In 2009, Stacey Horowitz was a multi-media artist who specialized in commissioned paintings and jewelry and who liked to travel. Today, she is founder and head of the Web-based Shopping for a Change, a new nonprofit corporation based in San Mateo.
Shopping for a Change helps nonprofit organizations raise money by selling handcrafted items made by artisans from around the world. The organizations pay nothing to sign up with the program. Half the proceeds go to the organizations and half go to the artisans and their communities.
“The past 17 months have brought lots of changes, explosive changes,” says Horowitz. “I feel fulfilled for the first time in my life, and I believe that Jewish nonprofit organizations and Shopping for a Change can unite together in repairing the world.”
Three events brought about the big change in Horowitz’s life.
“Last year, as I approached my 50th birthday, I asked myself what I have done to make the world a better place,” says Horowitz. Around the same time, her son, Avi was working with his seventh-grade classmates to raise money for local charitable organizations that were struggling in a challenging economy.
The third event occurred when Horowitz traveled with her husband, Ken, and her son on a long-planned trip to Ecuador and Peru. “Before we went, all I could think about was seeing the wildlife in the Galapagos Islands and the scenery in Peru,” says Horowitz. “When we got to these countries, I saw how much poverty there is in these beautiful places.”
Time after time, youngsters leading baby llamas would approach and offer to take her family’s photo — and then ask to be paid. “The children weren’t begging,” she says, “but they were working, trying to make a buck.”
Back in San Mateo, Horowitz couldn’t shake her feelings of sadness. She recalls being acutely aware that but for an accident of birth, she could have been selling her handcrafted jewelry on a dusty road in the Peruvian countryside while the artisans she had met could have been living the good life in the Bay Area.
“I felt so disturbed by what we had seen,” says Horowitz. “I was not raised very religiously — we celebrated holidays but did not go to temple — and as a younger person, I had never felt that one person could really make a difference, but now I wanted to do something to help.” Her faith did play a part. The Horowitz family is active in Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, where Ken Horowitz was reared.
Horowitz emphasizes that while she did not feel guilty for what she has or how she lives, she did realize more clearly than ever that she was not using her creativity or resources to contribute in every way possible. “When I asked myself if I was,” she says, “the answer was a resounding ‘No.’ ”
Horowitz began to develop a business model to help artisans in other countries and at the same time to help non-profit organizations in the U.S. In the summer of 2009, Horowitz returned to Peru, where she teamed up with Mauricio Brou Figari, a lawyer who also owns an ecotourism agency. Figari is now director of operations for Latin America for Shopping for a Change and the company’s licensed exporter for Peru.
“Operating this business model is very challenging but also very rewarding work,” says Figari. “Every time we buy products from disadvantaged artisans, we make sure that it is going to change someone’s life for the better. By creating synergies, we are helping one another to deliver an even greater social change than each could possibly achieve alone.”
When Horowitz returned home, she began to search the Internet to find artists’ cooperatives elsewhere in the world that follow fair trade guidelines. Eventually she came up with a name for the business, assembled a board of directors and set up the corporation.
Two months ago, Horowitz launched Shopping for a Change. Its website, www.shoppingforachange.org, features handcrafted items made in eight countries and priced from $10 to $600. Merchandise includes jewelry, woven placemats, home accessories and even carpets. Some of the handmade clothing is from Peruvian designer Jenny Duarte, who employs disadvantaged artisans in her workshop.
Individuals are welcome to shop on the site, but Horowitz’s larger goal is for other nonprofits to team up with Shopping for a Change to help sell the items. Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto has already signed up, and several day schools and other organizations have asked for details, says Horowitz.
As the business grows, Horowitz wants to help the artisans make products especially suited to Western buyers. She recalls visiting a tiny shop on a remote road in the Peruvian Andes where women sell beautiful hand-woven textiles. “I want to work with them to channel their talents, and I’m also thinking how we can use the products they have already made,” says Horowitz. “I have a lot of plans.”
What Horowitz does not have is enough hours in the day. She is looking for volunteers. An early investor donated $50,000 in seed money and the Horowitzes have contributed almost that much, but she also is looking for tax-deductible donations to continue to grow the business. Horowitz takes no salary — and does not expect to anytime soon.
“Throughout building this organization, I have listened closely to my inner voice, and have felt divinely guided,” says Horowitz. “I feel like things happen for a reason, and I have learned that things fall into place when everything is right. That is how this all has been for me. I feel very blessed.”