Business Profile: Lakshya

The Story Behind Lakshya:

Located in Faridabad just outside of New Delhi, Lakshya is a self-help group of street children working to provide shelter and education for themselves and other children. Many of these children had previously been pulling rickshaws, polishing shoes, or rag picking instead of attending school. Ramesh Kumar Gupta, who ran away himself, founded Lakshya as a co-op to create sustainable lifestyles for the next generation of street children.

Children who are age 6-16 attend local schools and learn about different social issues. When children graduate from the Lakshya program at age 19, they can either work as full-time employees or look for other employment. By offering opportunities for education and job skills, Lakshya aims to point New Delhi’s street children in a positive direction.

Lakshya Products:
The Lakshya co-op children and adults create various types of jute bags and paper bags. These colorful products are made from recycled paper and cloth meaning that buyers can purchase something that’s both beautiful and eco-friendly. Current products include backpacks, wallets, tote bags, laptop bags, and toiletry bags.

How You Can Help:
You can purchase Lakshya products at the Amani Cart and online on Lakshya’s website. Every purchase helps Lakshya provide a better life for the street children in New Delhi. The more purchases Lakshya receives, the more children can be helped!

Students of Fair Trade

Student Experience Profiles. Volume 3. 

           Featuring:                         

                                                                      Michael Billotti

                                                       Class of 2015 

        Business Administration Major 

Putting his managerial skills to work on a daily basis, Michael is heavily involved in Amani and has played a large part in helping Fordham's Fair Trade business grow. Michael is enthralled by the fact that in the world of Fair Trade, AWARENESS is just as important as selling Fair Trade products. He believes that just making noise on campus about Fair Trade can have a huge impact. Awareness is pivotal part of any successful Fair Trade Campaign. We reached out to Michael to see what more he has to say about Amani and his coursework in Fair Trade. 

1. How did you initially get involved with Amani? 

I got involved with Amani specifically during my time in Kate's classes and I really didn't do much selling to be honest.  However Kate asked me to be her teaching assistant.  It wasn't until this past summer that Kate wanted me to undertake the management of the business. 

2. What is your favorite part of managing Amani? 

My favorite part of all this work was my trip to India, which also forced me to see how special Amani is.  When I went to India we got to see firsthand where all our work went.  We visited women's empowerment groups, companies that employed handicapped individuals, and a group that takes in abandoned street boys.  Put quite simply, it was one of the most moving trips in my life.  (See question 5 for more about Michael's trip to India). 

3. Do you plan to continue your advocacy of Fair Trade post graduation? 

I hope to continue to be active in Fair Trade, however I'm unsure as to my specific career path.  Regardless, my work with Fair Trade has caused me to be a more conscious consumer which will always continue to have an impact on everything I do.

4. Do you have any advice for students whose experiences with Fair Trade and Amani are just beginning? 

My advice for students just beginning with Fair Trade is to think of the big picture.  The work they might be doing by either working the cart or creating an event on campus has a much bigger impact than they probably imagine.  If they sell $20 worth of merchandise in a day at the cart its important to realize that that money could be buying schoolbooks for a child in India.  It could be providing dinner for a group of women workers in Dehradun at the foothills of the Himalayas.  Its easy for us to overlook the impact our actions can have because we don't immediately see them, but its important to realize that we make a difference.

5. If you attended the class trip to India, can you please tell us a little bit about your experience there? Your favorite part? A key takeaway? A realization you may have had? Anything you’d like to share about the trip with other students. 

Additional advice for students traveling to India would just be to have an open mind and be adventurous.  Its mentally and emotionally tough to put yourself into a situation where you're surrounded by so much poverty but it can be framed properly to be a motivating factor to continue moving forward with your efforts in Fair Trade. 

 Also, a random point of advice: bring granola bars.  The Indian food is fantastic, however I don't think our bodies are ready for the repetition of a single cuisine three times a day.

Finding Fair Trade in the Bronx

Learning about the benefits of Fair Trade is good and all but why not put all that knowledge to action? When you go shopping next time look out for the Fair Trade logo like the one pictured above. Snap a picture post it on your favorite social media sight and make sure you put #fordhamfairtrade in the caption. We want to start making that a trending topic.

To get the movement started, I tried going to C-Town on 187^th to find all the Fair Trade products they had. I was looking to buy coffee anyways, so I figured I’d buy a Fair Trade product to support the movement and then also inform everyone else about the available Fair Trade products at C-Town. The only problem was I couldn’t find any Fair Trade products at C-Town. I looked up and down the aisles several times, but to no avail. So I’m asking for your help. If you’ve found Fair Trade products at C-Town, Modern, or any other local grocery store Fordham students might go to, tell me about it in the comments section below.

Now back to my original point, on your next grocery trip, no matter where it is look for a fair trade product. See if you can find them. If you’re successful, take a picture of it, upload it to social media, and don’t forget to #fordhamfairtrade. We want to build awareness around campus. If you can’t find any products, ask an employee if they have any or even ask the manager. The more demand they hear for Fair Trade products the sooner they’ll stock them on the shelves.

           

Here’s a list of the most common Fair Trade products at super markets:

·         Coffee

·         Tea

·         Sugar/sweeteners

·         Chocolate

·         Herbs/Spices

·         Produce

And, after all this, if you’re still frustrated by the lack of Fair Trade products, don’t forget to check out the Amani Fair Trade cart located in the Gabelli School of Business building on at the Rose Hill Campus. Especially during Midterms, stop by for some Fair Trade chocolate or a nice cup of coffee to wake you up after pulling an all-nighter. 

