Mercado Global

Economic empowerment program our economic empowerment program helps indigenous women break the cycle of local poverty through market access, business education, and asset development. Through our market access program, we help over 1,000 indigenous women artisans build their own community artisan businesses and access international markets. The women we partner with are incredibly talented artisans whose main obstacle to overcome poverty is lack of access to a market. Now, through their work with Mercado Global, these women are able to access the international market and earn a fair wage for the first time in their lives. With our partner artisans, we design collections for major international fashion brands and retailers that are handmade in their communities.through our community-based education program, we provide technical and business development training in local languages that complement market access opportunities. Building business skills and market-ready technical weaving and sewing skills, when paired with income-earning opportunities, enables women to become confident leaders who look after their families health, finances, and education.through our asset development program we help women secure their own floor looms, sewing machines and other productive assets needed to ensure future income generation. We also help build the practice of saving so that women have a buffer against a return to poverty and can invest in their families and communities.

Community partnerships programwe seek to build mutual understanding and facilitate cultural exchange between artisan communities in latin america and our supporter communities in the united states. Through the community partnership program, individuals from the u.s. visit communities in guatemala to see the impact of their support. Likewise, our current and past staff, volunteers and supporters act as fair trade ambassadors within their communities in the u.s. Through speaking engagements, community events and other awareness-raising functions.

Women's leadership & well being empowerment program in conjunction with our economic empowerment program, our community-based education program builds leadership skills, goal-setting, self-esteem, and conflict resolution skills among partner artisans. Our in-house training team provides ongoing courses in each of our partner communities onthese subjects and makes topics accessible for women, most of whom cannot read and write, and who are learning to navigate business-ownership for the first time.

Design a difference programas pioneers in the sustainable-sourcing movement within the fashion industry, we educate leading u.s.-based designers about responsible sourcing through our design a difference program. Designers from major u.s. Fashion houses come to our guatemalan office to work alongside our artisans and learn about the impact that sustainable production has in these communities. In turn, the designers extend their expertise in product design and development directly to our artisans. Upon returningto the u.s., these designers are then able to share their knowledge and adopt sustainable practices within their companies. In this way we are reaching the people and institutions on the cutting edge of industry with first-hand experience empowering communities through responsible sourcing.