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Swahili Imports, Inc.

Who is Swahili Imports?

Swahili Imports is a U.S. import and design company that promotes exchange between two networks.

Our African network includes individual artisans, export agents and micro-enterprises in the nations of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Sudan.

Our world distribution network includes thousands of retail stores, museums, educational institutions, catalog companies and individuals sourcing modern fairly traded African products at competitive price points. To view stores worldwide that sell Swahili Imports products, visit swahili-imports.com and click RETAIL LOCATOR.

Founded

Swahili Imports was founded in June 1995 in Eugene, Oregon, by Leslie Mittelberg.

Locations

Swahili Imports business offices and order fulfillment services are located in Eugene, Oregon.

Swahili Imports sells directly to Pacific Northwest shoppers through a Swahili retail store in the historic Fifth Street Public Market in Eugene, Oregon.

Swahili Imports wholesale catalog and ordering system are found at swahiliwholesale.com.

Swahili Imports retail selection is found at swahili-imports.com.

Employees

Swahili Imports' U.S. operations are carried out by thirteen full- and part-time employees.

Leslie Mittelberg  Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Mary Spurgeon  Wholesale Operations Manager

Darla Robbins  Communications, Development and Public Relations

Jenna Howell  Inventory and Artisan Relations Manager

Nichole Letherer  Executive Account Manager and French Translation

Percy Appau  Product Design, Sales

Danielle St. Hilaire, Retail Store Manager

Papa Awori, Calla Wilson  Brick and Mortar Retail Sales

Scott Sturgis, Jesse Arispe, James and Allen Nabalindwa, Michael Kasahun  Order Fulfillment

Financial

Swahili Imports is a privately held company. Revenue details are provided upon request.

Social and Environmental Responsibility

Swahili Imports believes in the potential for a sustainable network of trade between Africa and the United States. Since every transaction that occurs influences how African producers perceive American business, company operations center on responsible practices that promote growth and cultural affinity.

Swahili Imports is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, a group of like-minded companies and organizations that adhere to:

• providing fair payment to workers in developing nations
• educating artisans and workers to increase their potential for advancement
• developing products and processes that protect and conserve the natural environment
• promoting fair trade as the standard in commercial exchanges

Swahili Imports also works in partnership with Shared Interest, a UK-based fair trade financial cooperative that advances funds directly to artisans based on submitted purchase orders from Swahili Imports. The partnership allows Swahili Imports to leverage high-volume orders in multiple nations and provides another level of fair trade accountability for company operations.

Accountability

Swahili Imports orders provide many African artisans with a vital supplemental income. Even with a small staff, Swahili Imports maintains accountability with artisans by visiting groups in person at least once yearly. These important face-to-face sessions allow the company to:

• confirm that payments are being received and properly allocated to individual artisans
• discuss problems, implementation of new designs and strategies for future development
• conduct training sessions with export agents, team leaders and artisans to further streamline operations, increase production capacity and reduce errors
• emphasize Swahili Imports' ongoing commitment to each artisan's or group's success

Swahili Imports augments yearly visits in a variety of ways.

• Cooperative agreements with development organizations like the Peace Corps, Aid to Artisans and the West African Trade Hub allow Swahili Imports to check in with working artisans year-round.
• Digital communication allows Swahili Imports to communicate important information in a timely fashion. All producers and group representatives are required to maintain access to email, fax and phone.
• Online ordering systems that can be viewed and edited by both U.S. staff and African producers significantly reduce errors and keep producers educated on the status of payments and shipment deadlines.
• Reporting successes, design ideas and upcoming visits by email and phone maintains a positive atmosphere that welcomes producer involvement

Sustainability

Swahili Imports works with producers across Africa who value their natural environment and employ sustainable methods of production.

• Artisans are required to abide by local and export regulations governing the legal harvest of hardwoods to ensure compliance with U.S. import standards and to uphold proper management of their local forest resources.
• Artisans are encouraged to utilize materials fully by converting scraps into marketable products
• Artisans are encouraged to utilize recycled, reclaimed and highly renewable materials in product design, and to isolate new sources of low-cost materials.
• Artisans are advised to use production methods that increase productivity and minimize artisan discomfort

Artisan Advancement

Swahili Imports believes that hardworking African artisans, producers and export agents hold the key to their own personal success, and that the path to success requires a steady, committed pace. Swahili Imports extends each artisan's channel of trade from local markets to the global marketplace, all the while allowing artisans to work from the comfort of their own homes and communities. Secure in the knowledge that the fair payment they receive will not be reduced by traveling expenses, childcare costs and haggled prices, most artisans in the Swahili network promote their family's future by using earnings to pay educational expenses.

Giving Back

Swahili Imports recognizes the merit of charity and donates a portion of profits to three transformational non-profits working directly in Africa:

The Makindu Children's Program, established by Winnie Barron in Brownsville, Oregon, cares for over 400 orphans in Makindu, Kenya, through a highly effective community placement program. Older women with no other way to earn an income are paid to take orphans into their home, and the program augments that care with daily meals, showers, health care and school lessons. Through enthusiastic community involvement, the Makindu Children's Program has enhanced the lives of all area residents by providing a hopeful future for the community's marginalized children.

Caravan to Class is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 to rebuild a school in the village of Tedeini, outside of Timbuktu, Mali. Immediate success in Tedeini has allowed Caravan to class to expand its efforts to build a permanent and thriving educational infrastructure in all the villages surrounding Timbuktu, with outreach particularly focused on increasing literacy among the nomadic Tuareg.

Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife was established in 2002, when Director Gwen Meyer and her husband John Neumeister spent three weeks in Kenya. The organization grew out of a desire to help address the poverty and inequity they saw during that first visit. Since 2006, FKSW has worked in partnership with the Network for Eco-Farming in Africa (NECOFA), a local organization based in the town of Molo, Kenya. FKSW projects focused on education, specifically the construction of nursery schools, support for teacher salaries, school supplies, school lunch programs and scholarships for students to attend primary school.

During every online order, Swahili Imports customers are invited to choose which one of these non-profits should receive a $5 wholesale donation or a $1 retail donation. Since Swahili Imports initiated its benevolence partnership program in late 2006, over $10,000 have been directed to vital African non-profits.

Future Growth

Swahili Imports remains dedicated to the potential for even greater exchange between African artisans and American consumers. With so many talented artisans already earning income from Swahili Imports orders, the company faces the challenge to bring greater exposure to current artisans' work while further enriching the network with new faces and products.

Swahili Imports is dedicated to African artisans, as their skill, determination and sharing spirit form the backbone of the company's operations. Envisioning a day when the channel between Africa and America opens wide enough to bring greater prosperity to hard working African artisans and greater appreciation of African craftsmanship to all Americans, Swahili Imports continues scouring Africa from her back roads to her high rises, looking for more amazing handcrafted products.