4. We've got conservation in the bag
Money talks. Whether you are running a multi-billion-dollar empire or a small non-profit, money is at the root of everything you do. Business executives spend hours studying their bottom line and thinking about how they can increase their profit-margin, while charities simply can’t function without donations. Whether we like it or not, we need money to make a difference in today’s society.
The aim of TheOne08 was to be different, in order to make a difference, we needed to place purpose and planet above profit, and that is at the heart of our vision and mission.
Bags of Money
There was never any question that our collection would center around womens handbags. We knew that our team was blessed with a wealth of experience and success in the field and that the potential to base the manufacturing in Africa was very doable. So we set forth to make sure that our company lived up to its purpose. A portion of the profits from our collection will be split in the following four ways:
- We will pay our employees a thriving wage.
- We will invest in infrastructure and training in Africa, helping to improve the lives of the locals.
- We will donate a portion of our profit to our partner conservancy, helping them in their work in Kenya.
- We will make expand our collection and research the use of new cruelty-free materials.
Our collection will initially be manufactured in Southeast Asia, but once we have the infrastructure in place, our workshop will move to Africa. TheOne08 team will hire local people to develop and deliver the bags, providing training, education and empowerment to one of the poorest areas of the world. And in turn, providing these alternative and meaningful livelihoods to our partner communities will ultimately reduce the ever-expanding pressure on the land.
Our work won’t stop there. We intend to work with our partner communities in providing education regarding their land and the importance of conserving it and its wild inhabitants.