Don't forget to like the facebook page where you can find new products and new material to browse over.

Students of Fair Trade

Student Experience Profiles. Volume 2. 

           Featuring:                         

                                                             Shannon Kelsh 

                                                  Class of 2017 

         Economics and Mathematics Major 

             

         

This week, we reached out to Shannon to see what she has to say about Amani and her coursework in Fair Trade. 

1. How did you initially get involved with Amani? 

I first became involved with Amani as a project for my Fair Trade and Microfinance class with Prof. Combellick during the fall semester of 2013. Every Friday during the semester I went to Lincoln Center to sell Fair Trade products and engage with the students there.

2. What is your favorite part of managing Amani? 

My favorite part about managing Amani was getting to meet people at Lincoln Center. The atmosphere is very different than the one at Rose Hill, and I doubt I would have interacted with the students and faculty there had I not helped manage Amani.

3. What makes Amani stand out from other Fair Trade organizations? 

The energy going into Amani is entirely student generated!

4. Do you plan to continue your advocacy of Fair Trade post graduation? 

Ideally I will go on to work with Fair Trade after I graduate. I currently am interning at Modavanti, an ethical fashion startup in SoHo.

5. Do you have any advice for students whose experiences with Fair Trade and Amani are just beginning? 

Get into it! There are so many opportunities out there in the ethical business world, use Amani as a stepping stone to effect positive change on the world.

6. Tell us about your experience in India! 

In January 2014 I went to India with around a dozen of Prof. Combellick's other students. It was my first time going to a developing country, and it really changed my outlook. It made me realize that businesses themselves must want to change, because regulations can have loopholes or lax enforcement and consumers can be duped by non-transparent claims. My favorite part of the trip was meeting and exchanging culture with Indian EMPI students. 

Students of Fair Trade

Student Experience Profiles. Volume 1. 

           Featuring:                         

                                                             Shawna Ostiguy

                                                  Class of 2015 

         Business Administration Major 

             Concentrating in Management & Marketing 

        Minoring in Communications 

Putting her managerial skills to work on a daily basis, Shawna is heavily involved in Amani and has played a large part in helping Fordham's Fair Trade business grow. We reached out to Shawna to see what she has to say about Amani and her coursework in Fair Trade. 

1. How did you initially get involved with Amani? 

I dropped a liberal arts class last fall and my friend had told me that Kate Combellick ran an amazing class that involved a student run business and a trip to India (all surrounding fair trade) I just switched into it and took the management role of the business the first day.

2. What is your favorite part of managing Amani? 

Getting to know all the new student sellers each semester.It is amazing how different each class is and I enjoy learning about my peers and giving them the support to take their unique ideas and putting them to action.

3. What makes Amani stand out from other Fair Trade organizations? 

Amani is completely student run. From the sales, to management, to marketing. We all collaborate inside and outside the class room to make this business the best it can be. Amani is special because not many classes (well none I have taken at Fordham) have a business as the core of the class. By the end of the semester Kate Combellick's classes are the most close knit environments. It is a great way to run a course and business because not one person feels that they can not contribute their ideas. Kate Combellick's classes are the best three classes at Fordham. 

4. Do you plan to continue your advocacy of Fair Trade post graduation? 

Yes, and I hope to continue to support Kate and Amani as much as I can. I really hope we can get a hired Business Manager one day so that we can actually make big changes. We are doing great now with the business being student run, but it would run even smoother knowing that there is one person in charge of the behind the scenes of the business. 

5. Do you have any advice for students whose experiences with Fair Trade and Amani are just beginning? 

Take full advantage of this wonderful experience. It will not only be eye opening but it will give you a whole new perspective on things. There is so much good that can come out of Amani and Kate's classes. You will love it!

Fair Trade: A Costly Fallacy

Jim Gaffigan (one of my favorite comedians) has a great line where he states, “Organic is a grocery term meaning twice as expensive.” It seems this stereotype has carried over to people’s perceptions of Fair Trade products as well though. It makes sense in theory. Paying producers more means that the sellers need to charge more to make money still. Yet, take a simple visit to Amazon.com and search for "Ethiopian coffee." You'll find a 5 pound bag for $39.99. Then look up “Ethiopian Fair Trade coffee” and you’ll find a 5 pound bag for $38.95. That's a perfect example that Fair Trade products are not always more expensive. Now of course Fair Trade coffee is going to be more expensive than brands like Maxwell House and Folgers, but those are mass produced with very little care for quality.

            Now you may be thinking, how could Fair Trade products compete with other products in a normal market? The answer: supply chains. Fair Trade products cut out the middle men. If you watch Black Gold, a documentary on Ethiopian coffee farmers, they explain how middle men will buy the coffee at the farmers for a small percentage of what it would be worth on the direct market. Fair Trade cuts these middle men out of the equation, lessening the cost and allowing most of the profit to go directly to the producers.

The products that are priced above competitors might end up higher due to a simple supply shortage. There hasn’t been a large enough market yet for Fair Trade producers to create more goods. As the market grows, as it has been doing, the producers will be able to create more goods which will drive production costs down. This means the Fair Trade market will become even more competitive with the regular goods market in terms of prices. Eventually if you can’t rationalize buying Fair Trade products on a moral basis, you’ll see the economic benefits in lower prices.

Knowledge inspires change in others. Start the conversation about Fair Trade today! How are you going to take action today?