MyCraftWork, LLC

Social Responsibility; Who?

• 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.