Bonus: Working with Artisans and Creating Jobs Across Multiple Continents - Jake Orak // Founder of Ethnotek
08/15/22 • 39 min
In this episode of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, I speak with Jake Orak, founder of Ethnotek on his decade long journey in social entrepreneurship and creating jobs across multiple continents.
Ethnotek's mission is to keep culture alive by creating high-quality laptop and travel bags that feature ethically sourced handmade textiles.
Your purchase sustains employment for the art of hand printing, weaving, and embroidery with partnering artisan villages in Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Ethnotek is so much more than just a bag! It's a celebration of culture, it's a community, it's a global movement!
The one thing all of the Ethnotek weavers and artisans have in common is the fact that their craft is disappearing. Every year they see less and less local demand for their fabrics due to low yield and long lead times.
Traditional techniques are quickly being replaced by machines and factory labor in major cities, drastically reducing the number of jobs and industry in the regions where it is needed most.
By creating new demand for these traditional handcraft practices, the brand and its customers are in a sense forging an effort to keep them alive and well and in the same villages from which they came.
The last and most important part of the mission is to spread the idea that we should all celebrate each other's differences more often. The only way culture can stay alive is if we keep it that way.
Culture runs deep; from the tribes of Yunnan Province to the Subways of New York City. From the Ghats of Varanasi to the Cafes of Paris. To ensure the survival of these incredibly interesting differences we must learn about them and retell their story. This is why we see our bags as a flag. A flag that you wave which says, "I care".
Check out Ethnotek's Sourcing Roadmap: This is an article to describe Ethnotek’s internal ethical guidelines for working with artisans and is to provide suggestions to designers & business owners who are looking to practice Cultural Inclusion in their supply chain.
"We in no way claim to be experts in this department and are still learning, but we do have over 10 years of first-hand experience and not only does our system work well, everyone is happy and having fun in the process!"
Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.
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Spotlighting impact startups, brands, and founders.
We feature social impact startups, conscious brands, and visionary founders shaping the future of business. Join thousands—subscribe to our weekly newsletter for exclusive interviews, the latest funding rounds, digital tool reviews, and curated products fueling the impact economy.
To learn more, please visit causeartist.com
In this episode of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, I speak with Jake Orak, founder of Ethnotek on his decade long journey in social entrepreneurship and creating jobs across multiple continents.
Ethnotek's mission is to keep culture alive by creating high-quality laptop and travel bags that feature ethically sourced handmade textiles.
Your purchase sustains employment for the art of hand printing, weaving, and embroidery with partnering artisan villages in Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Ethnotek is so much more than just a bag! It's a celebration of culture, it's a community, it's a global movement!
The one thing all of the Ethnotek weavers and artisans have in common is the fact that their craft is disappearing. Every year they see less and less local demand for their fabrics due to low yield and long lead times.
Traditional techniques are quickly being replaced by machines and factory labor in major cities, drastically reducing the number of jobs and industry in the regions where it is needed most.
By creating new demand for these traditional handcraft practices, the brand and its customers are in a sense forging an effort to keep them alive and well and in the same villages from which they came.
The last and most important part of the mission is to spread the idea that we should all celebrate each other's differences more often. The only way culture can stay alive is if we keep it that way.
Culture runs deep; from the tribes of Yunnan Province to the Subways of New York City. From the Ghats of Varanasi to the Cafes of Paris. To ensure the survival of these incredibly interesting differences we must learn about them and retell their story. This is why we see our bags as a flag. A flag that you wave which says, "I care".
Check out Ethnotek's Sourcing Roadmap: This is an article to describe Ethnotek’s internal ethical guidelines for working with artisans and is to provide suggestions to designers & business owners who are looking to practice Cultural Inclusion in their supply chain.
"We in no way claim to be experts in this department and are still learning, but we do have over 10 years of first-hand experience and not only does our system work well, everyone is happy and having fun in the process!"
Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.
----------------------------------------
Spotlighting impact startups, brands, and founders.
We feature social impact startups, conscious brands, and visionary founders shaping the future of business. Join thousands—subscribe to our weekly newsletter for exclusive interviews, the latest funding rounds, digital tool reviews, and curated products fueling the impact economy.
To learn more, please visit causeartist.com
Previous Episode
The Regenerative Finance Industry and the Massive Potential to Change the Way We Look at Money and Environmental Assets - Gregory Landua // Co-founder and CEO of Regen Network
In Episode 150 of the Disruptors for Good podcast, I speak with Gregory Landua, Co-founder and CEO of Regen Network, on the regenerative finance industry and the massive potential to change the way we look at money and environmental assets.
