Featured Retailers: J.Con Salon & Spa and MCV Salon & Spa

Our last Blog focused on the hundreds of Aveda salons, spas, and institutes that are using our Fair Trade and eco-friendly ReStyle Tire-Tube bracelets to raise money for Aveda’s global clean water initiates fundraising campaign for Earth Month.

There are so many salons that we have a great relationship with and that use our Hope For Women products year round to raise money for Earth Month and other campaigns that are close to their heart. Here are just two of the amazing salons that we truly enjoy working with.

J. Con Salon in Petersburg, Florida partners with Aveda each year to protect the Earth and its inhabitants on a global level to help those less fortunate to receive access to safe drinking water, but also regionally through the  Gulf Restoration Network. The funds have actually helped restore portions of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline!  J. Con Salon has chosen to partner with Hope For Women and sell our distinctive Portraits of El Salvador pressed flower “hair do” cards in their salon for Earth Month.

MCV Salon and Spa in Sun Prairie, WI is another Aveda Salon that has chosen a different approach to raising money for Earth Month by working with Hope For Women selling our Tagua bracelets and SimpliciTree Tagua jewelry. Just like our ReStyled bracelets, that many Aveda salons are selling, the Tagua accessories are made by artisan women using recycled material.

Here at Hope For Women we are  thankful to all of our loyal Aveda retailers who sell our products year round.  Their support is an important component to our ability to continue to provide vital employment opportunities to the women artisans we work with in Colombia, El Salvador and India.

Happy Earth Month!

Dillard’s Salons & Spas – Thank You!

We are thrilled to announce that 33 Dillard’s Salons & Spas have chosen to carry Hope For Women Fair Trade, eco-friendly products. Each location will be retailing a selection of our tagua bracelets and Portraits of El Salvador greeting cards. 

We have been very impressed with Dillard’s support for Hope For Women and by their commitment towards educating their staff on the story behind our products. Dillard’s went out of their way to work with us to incorporate tagua videos into their internal Dillard’s Salon & Spa staff education program so that all of their  staff would be able to share with salon guests the details about tagua and the women who create the products.

Hope For Women’s President, Evan Goldsmith, recently met two women who work for Dillard’s at AVEDA Congress and said, “I was blown away by the commitment that these women have for making a difference in people’s lives – whether by helping a woman start her own salon business in Iraq to providing free beauty services for women in impoverished communities in Ohio. Their passion for supporting women is shared by everyone I have been working with at Dillard’s Salons & Spas, and shows why they are such a great new partner for us.”

So consider getting your next beauty treatment or relaxing massage at a Dillard’s Salon & Spa – not only will you look and feel great but you also have the opportunity to support another company that chooses to feature Fair Trade, eco-friendly products. Find a Dillard’s Salon & Spa near you.

Celebrate World Environment Day this Sunday!

This Sunday, June 5th, the focus in India will be everything green. Across the country, people will be running, planting, listening, eating, engaging, and speaking with environmental activism in mind. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) first organized World Environment Day (WED) back in 1972, and the annual event has only grown since its creation nearly 40 years ago. The theme this year is “Forests: Nature At Your Service.” As the 2011 host country, India will become the grounds for marathons (and Green Walkathons too!), a Biodiversity Film Festival, lectures on topics ranging from Environmental journalism to Business and the Green Economy, an Organic and Forest Food Celebrity cook-out, as well as numerous tree-planting outings throughout the country. Check out the WED site here and find out ways to get involved wherever you may live!

Here in Vermont, Hope For Women feels very connected to the celebrations abroad. We think of Maya, Sumitra, Poonam, Sushella, Babli and all of the other wonderful and extremely capable artisans working in Uttaranchal, India. Delicately arranging flower petals, these women are the spirit and the creativity behind Hope For Women’s Pressed Flower Notecards.

