Nest

Nest envisions a world in which the historically unregulated, informal labor force of 300 million handworkers is paid fair wages, works in safe conditions, and is digitally connected to the formal economy. 

Homeworkers rarely encounter traditional compliance auditing common in factory settings, yet the frequently cited sourcing barrier for companies is the lack of this framework outside the factory. Unique to these Standards and essential to the success of our work is the training-first approach that educates artisan SMEs--or factories that employ homeworkers--on compliance expectations and provides implementation support that promotes transparency and well-being. Nest leverages the expertise of remediation partners who specialize in key topic areas delineated in the Standards when subject matter expertise is needed. This approach to regulation outside the factory improves transparency, reduces corporate risk, and ensures decent worker wages. Digital tools are essential for scale and ensure workers in decentralized production systems are included.

The ability for this informal workforce to compete in the global market requires systemic change that accounts for both strong supply and consistent demand for responsibly produced handcraft goods. In a recent survey of 130 brands, 50% disclosed they do not know where their goods are produced beyond the immediate supplier and "no homework" policies often afford brands plausible deniability concerning subcontracting practices. Further estimates suggest between 20-60% of garment manufacturing is subtracted to homeworkers, the majority of whom are women. 

Nest's solution is to address both supply and demand for ethical handcraft, improving the viability and digital connectedness of handworkers, while also increasing their visibility, wages, and overall well-being. Our model simultaneously encourages corporate investment and readiness to source from a previously unrepresented workforce while also bringing transparency to undisclosed workers in current supply chains. Without accountability to ensure workers are not just visible but also paid fairly and work in safe conditions, companies will continue to dismiss cottage industry production as a sourcing risk, and low-wage workers will remain invisible and undercounted. Digital resources and tech-enabled sourcing support (e.g., production monitoring) help artisanal small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate in the digital economy.

The handcraft sector is the second largest employer of women in developing economies and is typically operates as a cash-based, piece-rate economy. It has long been disparaged as niche and non-scalable, which only serves to perpetuate the misconception that--despite representing a $526 billion industry--these women are not major economic contributors to the global economy. Research stands counter to this, suggesting that formalizing the work women contribute through the informal economy has the potential to add approximately $28 trillion to the global GDP.

While the individual handworker is our primary beneficiary, Nest's model supports a circular value chain, which also reaches brand partners, and end consumers. Our consumer-facing Seal drives awareness of ethical handcraft production, and our brand support services help brands increase their capacity to source from artisan SMEs. Handworkers at the very end of our supply chains have historically been invisible, proving it challenging to include these workers in the digital economy as it relates to supply chain development efforts. Full supply chain visibility creates the foundation for providing access to the digital tools and resources needed to help artisan businesses expand market access and increase both women's wages and well-being across the sector.

Nest's strategy is predicated on our foundation of industry expertise, sustainable finance model, and clear competitive edge in the sector. We field 30+ brand inquiries per month and with strategic philanthropic investment, can continue catalyzing systems-change by scaling the reach of our work.

Nest's training-first compliance model is both relevant across geographies and inclusive of all craft types, ensuring universal applicability for industry partners. The following activities occur during this program:

-Supply Chain Mapping creates a value chain map of an SME's entire supply chain
-Pre-assessment Training helps design and deliver a custom remediation plan
-Post-training Report summarizes the training findings and includes a customized remediation plan
-Remediation Support using templated resources designed for each thematic area
-Compliance Assessment, including:

-Review of business policies and procedures
-Review of business records and ethical practices related to wage payment
-Workshop and/or home visit to assess health and safety conditions
-Worker interviews to verify dissemination of information to end workers
-Worker Well-being Survey to collect socio-demographic data and monitor changes in overall worker well-being
-Corrective Action Plan to support custom post-assessment remediation needs

Nest is partnering with Ulula to design an integrated compliance and impact management suite of digital solutions that drive business process efficiency, increase value for handworkers, and offer a more transparent and data-driven portal for supporting brands' responsible sourcing strategies. Complementary resources like our Nest Connect digital resource platform connects SMEs to the digital economy through access to global sales opportunities using online selling platforms and increased digital market access.

Nest examined the competitive landscape and found existing programs for homeworkers are often limited, focusing on one geography or issue area. GoodWeave International and Industree are two nonprofit organizations who work with home-based artisans. Unlike Nest, GoodWeave's scope of their work is also limited by both geography (Asia) and product type (rugs), making it difficult for brands to adopt consistently across their vendor base. Industree too is limited by geography, reaching only India and focusing exclusively on capacity building work as opposed to more holistic systems-change efforts to build a circular value chain. Nest's model was co-developed by multilateral partners, including major brands and retailers, and our Standards directly map to workplace training and remediation programs to ensure education and information are disseminated through all layers of subcontracting.

Nest uses technology in multiple ways. We provide participating artisan SMEs (500+ Artisan Guild members) with a suite of online learning tools, including expert-led industry webinars, phone consultations, downloadable resource guides, and mentorships with pro bono professionals through a proprietary platform called Nest Connect.

