Programs: HAND/EYE
Facts
Announced:
September 8, 2011
Category:
Providing Small & Growing Businesses with Access to Financing & Business Services
Grant Amount: $535,876 Grant
Grant Objective:
Support Haitian artisan exports by establishing the Artisan Business Network.
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Haitian artisan Jean Baptiste displays his work.
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Martha Stewart with Serge Jolimeau and his beautiful metalwork.
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's $535,876 grant to the HAND/EYE Fund will establish the Artisan Business Network. The Network will connect artisans in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, and Croix-des-Bouquets with tools to effectively export their work to US and global markets.
The artisan sector is key for long-term economic development in Haiti, and HAND/EYE's Artisan Business Network will invigorate Haitian artisans, providing them with resources and tools to effectively design and share their work. The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's grant for the Artisan Business Network will support a center for product development, packaging, and distribution in Port-au-Prince. Artisans in Croix-des-Bouquets and Jacmel who are part of this network will have access to this hub.
HAND/EYE facilitates expanding orders with Macy's, and will help generate and enable orders with other major international retailers. In July 2011, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren joined Martha Stewart and designer Rachel Roy on a business visit to several artisan communities in Haiti. As business with Haiti expands, the Artisan Business Network will employ even more artisans.
HAND/EYE will partner with Road To Market (RTM) implement the project. The blending of the marketing connections and artisan networks of both organizations will create strong results for Haitian artisans.
Why We Invested in HAND/EYE
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's grant to HAND/EYE to implement the Artisan Business Network reflects our commitment to promoting job growth and economic opportunity, particularly in the key artisan sector.
Transforming Lives and Livelihoods
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund grant to support HAND/EYE aims to:
- Provide access to new, international markets, and develop long-term relationships between Haitian artisans and major retailers;
- Develop design and operations practices in the Haitian artisan sector;
- Secure large purchase orders for artisan groups across three cities in Haiti;
- Expand the business expertise of Haitian craftspeople so they can market their own crafts;
- Broaden international interest in Haitian art.
About the HAND/EYE Fund
The HAND/EYE Fund is a 501(c)(3) created in 2010 to connect artisan groups to U.S. markets. It supports skilled artisans through grants to artisan cooperatives around the world. Its leaders are respected for their commitment to artisans and strong, personal relationships across U.S. markets. Visit handeyemagazine.com for more information.
About RTM
RTM Ltd plans and builds market-responsive, business-based solutions that provide employment and sustainable growth in Africa, Indonesia, Latin and South America, the Caribbean and elsewhere – and brings world-class products to an eager, increasingly global North America. Its consulting teams produce strategic analyses, create client-specific strategies, and stay in partnership with clients to successfully move products from the world’s most remote settings along the road to market.
RTM Ltd’s overarching goal is to help U.S. corporations bridge the gap between traditional business and culturally diverse, socially motivated enterprises. The unique, hybrid, often international programs devised by RTM Ltd enable a broad spectrum of businesses to thrive through collaboration -- which is the future of international commerce.