Our green and blue beaded bracelet

Our deep dedication to the environment and our global community allows us to support and provide eco-friendly, sustainable, Fair Trade products from around the world. With the forest in mind, our Tagua Jewelry is made from the seeds within Colombia’s Ivory Nut Palm pods harvested after they have fallen to the ground. That way, no harm is done to the rainforest during the production process and local forest inhabitants are provided with incentive to protect the trees and keep the rainforest intact.

World Environment Day truly is a day to celebrate. It is our day…the world’s day. At Hope For Women, we celebrate, especially, the female artisans in Colombia, El Salvador and India who work directly with their surrounding environments, using sustainable, innovative resources for Hope For Women products. How will you celebrate World Environment Day?

Hint: You might start the celebration by shaking and grooving to these eco-songs from the WED site! (We like the sixth song, “Paradise Lost.”  How about you?)

Tree image credit: http://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

Happy Mother’s Day!

By Evan Goldsmith, President of Hope For Women

For me, Mother’s Day is taking a special moment to honor the woman that brought me into this world and to reflect on all that my mother has done for me – her tireless care for me as an infant and child, her patience with me as a selfish teenager and her guidance to set me straight, and her never wavering support of me as an adult.

Roxhanna in El Salvador

Mother’s Day also brings my thoughts to the wonderful mothers we partner with through Hope For Women, and all their efforts to create a better world for their children and themselves. Whether it is Roxhanna in El Salvador providing her daughter the medicine, treatment and love she needs to lead a more normal life after being diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome.  Or Ana Maria in Colombia, who was able to purchase a computer and internet access after working with us on our AVEDA hair accessory this past holiday season. Her daughters can now take advantage of the global reach of the web and advance in school.  All of the women we partner with are making heroic efforts to be the best Moms they can be, every

I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to visit these inspiring women and experience their dedication and commitment to their families – seeing them is by far the best part of my work. Mother’s Day always brings their lives closer to mine and inspires me to get out there and develop more opportunities together.

Evan Goldsmith and his mother at the Hope For Women headquarters in Burlington, Vermont!

This year we wanted to spread the Mother’s Day LOVE from Burlington and from the  artisans we work with all around the world. We want all mother’s to feel special, so we have partnered with The American Red Cross in Burlington VT , Manchester NH,  Portland & Bangor ME where they will be offering Mother’s Day card handcrafted with Himalayan wildflowers that you can fill out for your mom this Saturday, May 7th! Donate blood to the Red Cross and receive a beautiful Hope For Women  card to write a personal message to your mom for her special day on Sunday.

So Happy Mother’s Day Mom – I look forward to spending time together and cooking you a delicious (hopefully) meal! I wish that I could do the same for all the other inspiring Mom’s that I am fortunate to have in my life.

Pulse Magazine features Hope for Women and Aveda partnership

Click to download the entire article PDF!

Pulse magazine has featured us in their March/April 2011 issue, The Female Factor, and we could not be more honored! We are in the “Empowering Women” section under the subhead, Giving Hope, which is exactly what we do.

The section aptly features a famous quote by President Bill Clinton, “Women do 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the world’s food, earn 10 percent of the world’s income and own one percent of the world’s property.”

We knew that, and we want more people to know what we know. This article illustrates the importance of companies partnering with fair trade organizations like ours to champion equal labor for women and their families in poverty stricken areas around the world.

We recently partnered with Aveda, a socially conscious company that retails in salons and spas worldwide. This partnership benefited Hope for Women artisans from Colombia and over 400,000 of our Tagua nut hair accessories were sent to 27 countries!

This amazing partnership improved the lives of more than 400 women and their families and also helped to protect 400 acres of the Colombian rainforest.

As ISPA Chairman Deborah Waldvogel said in the issue, “Let this be a call of challenge to us all within the spa industry who have the ability and responsibility to impact lives. Uplift other women in your team to become leaders. Think beyond revenue to empower the less fortunate. Be a woman of strength to others.”

Well said.