“A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.” Proverbs 18:16
If you are looking to give a gift with extra meaning this year, look no further.
Friends and family of the Mendoza College of Business can support a variety of nonprofits that benefit marginalized people affiliated with the College's programs. The Meyer Business on the Frontlines (BOTFL) program and the undergraduate Innovation and Design Thinking course and the Innovation for Impact student club work with organizations to help them accomplish financial sustainability while delivering hands on experience for students learning how to grow the good in business.
If you are interested in giving a gift this Christmas season that goes a step beyond, explore products from the program partners below.
Child’s Cup Full
The organization Child’s Cup Full aims to create dignified work for Palestinian women by providing talented refugee and low-income artisans training and job opportunities. This organization and Business on the Frontlines (BOTFL) have been partners since 2018, working to increase the sales of their brands Darzah and Zeki Learning, improving their supply chain and operations, and measuring CCF’s impact. The partnership has been furthered through two Student International Business Council projects, where undergraduates collaborate with BOTFL alumni and the organization on marketing and finance projects. This effort has helped empower and hire more disadvantaged women in the West Bank.
Darzah is a nonprofit, ethical fashion brand that features handmade Palestinian products such as shoes, handbags, homegoods and more. Items feature a signature Palestinian embroidery style called tatreez, which has been passed down through generations of women for 3,000 years. From pillows and tea towels to clutches, crossbodies and totes to boots, flats and sandals, all Darzah purchases support artisan salaries, employment programs or job training in the West Bank.
Darzah is Fair Trade Certified and made by women that have traditionally been marginalized due to gender inequality, low income and lack of economic opportunities.
Zeki Learning is a Fair Trade Certified nonprofit that creates toys to encourage cognitive development and language learning for children ages 0 to 6 years old. All toys are handmade by female artisans in the West Bank and include plush toys, matching and memory games, soft books, alphabet toys and other educational products. Language products are available in English, Spanish and Arabic.
Homeboy Foods
A part of ND Laetare Medal awardee Father Greg Boyle’s Homeboy Industries, this social enterprise provides second chances to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated people. Homeboy Foods creates jobs and provides training opportunities for employees to advance careers in baking and e-commerce. The goal is for trainees to redirect their lives and become contributing members of the community. To support their mission, Homeboy Foods sells baked goods such as pies, cookies, cakes, coffee and more, extending the spirit of kinship from the bakery to your door.
Homeboy Industries is a nonprofit that partners with the Frontlines in America course, which addresses the issues and challenges faced by some of the US’s most marginalized populations since it was founded in 2020. Students have also supported Feed Hope (another social enterprise from Homeboy Industries), in delivering nutritious and fresh meals to vulnerable communities during the pandemic.
Through this collaboration with Homeboy Foods, Mendoza students have reduced the effects of highly seasonal sales on the workforce. Frontlines in America teams have been able to equip Homeboy Industries with research, insights and recommendations to better achieve its overall mission while learning more about trauma-informed leadership.
Mountain Mindful
Mountain Mindful is a social enterprise that rebuilds livelihoods and establishes improved conditions for economic growth in West Virginia. By creating and selling socially and environmentally sustainable products, Mountain Mindful employs people who face barriers to employment. Mountain Mindful sells a variety of items including home furnishings, self-care products and apparel as part of Coalfield Development, which has been working to rebuild the economy of Appalachia since 2010.
As a Frontlines in America course partner since 2020, Coalfield Development began working with the course to increase community member access to job opportunities and establish a market for tourism. Most recently, Frontlines in America students are supporting the launch of an investment SEED fund for other social enterprises in the state to further drive growth and economic development.
West Virginia currently faces one of the lowest workforce participation rates in the country and continues to struggle due to high levels of opioid addiction and overdose paired with the continued decline of the coal industry. Frontlines in America students that work with Coalfield Development earn a deeper understanding of the economic issues West Virginia faces, along with the challenges of business development in rural Appalachia.
Saint Bakhita Vocational Training Center
Saint Bakhita is a girls-only boarding school in Kalongo, Uganda, founded in 2007. The school opened to help women rebuild their lives in the wake of tragic abductions by the violent Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). As many as 30,000 children were victims of the LRA with abductions beginning in the late 1980s and continuing for over a decade.
Mendoza teaching professor Wendy Angst’s Innovation and Design Thinking class began working with the school to help them become self-sustainable. The effort included helping St. Bakhita students utilize their vocational training to sew and sell products, including colorful wrap skirts, unique backpacks and small zipper bags. Additionally, St. Bakhita has a pop-up shop at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore until January 1, 2023.