Stay Informed!

By Anne Li on 02/18/2011 @ 09:11 AM

Tags: Innovation, Innovation Marketplace, Global Economy, Economic Inclusion

Ruth DeGolia, courtesy of Mercado Global

Some of the excitement at the Innovation Marketplace of the 2010 Assets Learning Conference came from the fact that visitors could exercise their market skills by buying unique products and services. Mercado Global was one of the Marketplace’s featured International Innovations. Founded by Ruth DeGolia when she was a student at Yale, Mercado Global is a cutting-edge nonprofit, Fair Trade organization with an innovative approach to fighting poverty and empowering indigenous women in Guatemala’s highlands by connecting their artisan cooperatives to sales opportunities in the U.S. on an unprecedented scale.

I was not the only visitor who was drawn to Mercado Global’s Innovation Station by beautiful glass necklaces and bracelets, handcrafted by women’s cooperatives in Guatemala. Thanks to generous support from the Levi Strauss Foundation, Mercado Global also supplied all 1,100 attendees with hand-woven conference bags. Ruth reports that Mercado Global has recently started advanced technical trainings with their weaving cooperatives, which will enable more women to participate in current and future orders of woven goods. Over the next few months, these artisans will be learning a new technique on the foot-loom called the “panalito” technique. This complicated technique will help them build their skills of weaving with finer threads to create more complex scarves, which is perfect for new fall styles that will be carried by Levi’s.

Barbara Quieju, Mercado Global’s training program coordinator, reported, “At first, a lot of the artisans were slightly intimidated by the complex technique but soon they were laughing and easily picking up the new skills. The days were long but the artisans were excited and grateful to be learning a new technique.”

“The fabric of this scarf is different than what we usually make, it is a good thing that we are being taught how to loom well.” - Anju Siona

“This opportunity is a gift for me because now I am going to be an expert at foot looming.” -Fabiola Mendoza

“This technique seemed difficult, but when I did it it was not so complicated. We did not loom this well before.” – Saloj Guarcax

The work of Mercado Global illustrates the interconnectedness of decisions we make in our households, communities and country, as part of a global economy. And the efforts of Ruth DeGolia and her colleagues in the U.S. and Guatemala are examples of the kind of creative energy to spark innovation that will help us all to expand economic opportunity around the corner and around the planet.

Photos, courtesy of Mercado Global.

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