Custom Collaborative

I am applying because through Custom Collaborative, the organization that I founded and lead, I've launched the only non-profit social enterprise in the United States that centers Black and brown women as full participants in the sustainable fashion industry. My team is majority Black & brown, our board membership is 83% Black, Latinx and/or immigrant. Our participants represent 23 different nations, practice at least three major faith traditions and are differently-abled. This is possible because I lead with a radical style of equity, justice, and inclusion that includes semi-monthly equity training and discussion to affirm and support professional development in a communal space.

As a Black woman living in a Black and brown community that is subjected to disproportionately high levels of environmental toxins, I think that BIPOC women's leadership in the climate and environmental justice space should be elevated since we are disproportionately affected by climate change.

Because we need many new problem-solvers and leaders, I would use the Elevate Prize funding to expand the number of women learning in Custom Collaborative programs, evaluate for replication our most powerful interventions, and further develop sustainability curriculum for other organizations and industries to follow. 

I am a creative thinker who executes my ideas into community-centered action plans. My work as an advocate for a fashion industry that honors planet and peopled me to launch Custom Collaborative, to support immigrant & no/low-income women who are starting sustainable fashion careers. Custom Collaborative serves US designers who want to design and produce locally, fashion-industry workers, and consumers who want ethical fashion. I am a 2021 AARP Purpose Prize Fellow, 2020 “World-Changing Women in Conscious Business” winner, from Conscious Company Media and Kate Spade, 2019 NYC Fair Trade Coalition "Changemaker of the Year", and 2019 New York Women's Foundation "Spirit of Entrepreneurship” awardee. I am certified by New York University’s Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, I was a 2014 Environmental Leadership Program Fellow, andI am a graduate of the Coro Leadership New York program, Georgetown University Law Center, and Morgan State University.

My highest and best purpose is leading communities toward economic, environmental, gender, and racial justice. One of my goals is to help industry recognize that many problems that they are confronting can be solved by listening to people who have been marginalized, specifically Black people, indigenous people, and women.

Custom Collaborative (CC) was founded to address several intersecting problems: 1) the lack of opportunities for immigrant, BIPOC, and no/low-income women to earn a decent livelihood or become business owners; 2) the detrimental impacts of fast fashion and mass production on the environment and workers; and 3) the lack of valuable garments for women of all shapes and sizes. 

Although we focus primarily on problem 1 and 2, the prevalence of extraordinary amounts of clothing in landfill and waterways is largely because clothing is inexpensive to consumers: both because workers are exploited and underpaid and because low-quality textiles incentivize some manufacturers to over-produce, in hopes that someone might purchase clothing that cost them pennies to produce. Manufacturers have externalized costs.

CC's model of training, production, and consumption prioritizes environmental & humanitarian sustainability while challenging racial and gender inequity in the fashion industry. Our programs for BIPOC women are a Training Institute, Business Incubator, and Worker-Owned Cooperative Development, all grounded in Anti-Racism and economic justice principles. 

Custom Collaborative aims to ensure that the women whose labor constitutes the working capital of the fashion industry are afforded the dignity of safe, fairly-paid work and a proportional share in the wealth they create. 

My work is innovative because Custom Collaborative aims to ensure that the women whose labor constitutes the working capital of the fashion industry are afforded the dignity of work and a proportional share in the wealth they create. CC's Theory of Change centers no/low-income and immigrant women as change agents in industry and communities.

Custom Collaborative organizes people who are socially marginalized —  Black and brown no/low-income women — and centers their solutions on the biggest social issue of our time: environmental degradation. Our program participants learn, practice, and spread environmental stewardship and ethical business practice, and go on to collectively lead and own businesses. No other US organization is taking that approach, although increasing numbers are following our lead.

My thesis is that if employees own and direct a valuable resource -- their labor -- they will not waste it and earth's resources via over-production. 

 The fashion industry is plagued by over-production, in part, because production is low-cost. Cooperatively-owned businesses in the fashion industry redistributes both wealth and risk to the owners. 

CC's Fashion That Works program, which develops and incubates worker-owned cooperatives, so women can collectively own businesses, is rooted in equity and equality.

