Ruth DeGolia was among the first Echoing Green Fellows I met. And one of the youngest too. Walking beside her seven years ago, I saw in Ruth an extraordinary trait that I have since witnessed in each of the social entrepreneurs Echoing Green supports: Ruth had the fierce determination that she had to do her work. For Ruth, "the work" was to launch Mercado Global with her Yale classmate, Benita Singh. I remember Ruth turning to me and saying that, for her, this work was an honor instead of a burden. Becoming 2004 Echoing Green Fellows, Ruth and Benita committed to lifting indigenous Guatemalan women and their families, still suffering from the 36-year civil war, out of poverty by providing nearly 400 artisans to high-level sales opportunities in the U.S.

Just a few weeks ago, I flew to Guatemala to visit Mercado Global. Experiencing how the organization has developed over the past seven years was moving. I already knew that Mercado Global had grown outwardly, forming partnerships with reputable corporations like Levi's and Crate & Barrel. However, I didn't expect to see how they had grown inwardly—specifically how strongly purpose, a concept about which I have been thinking a lot these days, runs within Mercado Global.

In Guatemala, I met dozens of Mercado Global’s artisan partners—jewelers weavers, potters and more—each of whom create beautiful works of art despite the many obstacles poverty puts in their path.

One day, after two hours of hair-pin mountain turns, I met five artisan weavers in a musty smoke-filled room, incense burning in the corner of the room to welcome guests. The weavers explained that they could work only six months a year because they lacked a roof over one of the looms and so couldn't work during the rainy season. However, Mercado Global introduced them to their credit program so that they could now purchase a new roof for themselves.

Reaching into a plastic bag, the weavers shared some of their work with me. My eyes feasted on intricate designs of hand-woven birds and complex geometric patterns, rich vibrant color that matched the lush Guatemalan landscape, and a texture that balanced the rugged lives the women led with the softness of natural yarn. The women beamed, talking about how patterns come to them in their dreams, how they memorized these patterns and worked together to create them. As I listened, I saw that these women were also working on purpose. Like Ruth, they were doing the work that they had to do.

In this moment, I was struck by the strength of organizations in which everyone—from program participants to staff—is working on purpose. That symmetry can create a powerful chain that can bust open the status quo. Mercado Global's model goes beyond fair trade, providing female artisan cooperatives with a fair livable wage and steady income to make crafts designed to appeal to a Western audience using age-old techniques passed from one generation to the next. At every stage of this production, those working with and for Mercado Global have a deep infusion of purpose. And it shows: on their faces and in their work.

Tweet