Ashoka
Michael D Zakaras
Michael Zakaras is the director of Ashoka US and cofounder of Ashoka’s “All America” initiative, which pushes the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond coastal cities. Michael previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and before that in the California wine industry. He writes regularly about social entrepreneurship for Forbes, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more.
Hide and Stitch: Efforts to Change the Way We Value Home Based Work In The Apparel Industry
Rebecca van Bergen, the entrepreneur behind NEST, is bringing visibility, fairness, safety, and accountability to the garment and apparel industry's millions of home workers, most of them women in developing economies.
Ashoka insight
What's missing is visibility and protection for work that's done by home workers who are working within complex supply chains. Van Bergen has created a multi-stakeholder approach including brands, vendors and artisan businesses to create the first set of compliance standards for work outside of a factory in homes or small workshops.