Social Enterprise
Made for Freedom is a for-profit company and licensed as an LLC. By definition, we are structured as a social enterprise. While many definitions exist, at its core, a social enterprise seeks to achieve societal good as a business through their products and services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ. The social mission guides the business decisions just as much as the desire to be profitable.
As a social enterprise, we measure our success in two ways: social impact and financial returns.
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First, we measure the degree to which our efforts result in positive social impact within the communities and countries in which we operate. The majority of that impact has to do with our carefully chosen supply chain.
- All our products are sourced from centers that pay a living wage or better, and all employ those vulnerable to sex-trafficking; many employ survivors. These centers embody dignified employment by being a safe work environment with reasonable hours, good training, and living wages.
- Paying a living wage allows women to provide for themselves and their families. When women are empowered, families and entire communities are changed for the better. Additionally, girls are then more likely to attend school longer and to get married later in life, trends proven to foster economic development. Thus, we focus on both prevention and restoration.
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Second, we measure success by the level of financial return.
- Every business needs to make a profit to grow. The more we are able to grow, the more orders we can place and thus provide dignified employment for more women having a greater impact on communities and the success of women. Dignified Employment helps end the cycle of extream poverty.
- We believe so much in the power of education to improve women’s opportunities that we give 20% back to organizations that provide such empowerment.