovernment Programs Executive, IBM

Veronique PittmanChief Information Officer, The Green School Alliance

Joan shifrinCo-Founder & Co-President, Global Goods Partners

catherine lieber shimonyCo-Founder & Co-President, Global Goods Partners

ggP adVisors

Jeremy hockensteinCo-Founder and CEO, Digital Divide Data

ivan rebolledoManaging Partner, TerraNova Strategic Partners LLC

global goods Partners is a member of the Fair trade Federation and green america

Design: rebecca lysen, www.rebeccalysen.com Infographics: stephanie makrisPhotos: cover: © Jennifer gootman (Peru); page 2: © gone rural (swaziland); page 3: © Potahar organization for development advocacy (Pakistan); page 5: © kiej de los bosques (guatemala); page 6: © Paula lerner (afghanistan); page 7 heshima (kenya); page 9 © asociacion de artesanos andinos (bolivia); page 10 el hombre sobra la tierra (mexico); page 11 © destiny reflection (india); page 13: © Friends handicrafts (nepal); page 15 © Friends international (cambodia)

support and revenue: Public Support: Contributions Total Public Support

Revenues: Gross sale of merchandise Less: cost of goods sold Net income from sale of merchandise Interest Income Total revenues

net assets released from restrictions Total Support and Revenue

expenses: Program and services Management and general Fundraising Total expenses

change in net assetsnet assets, beginning of yearnet assets, end of year

2012 2011

206,167206,167

291,539(204,142)*

87,397

57 87,455

293,622

233,76832,7135,486

271,966

21,656207,655229,311

100,245100,245

205,568(116,205)

89,363

324 89,687

189,932

196,31918,1745,594

220,087

(30,155)237,810207,655

*Global Goods Partners’ COGS as a percentage of sales increased from 2012 to 2011 because of the increased proportion of revenue from wholesale sales and because of COGS-related investments to accommodate the organization’s growth and resultant inventory needs.

Statement oF aCtivitieS for the year ended June 30, 2012 with comparative results for 2011