About
OVERVIEW
Our logo assures you that
our Partners in Empowerment (PIE) products do at least of the following:
1) honor and protect indigenous cultural heritage/ traditions;
2) conserve energy and natural resources
3) create equitable livelihoods for people in need; and/or
4) donate 5% of sales to support sustainable health, educational, and environmental programs.
The social impact statements that most closely apply to our organization's mission statement
Economic empowerment and value, Quality of life in the community, Preserving tradition and cultural legacies, Self-empowerment, Energy conservation, Eco-friendly production, Environmental conservation
Our organization screens
Business practices
How often our organization monitors compliance of our standards
At random
How our organization monitors compliance of our standards
Peer review, Self reporting
Our mission statement
Established in 2001, Empowerment Works! (EW) is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of a healthy, culturally rich, and bio-diverse world by serving as a catalyst for community-led social action.
What we do: EW catalyzes global partnership via 3 core program areas:
1) "Seven Stages to Sustainability" Education - Whether addressing poverty or climate change, EW's collaborative approach empowers private, public, and civil society partners to unite community assets for holistic solutions. EW shares this social technology through consulting, workshops, and events.
2) The Global Summit™ (TGS) - Through this annual social, economic, and environmental conference (Yr 2 LA, Nov. 7-11, 2010), a diversity of cultures and economic sectors share sustainable technologies, artistic talent, critical knowledge, and inspiration to empower local action around the year.
3) Partners In Empowerment™ (PIE) is a social and economic collaboration network united in action for a sustainable world. EW is developing the 1PIE Action Portal to link local partners with the global tools they need (market access, appropriate technologies, capital) to build solutions from the ground up.
Together, EW's approach, events, and network advance a whole system solution empowering humanity to co-create a healthy, culturally-rich, and bio-diverse world.
The history of our organization
In 2000, EW's founder met a group of young Zimbabwean artists working to provide HIV services in their township of Mbare. With decreased tourism and economic collapse, they exported a container of sculpture to the US to raise program funds- resulting in successful HIV prevention and orphan care programs.
Through this collaboration, individuals and organizations across multiple sectors of society mobilized to tackle a complex web of challenges in one community. Zimbabwean artists, doctors, community organizations, homeless teens, international philanthropists, and arts patrons all worked together in order to see the fruition of this project.
By honoring local will, serving as a catalyst for community-led social action, stimulating economic development, and addressing issues and needs identified by those they most affect, the EW model (7 Stages to Sustainability) was born.
Our organization's standards for producers, products, or sellers
How we developed our standards
We developed our standards by identifying the key drivers and barriers to local self-reliance, as well as the historical root causes of cultural and natural resource exploitation.
Empowerment Works' local assets based standards aim to add value and thus promote higher economic returns for local resources.
Summary of our process for screening new producers, products, or sellers
EW receives letters of inquiry via E-mail to: info@empowermentworks.org w/ subj. "Trust provider inquiry" along with contact details, website (if available), a paragraph description of product, and producer, seller, or other entity. Based on this initial introduction, we will send you EW's Trust Provider application. EW staff will then review completed application to qualify partners based on our standards and criteria.
How we regularly monitor compliance of our standards
Our monitoring process including who performs the monitoring
EW staff will monitor producer groups (and their products) as part of our direct program development activities.
The fee structure for our monitoring system
$25 processing fee. If approved, EW will send an invoice. This helps cover staff time for random monitoring and processing.
Monitored regions
Global / All
More information about our organization
We'd also like to tell you...
Empowerment Works is comprised of a growing global community of Partners in Empowerment (PIE) citizens, businesses, & organizations who understand, that by bringing the best of our resources and ideas to the table, we build a better world for humanity.
HOW WE SUPPORT LOCAL PARTNERS IN FAIR TRADE: EW provides marketing assistance directly and by linking local projects with fair-trade groups and community conscious businesses. Sponsoring businesses apply their expertise in marketing and sustainable product development while collaborating non-profits monitor local social impact.
For businesses or producers that want to work with us, we recommend you do the following...
E-mail info@empowermentworks.org w/ subj. "Trust provider inquiry" along with contact details, website (if available), a paragraph description of your product, and whether you are a producer, seller, or other entity. Based on this initial introduction, we will send you a 2 page EW Trust Provider application.