We interviewed Kirsten Dickerson and Sophia Hirokawa Lin, co-founders of Raven + Lily, a non-profit studio dedicated to empowering marginalized women through design partnerships and micro-enterprise opportunities.

Kirsten is a native-born Texan who has traveled the world extensively for film, humanitarian outreach, cross-cultural studies, and the adoption of her Chinese daughter.

Sophia started Khana Shiro, an award-winning graphic design agency. With her degree in Sociology, she has searched for ways to combine her love of design with her love for people on a deeper, more personal level.

What is your mission?

Raven + Lily is intentionally focused on creating economic opportunities for disadvantaged women.

We support women’s empowerment programs that comply with fair trade standards and provide design-focused micro-enterprise training. In addition, proceeds from each product are returned to assist with community development.

Currently, we employ hundreds of women in India, Kenya, Burundi and Ethiopia.

Where did this idea come from and how did it get started?

We were inspired by friends in India who started a sewing co-op, when we realized the potential of using our design skills combined with their beautiful craftsmanship. We began with a seed of an idea but no funding or volunteers.

By sharing our ideas, we found business partners like fashion designer Cynthia Vincent, who were willing to donate fabric remnants to us. We also found volunteers who wanted to donate their sewing skills. With this local support, we put together our first collection of handmade scarves and earrings and had our first sale that raised $2,000 during Christmas. We used this money to place our first order with our Indian partnerships. We started with only two groups, and now after two years, we partner with hundreds of women around the globe.

We treat our artisans from a holistic approach of not only addressing their physical needs, but also their spiritual needs.

What is the biggest hindrance to women’s empowerment?

One of the biggest hindrances would be traditional cultural and religious views about women’s rights and roles in their community and family. We’ve seen some changes as women have earned the respect of men through gaining skills, confidence, and income, but they still have a long way to go.

Rather than just merely providing financially for women, you also focus on fair trade opportunities. Can you tell us more about the heart behind this?

We treat our artisans from a holistic approach of not only addressing their physical needs, but also their spiritual needs. What we are offering is not a handout. These women have worked hard and we are compensating them with a fair trade wage.

In addition, we send proceeds back to each of our groups to help them with scholarships, education, healthcare, and community development. By being able to bring in an income and support their families, they learn to respect themselves, which ultimately leads to their spouses and communities respecting them as well.

How has the response been towards Raven + Lily and what is currently in the works?

Since our inception, people have been so excited about what we are doing because we’re bringing a fresh take on the idea of fair trade. The quality of our designs is not what you would expect from a typical artisans’ group or fair trade company.

Raven + Lily is showing that it is possible to create beautiful items with respect for the artisans that made them, all while being fair trade and eco-friendly. We are constantly developing new collections with our partnerships in India and Africa. We are currently expanding our wholesale and retail line, as well as redesigning our website.

We had the privilege of working with humanitarian photographer, Esther Havens, on a whirlwind trip around the world where she was able to capture the beauty of the artisans making the Raven + Lily collection. When these pictures are released, they are going to rock the fashion world.

How is Raven + Lily directly helping those in need or those getting back on their feet?

We have heard on a weekly basis about how our partnership with these groups has literally transformed the lives of these women. One director mentioned that our partnership “literally means the difference between women and children surviving or not. They are able to get the food and life sustaining medicines that they need.”

The biggest transformation we have experienced is the women’s self-esteem. Many of them have gone from depression and homelessness to having a hope and a future. When we hear stories like these, it makes all our efforts worth it!

Ultimately, what are the end goals for Raven + Lily?

Through addressing women’s needs on a spiritual and physical level, our goal is to help women become empowered through learning a trade that will enable them to provide for themselves and their families. By giving them tangible skills, they are able to create independence. Health and spiritual training also helps these women to separate the truth from lies regarding what people have told them in the past.

Our goal stateside is to create conscious consumers who know where their dollars are going and who is benefiting. By telling a complete story about our products from beginning to end, we are able to connect our consumers with our artisans around the world.

How can people help Raven + Lily?

We are always looking for investors who have the passion and vision for what we’re doing and understand the potential for Raven + Lily.

We are also looking for individuals who want to make a difference either locally or globally by helping other women.