Innovate For Good

During our #InnovateForGoodCampaign, we’re featuring stories of innovators who inspire us. James Karnadi, founder of Indonesia Civic Youth, is passionate about engaging youth to promote social justice. In just a short amount of time, James’ organization has had a fantastic impact around the world! 

In 2017, I started Indonesia Civic Youth with a mission to develop the growth of leaders dedicated to driving social change. The main goal of this movement was to inspire innovative solutions from youth that have the potential to make domestic and international impacts. I grew up in a wealthy family in a developing country. In Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, I had access to a luxurious lifestyle that many other Indonesians never have the opportunity to experience. My privileged background has played an enormous role in my understanding of Indonesian structural inequality. Indonesia has rich natural resources that are plentiful yet unevenly distributed– limiting the possibility every citizen has of realizing their full potential. In fact, many wealthy families send their children to boarding schools in foreign countries, believing they are more likely to have access to greater opportunities abroad.

I was unable to ignore this inequality when I interned at a digital company that worked closely with NGOs, the private sector, and governments. I was amazed that my CEO, at the age of only 27 years old, could drive such impactful change just through collaborating and starting dialogue with other young leaders. It really inspired me and thought me a lesson that there is no problem too large to solve, even if the solution starts on a small scale. Now, through my program Indonesia Civic Youth, I work with a team to solve hundreds of issues domestically by concentrating on five topics: agriculture, tourism, health, energy and logistics. We work with the Executive Office of the President as a National Movement to solve domestic problems through the vision of the youth.

Moving forward, we have started a campaign in San Francisco and Los Angeles: #AyoJadiCivic, or in English, “Let’s be Civic.” The two main features of this program are to 1) motivate the young leaders of Indonesia to give back to the country, and 2) create a platform to be a channel for the UN. We also created a blood drive campaign #Darahmahal which means “blood is expensive.” Collaborating with the National Red Cross, we are working to fulfill six months worth of blood supply for the population of Surakarta, Indonesia. I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I have finally come to a point of realization that making a change with the youth is not as simple as finding their “why”. The “why” is just the beginning of the revolution. We must move forward with action for change.

Learn more about Indonesia Civic Youth’s Impact 

Z Shoes is a Not For Sale partner brand that consistently shows a deep resolve to  #InnovateForGood. Within a deeply exploitative industry, Z Shoes has crafted a sustainable business model which considers the impact of each product on people and the planet while still maintaining a profitable brand. 

The Exploitative World of “Fast Fashion”

Most of the clothing, shoes, and accessories that flood the fashion marketplace today fit within the category of “fast fashion”: trendy, cheaply made goods that are churned out quickly and discarded almost as if they’re disposable. Fast fashion doesn’t come without a devastating cost. Manufacturers are chosen for how quickly they can produce clothing for the least amount of money, not for  how ethically workers are treated or how sustainable their process is. Some fashion companies can’t even trace their supply chain, as the drive for cheaper and cheaper prices leads to shady subcontracting deals that can be rife with child labor and other types of labor exploitation.

Consumers, now more than ever, have a window into the world in which our clothes, shoes, and accessories are made. We hear about workers fainting in Nike manufacturing facilities or withheld wages and deadly fires in flip flop factories. It’s clear that something must change within the fashion industry, and that individual consumers and fashion giants alike need to be a part of the solution to the exploitation and slavery that plague it. Activism movements like Fashion Revolution, a global campaign pushing for greater transparency and better ethics within the fashion industry, help consumers form a strong collective voice in asking companies for more ethically made clothing.

Fashion Revolution urges consumers to ask brands “Who made my clothes/accessories/shoes?”, holding brands accountable for how people and the planet are affected by the making of the products that we wear. Not For Sale brand partner Z Shoes is prepared to answer that question. Aa a brand that values transparency and good ethics, Z Shoes is open about the company’s supply chain, and proud to share their  partnership with Not For Sale in building social enterprises to empower communities at risk for human trafficking.

Z Shoes Innovates For Good In The Fashion Industry Through Every Step Of The Supply Chain

150 billion in profits are generated annually by businesses employing slavery and exploitation (more than the revenues of Google, Microsoft, Apple, ExxonMobil, and JP Morgan Chase combined!). Numbers for labor exploitation and human trafficking continue to grow – currently it’s estimated that 45.8 million people around the globe are being exploited and living without access to basic human rights.

