Indego Africa

Indego Africa is a non-governmental organization and 501(c)(3) non-profit social enterprise that partners with cooperatives of women artisans in Rwanda on a fair trade basis, sells its partners handmade accessories and home décor products on its online store and at more than 70 U.S. retailers, and invests 100% of its profits from sales and fundraising into its tailored long-term skills training programs for the co-ops in business, literacy, and computers, all taught by Rwanda’s top university students. Indego Africa is incorporated in Houston, Texas, with operational headquarters in New York and Kigali, Rwanda. Indego Africa has nine Regional Boards across the United States, including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Miami, and Houston.^[1]

History

Indego Africa was founded in 2007 by father and son team Matt and Tom Mitro.^[1] Its first partnerships with artisans began in mid-2007.

Purpose

The purpose of Indego Africa, at its founding, was to stimulate entrepreneurship in Rwanda.^[2] Indego's three specific and primary objectives are to liberate Rwandan women in the realms of: personal finance, independence from Indego Africa, and access to the international export market.^[3]

Partnerships

Artisan partners

Indego Africa partners with women artisans in Rwanda to promote fair trade in a country with considerable poverty levels. Indego promotes products made by female artisans who would otherwise have very little access to capital or to international markets, to be sold around the world at market value. Since its founding in 2007, it has partnered with over 250 women in Rwanda. Indego Africa's partner-entrepreneurs have had their works sold by retailers such as Ralph Lauren and Anthropologie and by art collectors such as those at The Art Institute of Chicago. Banana bracelets made by the Twiyubake Family Cooperative and sold by Ralph Lauren shops and online stores were praised by InStyle magazine.^[4]

Academic partners

Indego Africa partners with business and law schools in either programs or as extra-curriculum to enable graduate students to participate in an international project relevant to policy and business. Indego has partnered with New York University Law School's Law and Social Entrepreneurship Association through a network of interested and active law students.^[5] Indego partners with Columbia Law School's Center for Public Interest Law and Law Students for Social Enterprise through a fellowship program at the law school. Other partnerships include Stanford Graduate School of Business, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, and New York University's Stern School of Business.^[6][7][8]

Corporate partners

Indego African has partnered with Polo Ralph Lauren,^[4] Nicole Miller,^[9] Anthropologie,^[10] Bikram Yoga,^[11] and other corporate sponsors to promote and sell products made by its partner entrepreneurs in Rwanda.

Nicole Miller partnership

In September 2010 iconic fashion designer Nicole Miller, partnered with Indego Africa to start an entire "line of fair-trade textile bangles and woven bracelets" produced by the Indego artisans from Rwanda. Nicole Miller and her design team went to Rwanda to purchase the bracelets and textiles from women in the villages of Cocoki and Covanya and agreed to donate 15% of the proceeds to Indego Africa. [[File:^[12]]] She celebrated her partnership with Indego Africa with a launch at her New York City SoHo boutique.^[13][14]

Regional locations

Indego Africa has regional operations in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Boston.^[15] Although according to its website, Indego Africa is based out of Houston, Texas, the vast majority of Indego Africa's organizational and business activity seems to take place in the area of New York.

References