Social Responsibility; Who?
Our small team is comprised of professionals who joined forces in order to make a difference:- Tao Bellamine is a senior electronics design engineer working for a multinational
corporation located near Boston, Massachusetts. His skills in integrated circuit design
have helped to improve the safety of automobiles and have increased the functionality
of some of today's most popular cell phones. In 2008, during his Moroccan vacation, he
had the opportunity to visit several socially responsible, Moroccan, artisan cooperatives.
As a native of Morocco, Tao had always had a strong passion for the craftsmanship and
creativity in Moroccan interior designs. Inspired by these meetings, Tao began to sketch
his own designs and, in less than a year, he was working with the Moroccan cooperatives
to turn his dreams into a reality. His custom designs are now being manufactured by the
same socially responsible, Moroccan, cooperative artisans that Tao visited years before. - Houssine Bellamine is the CFO of one of the biggest hotel resorts in Morocco. After
graduating with an international Commerce degree from Ecole Superieure de Commerce
of Montpellier, France, he quickly began to build a professional hospitality network and
he is now in charge of over 13 Five Star hotels all over Morocco. Today, The Moroccan
Tourism Ministry considers him to be one of the most influential tourism professionals in
Morocco. - Daniel Blackmer is Tao’s college friend and he also acts as a consultant to Mycraftwork.
Dan is the director of engineering at Earthworks Audio; a company that supplies audio
equipment to some of today's most successful musicians.
Social responsibility; Why?
Mycraftwork’s ultimate goal is to create a business model that not only makes profit, but also
gives back to the community. We form partnerships with cooperatives comprised of groups of
women and men who have developed certain craftsmanship skills. The skill sets we look for vary
from hand embroidery and rug weaving to pottery making, wood working and metal working.
We help uplift these artisans and communities so that their members can live with sustainability,
dignity and the ability to provide for their families. These artisans have amazing skills and
talents and we hope to offer them the necessary connections and resources to fuel their future.
Social Responsibility; How?
- In a desire to support the gifted Moroccan artisans, we give 25% of our profits to a
support fund used within the Moroccan partner cooperatives. 75% of this fund is
available to assist with education funding, healthcare, and micro-loans for the artists
while 25% of the fund is used to specifically support women's programs that comply with
fair trade standards, ensuring that their work is valued and duly rewarded. - It is very important to note that, in Morocco, women’s illiteracy rates are staggering,
especially in some rural areas (higher than 83%). We have made it a priority to focus on
creating sustainable economic and education opportunities for Morocco's undereducated
women. - Our partner cooperatives are involved in training programs that help women create high
quality, modern designs that marry style and tradition. - We encourage our cooperatives to help their artisans start savings accounts with their
income. - We promote a safe and healthy work environment.
Environmentally friendly;
- We use recycled materials everywhere we can. From paper (for our day to day business
activities) to shipping materials (recycled bubble wrap and boxes). - Our coloring dies are all vegetable based (see our Handthrown Pottery section).
- Our candle holders are made with a mixture of sustainable palm oil and paraffin waxes.
Our partner cooperatives artisans;
Our Hand Embroidery Cooperative Partner:
From left to right:
Maryam, Selma, Khadija, Wafaa, Hafida,
Aicha.
Our Handthrown Pottery Cooperative
Partner:
Back row from left to right:
Aziz, Abdallah, Khalid, Imad.
Middle row from left to right:
Ahmed, Khalil, Zakaria, Imane and the shop
owner.
Front row from left to right:
Abdallah, Hamid, Youness, Abdelkader, Issa
and Redouane.
Our Metalwork Cooperative Partner:
Abdelaziz is the shop manager.
My name is Allison Whitmore and I run a local pottery shop in Philadelphia.
I am a member of "Potters for Peace" and I would be very happy to
speak with one of your representatives about our organization. I can be
reached at ally_whitmore@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Ally.