CC has successfully piloted an innovative workforce training model for Black/brown women in New York City that recognizes that participants' social and emotional needs must be met in conjunction with skills training to achieve the best outcomes. To do that, we acknowledge and respect differences and focus on commonality. Custom Collaborative is the best choice to solve women's economic inequity because we have already built a proven model that centers women's economic security, environmental stewardship, and democratic practice. Our work centers racial, gender, environmental, and economic justice. CC impacts humanity because we are authentic.

Custom Collaborative will ultimately transform social enterprise practice through our model of creating strengths-based living-wage jobs across the fashion industry. Our approach is grounded in cooperative ownership and environmental justice principles, with the long-term goal of building economic stability in underinvested communities. 

We identify as a frontline, environmental justice actor. We've introduced dozens of low-income Black/brown women to environmentalism and provide ways for them to engage in sustainability. Custom Collaborative supports and partners with local, domestic, and international organizations in support of environmental stewardship, cooperative business ownership, and fair wages in the fashion industry. We are part of the ongoing economic and gender justice advocacy campaigns.

Custom Collaborative will serve 250 individuals in 2021 across our Training Institute, Business Incubator, Worker-Owned Cooperative Development, and Anti-Racism Training, as well as the local NYC small and emerging designers who engage with us for small-scale manufacturing and consulting. In a year, we plan to expand our reach to 400 individuals.

My impact goals include empowering women who have been marginalized, providing decent, sustainable and productive employment, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, and promoting sustainable consumption and production practices. I am achieving these goals through my work at Custom Collaborative, which offers high quality education and paths to living wage employment for low-income, immigrant, and BIPOC women and champions worker-ownership, self-determination, and ethical, sustainable, and inclusive practices in the fashion industry. Progress is measured by each individual woman who gains confidence in herself and the ability to financially provide and advocate for herself and her family. Our work serves as a model for the fashion industry and other nonprofits to emulate as we seek to inspire industry-wide and global change. Ultimately, I am working with the intention of one day rendering our work obsolete because Black women, immigrant women, and people from low-income communities will have equitable opportunities to build and retain wealth. The final iteration of Custom Collaborative would be when the industry has transformed in a way that pays people fairly, doesn’t pollute the earth, and provides people with clothes that make them feel affirmed.

Black woman-led organizations are historically and notoriously under-resourced, perpetuating the cycle of over-work and over-extension. Custom Collaborative is no exception. We are proud of the work we have accomplished with such limited resources, and frustrated, knowing how much more we could be doing with access to adequate funding. Our work and impact is currently constrained by our limited resources, including space and staffing. We actively advocate for ourselves and pursue partnership and funding opportunities. Since our work focuses on creating opportunities for BIPOC women, it is all the more important to address these barriers.

Our participant and staff community was affected harshly by the pandemic and subsequent economic fallout. We became first responders to the crisis even as we adapted our programs to meet new challenges faced by our community. In response, we are increasing focus on staff wellness, including a slowdown month, to ensure sustainability of our work.

Finally, our marketing reach remains small, limiting name recognition and awareness of our work. One way we have increased awareness is through profiles in major media, including The Today Show and Refinery29, and partnerships with other organizations. Winning this award would also elevate our name and work in public consciousness.

As an Elevate Prize winner, the larger platform will amplify our values, ideas, and strategies and cement Custom Collaborative as a “thought leader” in the fights for environmental sustainability and racial and economic justice. We will leverage the increased audience to forge further partnerships, especially with larger aligned organizations that can hire Custom Collaborative participants and fund and pilot new programs, like our successful OnexOne apprenticeship in 2020 with Mara Hoffman, Slow Factory Foundation, Swarovski, and the United Nations. We will also leverage our greater reach to secure additional investments to sustain our mission. Furthermore, the Elevate Prize will allow us to engage in a deep evaluation of our work in order to make adjustments and focus on the most impactful elements to teach other organizations to replicate our work in additional cities and for other industries. Brand recognition will bring more consumers to our work and the small businesses we incubate, while teaching a greater swath of the public about ethical consumption and fair industry practices. Custom Collaborative centers the voices of women who have been marginalized as leaders and changemakers, and an increased audience will further this goal.

