Garland of Victory

Garland of Victory believes in the power of immigrant artisan craft towards social change. NYC based immigrant artisans are an untapped community with a fount of skills such as sewing, beading, embroidery, hand painting, and cooking. While the consumer market values their craft, they lack the resources to capitalize on these skills. 

Garland of Victory is developing a digital institute offering training in all aspects of fair trade e-commerce for women artisans. All instruction will be offered through multi-language tutorials. 

The global artisan economy generates an estimated $34 billion annually, showcasing local materials and skills and sustaining marginalized communities. Our model can be scaled globally to maximize the profits towards artisan communities, by bypassing the middle man and allowing artisans to offer their product directly to consumers through e-commerce trade. 

NYC is home to 3.1 million immigrants, 28% of whom are living in poverty. 49% of foreign born citizens and 63% of undocumented immigrants have Limited English Proficiency, creating barriers to technical literacy, higher education and employment. Immigrant women face specific challenges as primary caretakers who are often homebound and unable to work or receive training outside the home. 

Garland of Victory will create multi-lingual tutorials accessible by mobile and desktop. We wish to launch with English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Bengali language tutorials as they are the top languages spoken by immigrant artisans in NYC. Multiple series will be created to support the specific needs of immigrant artisans in making and running an e-commerce business. 

Over the past year, Garland of Victory has been working closely with two groups of Queens based Bangladeshi immigrant artisans who have self organized to form artisan collectives. Together, we have developed apparel and accessory products showcasing their artisanal skills. As women working from home, often in over-crowded situations with limited space and resources for machines other than a basic sewing machine, these artisans can produce high quality product within a strict parameter. After building a trusting relationship, the artisan groups requested that Garland of Victory create e-commerce sites for them, so they can have fully independent businesses to support their families. Through the process of designing, producing, and selling their products, we have come to an intimate understanding of their needs and potentials which include: 

• Guidance with market/trend research, product design
• Marketing materials, labels, hangtags
• Legal support for small business
• Worker coop/living wage assistance
• Help identifying funding opportunities
• Training in all aspects of e-commerce website
• Training for shipping, customer service, sales tax

Garland of Victory offers solutions to support the untapped community of immigrant artisans. By offering classes through mobile devices, women artisans can get training and generate income from their homes while they adapt to uncertainty created by the Covid crisis. 

By offering online tutorials to immigrant artisans in their native language, we are innovators in the field of entrepreneurial training. English fluency should not be a barrier to success, as these artisans live in communities with specific ethnic economies that cater specifically to their lifestyles. 

Our core technology is audiovisual media in the form of video tutorials. 

YouTube tutorials have long served as a key actor in skill acquisition. With diverse consumer gadgets and apps entering the market with speed, these video tutorials have democratized learning. Our tutorials will be created specifically for immigrant artisan entrepreneurs with Limited English proficiency. 

By training immigrant artisans to run their own e-commerce websites, we are allowing them the opportunity to create their own work schedule, earn income from home, and become financially independent. 

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/does-working-home-work-evidence-chinese-experiment

https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/a-2-year-stanford-study-shows-astonishing-productivity-boost-of-working-from-home.html

We are currently serving 30 Bangladeshi immigrant women artisans through Bengali language support. Once we expand the languages offered to Spanish and Haitian Creole, we will serve 1000 immigrant artisans in NYC. By year five, we will serve 10,000 immigrant artisans.

Not only do immigrant women take the primary care-taking role in their own nuclear family, they often care for in-laws, siblings, cousins within their own home. In addition, a good amount of resources are sent to support their extended families back home. By supporting low-income women with limited English proficiency to become home-based entrepreneurs, there will be a transformative effect on dozens of relatives surrounding her. Intergenerational wellbeing in terms of gender parity, stress reduction, confidence, and access to education will increase. 

https://read.dukeupress.edu/labor/article-abstract/14/1/110/28427/Immigrant-Women-Workers-in-the-Neoliberal-Age-ed

The first barrier we face is designing the right website for multi-lingual instruction. We need the experience to be inviting and user friendly as the tutorials will be accessed from home without support. 

Another barrier we face is cultural. Women of all backgrounds and citizenship status are socialized to downplay their potential. With the rise of global right wing populism, immigrants are more marginalized than ever, despite their notable contributions to the culture and workforce of the host country. It is difficult to earn the trust of low income women, as they are used to exploitation and often expect the worst.

We plan to overcome the first barrier in website design by partnering with experts in both web technology and language justice. 

For the cultural barrier, we will partner with community organizations to build trust and publicize positive outcomes. 

Joymala Hajra, ED

Kazi Fouzia, Contracted Labor Expert 

Zahida Begum, P/t Director of Organizing

Rabeya Akter, Head Artisan training

Joymala Hajra is a NYC born daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants with 22 years experience in corporate fashion as a designer. She has studied sustainable design in Bangladesh for over 15 years and received her MA in South Asian Studies at Columbia University. 

Kazi Fouzia has dedicated her life to social justice through transnational activism in the fields of labor, craft, and immigrant rights. During her tenure at Women Watch Bangladesh, a female Entrepreneur Capacity Building NGO, she helped artisans to get trade licenses, bank loans, and marketing training.  She was a longtime union member of the Bangladesh National Small Cottage industries and the Dhaka chamber of commerce. 

Zahida Begum is a labor movement leader, experienced organizer, and fashion expert. At age 14, she began working in a Bangladeshi garment factory, by 18 she became a local union leader, eventually organizing at the national level. Zahida remains committed to raising awareness about labor in the fashion industry and the issues that immigrant women face in NYC. 

Rabeya Akter began garment factory work at 11 years old. After emigrating to NYC, she began training Bangladeshi immigrant women at her home in weekly sessions, where she prepared 14 artisans to become members of the Artisans Sewing Coop NY. She is passionate about home-based work, as it gives women the tools to earn income while caring for children. She is a member of Bangladeshi Feminist collective and works in a Queens based garment factory.