Nest's partnership with Ulula will streamline production monitoring and oversight across the entire compliance program and increase our ability to drive worker engagement through digital content such as surveys, non-verbal videos, and push messaging that communicates critical information on worker rights. These solutions create short-term outcomes including:

- Reduced staff time on assessment, allowing for more training and remediation
- Increased data captured during the assessment, enhancing the ability to monitor compliance risks
- Increased vendor visibility into compliance measurements and remediation activities encouraging participation and development
- Greater capacity for artisan SMEs to demonstrate compliance and streamline recordkeeping/payment systems
- Visibility into business operations, allowing for strategic business growth decisions

Improvement in wage for informal economy workers is our primary evidence of impact. To establish steps toward fair pay, Nest adapted shortcomings found within existing factory-based compliance frameworks to fit the needs of the informal economy. To date, we have impacted 188,277 workers using these steps, which are:

-Record keeping systems and transparent supply chains exist;
-Time and motion studies are used to assess wage;
-Clear, accurate, and complete wage records maintained;
-Wages meet minimum wage rates;
-Living wage is paid to all

Data below reflects progress made against these steps:

-Number of businesses with all workers identified and documented (28% at baseline to 78% at assessment)
-Number of SMEs conducting time and motion studies (5% at baseline to 55% at assessment)
-Number of SMEs maintaining complete and accurate worker records (28% at baseline to 94% at assessment)

At baseline, 75% of businesses paid workers less than the local minimum wage, but following Nest's interventions, 50% of those businesses increased worker wages to meet at least local minimum wage. Remediation is ongoing to work towards further improvements and increased worker wellbeing.

Nest has three immediate goals over the next year:

-Increase worker voice by 50-60%: Supply chains are often dispersed and limited resources make it impossible to visit every home-based worker. Instead, Nest relies on in-person interviews and worker survey data from a representative sample.

-Incentivize engagement: Nest is creating real-time reporting dashboards that promote vendor participation in remediation by tracking progress and creating visibility for brands.

-75% of SMEs digitally track and verify wage & employment records: When available, employee records are typically handwritten and non-standardized, making for inefficient data collection.

Internally, the most significant risk Nest faces is its ability to keep pace with the rate of program expansion. Nest's partnership with Ulula to advance our internal technology infrastructure is imperative to help ensure both program efficacy and also efficiency. The Walt Disney Company's Supply Chain Investment Program is funding this effort. 

Externally, brands may face increased strain on profit margins and decide not to pursue--or significantly limit participation in--compliance programming. Nest is hedging against this risk by actively researching solutions for purchase order financing, growth capital funding, and remediation investment that do not rely on earned income. Artisan SMEs would consequently have access to Nest's model and can invest in improvements without the need for a brand benefactor. 

As our program model scales, tech investment in process digitization, data visualization, and improved impact monitoring and evaluation will allow the model to meet the growing demand.

Nest will continue working with trusted brands to build a business case for the strategic investment of capital in supply chain development by tracking product performance and consumer engagement metrics that communicate value and substantiate a brand's investment in compliance. Nest will further encourage brand adoption of the Nest Seal as a means to educate their consumers on the valuable role of homeworking.

Nest is a New York-based nonprofit founded in 2006 by Rebecca van Bergen. We have a staff of 13 employees and are committed to the social and economic advancement of global homeworkers. 

Our lean organizational structure leverages strategic partnerships with public and private sector collaborators allowing Nest to scale our operations by facilitating rather than implementing. 

Nest's Professional Fellowship network is another way in which we structure partnerships to scale program reach. We recruit and mobilize hundreds of industry experts from major corporations to donate their time and expertise to address targeted and technical challenges for our artisan SME partners. Fellows work one-on-one with the artisan businesses tackling the most pressing hurdles that if successfully overcome, leads the business on a path to growth. Nest programming is data-driven, and both designed and implemented hand-in-hand with local partners to ensure the programs map directly to specific needs and include cultural and environmental contextualization.

Although Nest has Artisan Guild representation in 99 countries, our intensive capacity building and ethical compliance programming is focused primarily in Asia and Southeast Asia, specifically in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, China, and Vietnam.

Rebecca van Bergen founded Nest in 2006 and today leads the organization as its Executive Director. Through her leadership, Nest has recognized the importance of the digital economy and the role it plays helping artisan SMEs equitably access the global marketplace. Rebecca's background is in social work so an important consideration as we continue to scale our programs is the ability to verify our work is applicable and relevant to populations that may have limited exposure to technology or lack digital literacy skills.

We work with industry auditing firms Omega and Elevate in specific geographic regions and subject matter experts like CCR CSR, a consulting firm on child rights in supply chains, to support specific remediation efforts. 

We've received recognition from the following organizations:

Fabric of Change Award 

World Economic Forum Young Global Leader

Levi Strauss Collaboratory Fellow 

Ashoka Fellow

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Fellow

We maintain organizational sustainability through diversified revenue streams. In addition to philanthropic capital, Nest has an earned income revenue stream that helps ensure impartiality and mission-focus while funding a sustainable business model. 

Philanthropic support will fund in-depth capacity building programming while the earned revenue model allows brands to utilize our proprietary supply chain development programming. Brand partnerships have increased tenfold in the last three years and include brands like Target, IKEA, H&M, Madewell, Hermes, and PopSockets; we project earned revenue to represent 50% of Nest's total revenue by 2023. 50% of Nest's top ten brand partnerships have maintained their service engagements year-over-year while the other half have significantly increased their service usage. The average increase is utilization from 2017 to 2018 from the top five partners is over 115%.

If selected as a Solver, the prize and resources will be invested in one-time expenses to support technology infrastructure as well as forge partnerships necessary for systems-change work. The data Nest collects is complex due to the wide degree of variance (e.g., multiple layers of subcontracting, migrant labor forces, and broad geographic dispersal). Technology-enabled solutions will be utilized by both existing brand and SME partners and prospective partners as a way of showcasing the growing adoption of supply chain transparency and compliance.