Our Mission
Global Goods Partners (GGP) is dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by strengthening women-led development initiatives for marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. A nonprofit endeavor, GGP pursues this mission by partnering with organizations, associations, and cooperatives worldwide that integrate their commitment to community development - specifically, improvements in education, health, women’s rights, and employment opportunities - with socially responsible income-generating enterprises. GGP provides its partners with direct access to new markets in the United States, increasing both their revenue and global awareness of their work. GGP uses proceeds from product sales to provide technical assistance and grant support to its partners, assisting them in building stronger, more effective programs.
Beyond Fair Trade
Through its comprehensive focus on increasing income, raising awareness, and improving programs, GGP’s model goes beyond that of the typical grantmaker or fair trade organization. Rather than simply sell products or fund programs, GGP:
Provides added revenue, capacity-building grants, and technical assistance to promote the long-term success of its partners’ income-generating and community-development work;
Supports community-based initiatives for meaningful learning, improved healthcare, equal participation of women in society, and safe and fair employment;
Offers individuals, schools, organizations, and companies in the US easy and engaging ways to learn about global issues, promote social justice, and improve lives around the world;
Offers schools and nonprofit organizations innovative fundraising programs to generate funds for their operations.
GGP remains dedicated to a holistic approach to poverty alleviation and social justice, maintaining that economics, education, health, and gender equality are inter-related. GGP understands that in order to make real and lasting progress, communities must be empowered to identify their own needs and create and implement solutions to respond to them. By providing its partners with increased income generation, a greater global audience, and flexible capacity-building assistance, GGP supports them in these endeavors.
Our CBO partners are actively working toward the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in their communities. The UN MDGs aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.
In supporting GGP and its partners, individuals, organizations, and businesses are promoting principles and practices that go beyond fair trade. They are increasing their awareness of, and connection to, communities around the world, the challenges that they face, and the solutions they have devised for advancing the well-being of individuals and their communities. They are empowering themselves to make a meaningful difference with their purchases, gift giving, fundraising, and charitable donations. And they are actively participating in the long-term development of marginalized communities and the advancement of social justice globally.
Shop the World — Shop for Good
The perfect hand-beaded evening bag from Guatemala, a colorful handspun silk scarf from Cambodia, a handwoven basket from Zimbabwe…GGP offers these and many other well-designed, well-made, fair-trade products. Whether you lean toward trendy or ethnic, classic or whimsical, you’ll find just the right gift or home accessory at GGP.
Each purchase carries the added benefit of supporting women and their families in impoverished communities in the developing world, as well as community-based organizations that are working for meaningful social change. Shop Online »
Local Focus — Global Perspective
Through its marketing materials, product packaging and website, GGP fulfills its educational mission by raising awareness of the economic, social, and political challenges that its CBO partners face. By supporting corporations that are expanding their social marketing programs and partnering with educational, non-profit, and religious institutions that are increasing their focus on issues of global poverty and development, GGP helps organizations meet their philanthropic goals. GGP serves a dual role, bringing to the consumer both attractive, handcrafted goods and an understanding of underserved communities and the issues they face locally and globally.
Support for Sustainability
With profits from product sales and private donations, GGP makes capacity-building grants to CBOs enabling them to improve and expand their microenterprise operations and their overall development objectives. GGP becomes a long-term partner with each of these CBOs, helping to expand global market opportunities for their products and to provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen their development programs and foster self-sustaining community enterprises.
Global Education
Our school fundraisers engage children at an educational level by encouraging active global responsibility—raising funds for their schools, educating their community about important global issues and supporting women and families in impoverished areas of Africa, Asia and the Americas—a lesson that complements what they are learning in the classroom. GGP helps teach students and the community that a simple, local act—the purchase of a colorful scarf, a cheerful treasure box or sparkling earrings—has a direct impact on a community far away. GGP also provides educational materials on important global issues that educators can use alongside the fundraisers.