Custom Collaborative was founded by a woman of color, and our staff and board are majority BIPOC and female, representing a range of ages, LGBTQIA+ identities, national origins, and abilities: our team practices equity and exemplifies values of diversity and inclusion from our origin. We also engage continually in internal anti-racism work and consult with other organizations on anti-racist practices, leading the way for more just and aware sustainability and fashion industries. Our goal is to become a voice for change to combat the lack of equity in the fashion industry and beyond, which we plan to achieve by being an exemplar of a successful and inclusive business, and by leading anti-racism seminars and centering at public events the connection between environmental sustainability and equity and inclusion.

The Custom Collaborative team is representative of the communities we serve, sharing many of the experiences and barriers to success as our constituents, including people of color, immigrants, mothers and caretakers, people with low income or histories of poverty, survivors of domestic violence, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with experiences in the criminal-legal system. These shared experiences inform our strategies and enable us to better understand our communities’ needs, interests, and capabilities. 

Furthermore, our staff and board are highly experienced, with expertise in nonprofit management, business and entrepreneurship, operations, merchandising, and the fashion industry, with a wide network of connections within the movements for gender justice and worker’s rights, environmental justice, and racial justice. Members of our Board are high profile professionals in Banking, Finance, Fashion, Media, and Sustainability. Over the course of a career in social-sector leadership, I have led education, social justice, and community-based organizations to identify and meet their missions. I am an expert in leadership development, strategic planning and operations, and governance, with special expertise in mapping and managing change for growth-stage enterprises, and I have led initiatives at National Urban League and its affiliates, INSEAD, and Yale.

In March 2020, when our 8th Cohort was just beginning, NYC went into lockdown. Postponing the training was not an option. We had an obligation to the women we serve, many of whom have unstable lives. We were constantly adapting in the face of new obstacles and limited resources, including technology and food insecurity. Covid-19 hit our community hard, but our programs gave our community sisterhood, support, and a purpose as they were learning and producing PPE for civilians and workers. 

When lockdown started, I immediately implemented daily meetings for all staff where we all appeared on camera and talked about what we were wearing. No pajamas! After the “fashion show” we shared about how we were coping and we also had one-on-one check-in “buddies”. The daily meetings and fashion shows saved us--they got us out of bed and our heads, keeping us motivated and connected. 

Becoming first responders was taxing and traumatic, on top of the distressing violence against Black people and inequities in the impacts of the virus, so we brought in therapists and a reverend into our work for some much-needed healing. We persevered through these challenges and even succeeded, leading to further growth for Custom Collaborative.

Today Show feature (air date 7/24/2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Mara Hoffman/Slow Factory/UN Office of Partnerships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Fashion is Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Funding from the Elevate Prize will be transformational for Custom Collaborative. We will increase our capacity through additional staffing, outreach, and resources, enabling us to reach more individuals each year. One key expansion would be the establishment of a flagship location in Manhattan's Garment District to act as an all-in-one learning center (complete with drop-in childcare) and a hub for small and emerging designers. In 2021, we received $100,000 from the Elevate Initiative/Gates Foundation to update our website and virtual programs, and funds from the Elevate Prize would enable us to further develop our virtual curriculum and therefore expand our reach to communities of marginalized women in other cities. Such an expansion, a precursor to physical expansion to more cities in the next decade, would require research on the needs and industries active in those cities, which the Elevate Prize would partially support, as well as leadership development to manage that expansion. Finally, as an Elevate Prize winner, I would have greater name recognition and a louder voice to boost the brands and small businesses incubated by Custom Collaborative, leading to a smoother path to profitability.

We work with allied organizations to support entrepreneurship in Black and brown households and communities. Organizational partners include: 

-Legal Momentum - Policy partners to promote positive workspaces and laws for marginalized women; 

-Hebrew Free Loan Society - Zero interest loans and grants for small businesses and start-ups;

-Garment Worker Center - Policy partners to advocate for fair wages and laws that protect workers; 

-Fashion Institute of Technology - Develop programs for our population and lecture their students on sustainability and leadership; 

-Democracy at Work Institute - Mutual support on cooperative development and curriculum design; 

-Garment District Alliance -  Partner to strengthen the fashion manufacturing sector, and NYC workforce; 

-One432 – Continued learning and brand development opportunities for participants;

-Slow Factory - Apprenticeship program development for CC participants.

-Recruitment Partners: Women's Prison Association, Women In Need, Grace Institute, Sakhi for South Asian Women, Nest, New York Urban League, Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement.

-NiLu - Retailer that sells participant products