I first learned about it about 2 years ago, when I first found out that there was human trafficking in the Bay Area. Yes I know, I was naïve because human trafficking (modern day slavery – forced labor, sexual exploitation, etc…) can happen anywhere. Even in the places we think we know so well. Even under our noses.
I started digging into it more and found this group called the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition that educates people and organizations on the issues and ways to fight trafficking in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Somehow after watching some videos on the BAATC website, I stumbled on this below talk by David Batstone. He was a venture capitalist, who discovered that his favorite SF restaurant was the center of a human trafficking ring that brought hundreds of teens from Bangalore into the restaurant for forced labor, and then onto other terrible situations. He started fundraising and started a nonprofit called Not For Sale to initially build a village in Thailand for young kids who had been rescued from trafficking.
He was persistent in deepening his understanding about the cycle of slavery. He kept wanting to go “upstream” to figure out the roots of slavery. He was able to fundraise money to support these children once they were freed from slavery, but he calls it “pulling bodies out of the water” in the sense that it was already after the trauma has happened. He wanted to come up with something more sustainable than a charity where he had to ask people for money over and over. He called it “opening his heart, but shutting off his brain.” He wanted to start using his brain to think about how he could come up with a sustainable business model to fight trafficking.
Hence he gathered a bunch of bright business leaders to come up with a business plan that would empower tribes in the Amazon rainforest. The goal was to create money and jobs for people in these areas, where there were rich natural resources but a lack of economic opportunities.
Rebbl was born. The business creates drinks with ingredients from places like the Amazon rainforest by engaging the local community and supply chain, connecting them to distributors abroad, and finally to the end consumers, including the Bay Area. I’ve tried a couple of their drinks like the Maca Mocha and Chocolate flavors and they’re pretty good!! It’s a great alternative to try at least once instead of a iced coffee drink from Starbucks. 😉
They’re committed to creating a ethical business that has a strong bottom line and a strong positive impact on each person it touches along the product lifecycle. Learn more about Rebbl in the below video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKxbwkghJD4
The Not For Sale organization has gone on to work on projects in other parts of the world to create self-sustaining businesses that empower the survivors of trafficking. It’s a fascinating idea on how we can fight trafficking by creating new economies and jobs for those who need it most.
Here are links to the organizations I mentioned: Rebbl, Not for Sale, BAATC.
Do you know any social impact organizations with for-profit models to sustain themselves?