Clockwise: Melanie Popowich, team reviewing initial ideas for Fair Trade Zone, a view of the first building, and the staff from the Akuse office visiting the new building. We are exceptionally thrilled to share with our fantastic community that we FINALLY have a building on our land! Before we give …
Breaking Ground and Building Up at the Fair Trade Zone Read More »
By Chidera Okeke, Global Mamas Community Outreach Specialist. For the past 17 years, Global Mamas has progressed in its mission to create a life of prosperity for women across Ghana by creating and selling handmade fair trade products. The upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a derailment in the …
Face Masks Protecting the Public & Preserving Livelihoods Read More »
When Global Mamas brings new Mamas into the ‘family’, we take the commitment seriously. This means we hire with intention and only when we know we have the capacity to offer long-term, regular work for a new partner. During Fashion Revolution week we wanted to introduce Dorcas Quianoo, one of …
Meet the Mamas: Featuring New Global Mamas Batiker Dorcas Quianoo Read More »
Leadership Training with Busara Africa With the financial support of the Embassy of France in Ghana, this past month Global Mamas leaders engaged in leadership trainings in collaboration with Busara Africa. Busara Africa is a regional consultancy firm based in Ghana that provides responsive leadership development services. Over the years …
Bringing Out the Best In Our Leaders with Busara Africa Read More »
When Global Mamas works with outside partners we’re intentional about selecting organizations working in-line with our values. This means businesses operating with full transparency, following the principles of fair trade, and prioritizing the well-being of the people involved with their work. Aligning these values up front makes it easy to …
Partners in Ethical Practice: Naasakle International Read More »
This month for Giving Tuesday (November 27th) our attention remains focused on the Fair Trade Zone (FTZ), a campus-style facility we are creating in Ghana’s Eastern Region to provide sustainable income opportunities for 200 craftswomen. Our vision is to create a model environment for ethical production following the principles of …
Fashion Can be a Dirty Business The fashion industry is notoriously known for it’s negative environmental impact, and at Global Mamas we’re constantly having to balance out the work we do—that we know is creating a positive impact in the lives of hundreds of women– with the industry we’re a …
How it All Began Fifteen years ago, back in 2003, eight Ghanaian and American women put their heads together to solve a problem. The Ghanaian founders were talented seamstresses and batikers living on an erratic income from week to week, never knowing if there’d be enough orders to meet their …
As we previously shared, finding the right cotton producer has been quite a journey and we’re pleased to be able to introduce you to our new Indian partners at Silk’n Fab. Anuj Kanodia and his wife Tanu jointly run this family business that’s now in its 4th generation of textile …
Meet Silk’n Fab: Our New Organic Cotton Producers Read More »
We’re proud. Excited, delighted AND thrilled to be taking our collection to the next level this spring by using organic (through GOTS) and fair trade (though FLO) certified cotton for our textile goods. Our new fabric is free of toxins, has a higher thread count, and silkier hand– but more …
Alice Grau, Creative Director Photo Credit: Nick Ruffalo, Designer Each of our collections originates from trend research– anticipating how everything from high-fashion to streetwear trends will influence the clothes our customers might wish to buy in future seasons. We love getting creative with the shape, color, and prints of our …
Sophia Khan, Volunteer & Renae Adam, Co-Founder Rumor has it that Cleopatra took jars of shea butter wherever she went to keep her skin in tip top condition and it’s certainly true that it’s long been used for as a beauty product for hundreds, if not thousands of years across …
Ancient Shea & Modern Moringa: a Winning Combination Read More »
Agents for Change Each year World Fair Trade Day provides an opportunity to refocus on what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it. On a broad scale, the fair trade movement is made up of individuals around the globe joining together to promote ethical trade relationships as a tool to …
Sophia Khan, Marketing Volunteer Sometimes it feels overwhelming to make a difference as an individual in the face of large corporations and fast fashion advertising. However, the good news is that even seemingly small actions like choosing one brand over another can be significant. While in the grand scheme of …
Sophia Khan, Marketing Volunteer Odumase Krobo in the Eastern Region of Ghana is renowned for its glass beadmaking and is home to the historic Agomanya bead market. It’s also where you will find the Global Mamas Krobo Bead Cooperative. This talented group uses techniques passed down from generation to generation …
From Bottles to Beads – Behind the Scenes with our Beadmakers in Krobo Read More »
Alice Grau, creative director As a fair trade organization, Global Mamas makes fair trade and ethical behaviors the core of everything we do. We have created long-term, respectful relationships with the Mamas and usually stay with the same raw materials suppliers long-term, too. While our products are handmade in Ghana, …
Amelia Brandt, volunteer Happy Fair Trade Month from all of us at Global Mamas! For us, Fair Trade Month is all about celebrating our accomplishments, especially those that exemplify the heart behind our values as a fair trade organization. For example, one of our values is as follows: “We are …
Katie Eilert, intern It’s not every day that the Global Mamas staff gets to practice wielding a fire extinguisher! Quality Control workers and Mamas gathered at the Cape Coast office for safety equipment training that included a presentation by the Ghana National Fire Service. The informative training was held as …
Amelia Brandt, volunteer We’re excited to announce a new product to the loyal followers of Global Mamas: a special-edition shea butter skin care product, Global Beauty Butter! The product is created in partnership with Ghanaian shea skin care formulator Ele Agbe and natural beauty blog Beauty Lies Truth, a champion …
Hailey Hinshaw, intern Power outages are part of daily life at Global Mamas and all across Ghana. While Ghanaians have experienced periods of “lights out” before, it’s gotten substantially worse within the last year. Due to a variety of factors including failing power plant equipment, a dysfunctional dam, and a …
Madison Oeff, intern World Fair Trade Week, hosted by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), takes place in Europe every other year. For this celebratory week, the WFTO names one city the “Global Capital of Fair Trade.” Milan, Italy had the honor of hosting the fair trade festivities this past …
Paige Affinito, Intern With an average annual growth rate of 66%, Global Mamas faces the rare challenge that demand has outstripped production. Because our production falls short and orders go unfilled, expansion in sales has slowed organization’s overall pace of growth. To address this problem, Global Mamas initiated plans for …
Building Prosperity: Planning the Fair Trade Zone Read More »
Just five minutes outside of the seaside village of Prampram, a cluster of freshly scrubbed buildings is perched on a rise of sand above a little lagoon and the Atlantic ocean. Upon entrance, visitors gasp and remark on its resemblance to Paradise.
Esther Gyepi-Garbrah is no ordinary seamstress- she is an exceptional woman with an exceptional story. She was invited to speak at the Fair Trade Federation annual conference held in Quincy, Massachusetts this September.
In January of 2008, Global Mamas helped to launch The Madizu Fair Trade Center, located in Odumase-Krobo. Thomas Amuzu and Gladys Adjimer are the owners and managers of the company and they have been contracted to assemble Global Mamas beaded products.
Make way for more fair trade! The women of the Global Mamas Cooperative in Cape Coast came together at the Cape Coast Hotel this April to address current progress, challenges, and upcoming projects.
In the fall of 2005, Global Mamas, underwent a thorough examination of our practices by the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) and we are happy to announce that we have been recognized as a fair trade organization and can proudly display the fair trade symbol on all of our products!
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