Z Shoes was born out of a desire to create a business that would fight those statistics through offering a path to economic opportunity within vulnerable communities in Peru. The Peruvian Amazon is one of the most resource-rich areas in the world, but also one of the poorest. Labor exploitation, sex trafficking, child malnutrition,and  illiteracy, are all catalyzed by economic vulnerability and poverty. Economic Instability is a root cause of the community’s vulnerability to exploitation. Z Shoes intentionally crafted a supply chain that has a positive impact at every step.

The Cotton

Z Shoes’ partners on the ground in Peru have been growing Natural Cotton Colors in earthy beige, brown, chocolate, green and mauve tones since 1978. We support the growers’ unique Amazon jungle Drug-Free cotton program, which offers a viable alternative to illicit coca leaf cultivation. Our partners were the first to certify the superior Peruvian Pima fiber– the longest, strongest and softest cotton anywhere — as organic. Our cotton is USDA Organic certified.

Only natural, plant-based dyes are used for Z Shoes, ensuring that we only contribute toward preserving the environment beauty of the Amazon, rather than harming it though polluting it with chemical or synthetic dyes.

Though souring the cotton used for Z Shoes, thoughtfully,  Z Shoes supports the use of environmentally conscientious practices of small farmers and producers, while fostering sustainable relationships and understanding among American peoples of diverse ethnic and cultural heritages.

The Rubber

The rubber used to craft the soles of Z Shoes is sourced from a local indigenous tribe of the Iberia region of Peru’s Amazon. Harvesters (Shiringueros) make incisions across the latex vessels, just deep enough to tap the vessels without harming the tree’s growth, they then leave small buckets to collect the latex. This process is known as rubber tapping. Their process epitomises the term sustainability. So much so, that the local harvesters are still tapping rubber from the same trees that their great grandfathers once did generations before.

Natural rubber is biodegradable, as is cotton, meaning that Z Shoes’ designs will break down and return to the earth at the end of their lifecycle.

Who Made Your Z Shoes?

Z Shoes are made in both Lima, Peru and Portugal (the Self Love line). Each factory uses fair trade practices and allow their employees opportunity for growth. 60% of Z Shoe’s partner factory in Portugal’s employees are women, and 200 local residents are employed through the factory.

The Impact

2.5% of every shoe sold returns to Not For Sale, where it is used to support indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon through building schools, installing clean water systems, helping to build farms, and more. Not For Sale has developed a scholarship program to provide housing, school fees, supplies and emotional support for vulnerable children in rural parts of Peru, and we also provides artisan training and small business workshops for hundreds of women in the Amazon. The women develop self esteem while learning marketable trades and skill sets.

Z Shoes not only seeks to join the growing force of businesses pushing for a more fair and ethical fashion industry, but also offers consumers a chance to take a step forward for freedom and for fairness for all.

Learn more about Z Shoes Organic

Today’s dose of #InnovateForGood inspiration comes from Velé co-founders Tiffany & Lauren. Velé is a Not For Sale partner brand that produces beautiful handcrafted leather goods under ethical guidelines, while spreading a message of women’s empowerment and contributing toward Not For Sale’s work around the world. 

“You Are Worthy. You Are Wanted.” 

These are the words that drove us to build Velé, an ethical leather essentials line designed with the belief that all are worthy, wanted.

Our creative partnership began fittingly in a middle school sewing class. We bonded over a shared love of essentialist style and the confidence that self expression through fashion fueled us with. Years later, it was only natural that we would venture into the world of fashion as a career. Yet we were disheartened to learn that in an industry that empowered us to conquer our day with confidence, less than 5% are paid a living wage out of over 50 million garment workers globally (The True Cost). The fashion industry has a seismic impact on the lives of many, and today there is a $150 billion industry of forced labour supported by fast fashion prices (ILO).

We looked at the stats, and knew that while we had fallen in love with the world of fashion for the way it could empower and unleash creativity, if we were going to start a brand, it would need to be a vehicle of bringing dignity to it’s makers. That’s why at Velé we guarantee the traditional artisans who handcraft every piece in Ubrique, Spain, fair living wages and are dignity in their work. To further this vision, 10% of each purchase supports Not For Sale in ending human trafficking.

“You Are Worthy. You Are Wanted.” 

There was one more layer of fashion we wanted to change. We were tired of the industry constantly throwing messages at women that they weren’t good enough; that if they only purchased this or that, they would suddenly find success or feel beautiful. Velé is built on a foundation of supporting, respecting, and accepting women, regardless of their shape, size, or color. We make pieces to enhance your life, not change it.

That’s why every piece we make is embossed with a message of empowerment inside to remind you that no matter what the world is telling you, you are worthy, “You are wanted.”