Gregory is co-founder and co-Chief Regeneration Officer of Regen Network. Regen Network is land ecological commons management platform and the backbone for a new approach to ecosystem service markets based on verified ecological state.
Gregory Landua, co-author of the pioneering book, Regenerative Enterprise, the Levels of Regenerative Agriculture Whitepaper, and the Regen Network Whitepaper. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Terra Genesis International.
Terra Genesis International (TGI) is now lead by a dynamic global team of Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture and Business practitioners and leaders working to support leading companies to transform their negative impact into regenerative effects, and leading cutting edge agro-forestry business planning around the world.
Gregory has studied marine and terrestrial ecology and evolutionary biology in the Galapagos Islands, translated for Amazonian rainforest guides, fought wildfires in the wilderness of Alaska, lived in established ecovillages, founded a successful work-live cooperative, and studied the nuances of ecology and ethics.
Gregory has B.S. in Environmental Science and Ethics from Oregon State University, and a M.Sc in Regenerative Entrepreneurship and Design from Gaia University.
About Regen Network
Regen Network is a full-stack blockchain software development company best known for the deployment of Regen Ledger and the set of tools used for Regen Network.
Regen Network is a community of actors engaging with ecological regeneration, ecological monitoring, verification, distributed computing, and technology development, centered around Regen Ledger. Network members track specific changes in land, oceans, and watersheds.
By improving our understanding of ecosystems and enabling rewards for verified positive changes, Regen Network catalyzes the regeneration of the earth's ecosystems.
Using distributed ledger technology, satellite remote sensing, and Ecological State Protocols, Regen Network monitors on-the-ground conditions and generates trusted attestations about the ecological state.
Regen Network provides an open platform designed specifically to run diverse applications such as Regenerative Carbon Credits, Supply Chain Transparency, Reforestation Monitoring, and investment vehicles such as Ecological Bonds.
There may be nothing of more critical importance than the regeneration of global ecosystems. Regen Network brings together the tools and communities needed to incentivize actions aligned with planetary health.
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Spotlighting impact startups, brands, and founders.
We feature social impact startups, conscious brands, and visionary founders shaping the future of business. Join thousands—subscribe to our weekly newsletter for exclusive interviews, the latest funding rounds, digital tool reviews, and curated products fueling the impact economy.
To learn more, please visit causeartist.com
Next Episode
The Mission to Build a Super App for Millions of Small-Scale Farmers and Investors - Fahad Ifaz // Co-founder and CEO of iFarmer
In Episode 151 of the Disruptors for Good podcast, Causeartist contributor, Rafael Aldon, speaks with Fahad Ifaz, Co-founder and CEO of iFarmer, on his mission to democratize agricultural finance and supply chains to millions of small-scale farmers.
Fahad is an entrepreneur with a vision to create innovative, sustainable and resilient solutions for people in emerging economies.
A big believer of businesses and entrepreneurs as driving force for human development. Fahad believes as rationale human beings we don't buy or invest in "things". We don't make decisions based on features and benefits, we make decisions based on emotion, intuition and a range of other calculations which are complex in nature similar to the markets which we thrive in.
This is true for the poor farmers, producers, big corporations, governments and financial institutions.
Prior to founding iFarmer, Fahad worked for 10 years in the "market systems development" and ” and Private sector development space with experience in agriculture, micro-enterprise development, value chain development, policy analysis and private sector engagement across various countries in South Asia.
Prior to iFarmer, Fahad worked at the NGO, Swisscontact-Katalyst, The World Bank, CARE Australia and SPRING Accelerator.
Fahad has a BBA from NSU (2006-2010) and a Masters in Economics from NSU (2012-2013).
About iFarmer
iFarmer can connect farmers, space/landowners, investors, and crop buyers to create a complete farming supply chain.
To date, iFarmer is used by 71000+ farmers in Bangladesh and growing rapidly month over month.
iFarmer is an impact tech startup that has developed an innovative online platform that enables anyone in Bangladesh to easily sponsor in farming and livestock. Being a part of the iFarmer community is more than earning returns.
Food, Energy, and Water are peoples primary needs, that’s always decreasing. By 2050 world Population will reach 9.1 billion and 70% of world population will be living in urban space.In Bangladesh, there is an urban population of 30%, which is likely to increase up to 50% by 2030.
The question is who will feed this growing population? That’s why we need new ways to create scalable and efficient agriculture farming.
----------------------------------------
Spotlighting impact startups, brands, and founders.
We feature social impact startups, conscious brands, and visionary founders shaping the future of business. Join thousands—subscribe to our weekly newsletter for exclusive interviews, the latest funding rounds, digital tool reviews, and curated products fueling the impact economy.
To learn more, please visit causeartist.com
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