Sprout Enterprises
Sprout Enterprise is a network of artisans, designers and entrepreneurs creating sustainable livelihoods for rural communities with few economic alternatives. They use these communities’ indigenous skills and materials to craft artisan collections, connect artisans to new markets and provide the support needed to ensure success and sustainability.
The Sprout Enterprise collections are made up of high-quality home products with strong cultural and aesthetic value, including bedding, decorative pillows, throw blankets, shower curtains, table and kitchenware, and women’s accessories.
Your Impact
Sprout Enterprise is an initiative of Friends of Tilonia, a US non-profit organization partnering with artisan enterprises to create economic opportunities in rural communities in India, Mexico, Cambodia, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Indonesia. Sprout Enterprise helps artisan partners become more profitable and raise artisans’ wages, while giving artisans the tools to build and run their own enterprises, creating lasting value through ownership of their brand and distribution channels. They develop and work with in-country teams to manage online operations for direct sale and distribution of these product lines and provide a branded presence for their partners in international markets. By eliminating the traditional intermediaries and costs of export/import models, their partners capture additional profit margin through this direct-to-buyer model. Artisans are paid living wages to produce handcrafted products, and the artisan partners manage the warehousing, distribution and sale of these products. Employment is created in the local community to handle sales and distribution functions for international customers. These artisan partners also lead community initiatives for education, clean energy technology and business development all while creating economic opportunities.
Sprout Enterprises believes that more than a living wage is necessary to alleviate poverty. Their theory of social change is based in asset ownership and empowerment – that not just production, but ownership and control of productive assets is necessary. Profit-sharing and ownership stakes are part of their vision for this network of artisan enterprises. To this end, they provide services including entrepreneurial coaching, business development, product design & development, sales & market representation, and sourcing & import facilitation.
More Ways to Support
You can also support the work of these artisan partners and their communities by investing in any of the impact opportunities available through their R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund at https://www.riseartisan.fund/.