By Professor Dennis R. Shaughnessy
As my former students know all too well, I’ve long been a critic of the TOMS version of “buy one give one”. My issues and concerns are many, from a lack of transparency to broad unintended consequences; from the lack of local partnerships to a failure to measure impact.
(PS, TOMS was not the first to offer a “buy one give one” model despite its assertions.)
I suggest that if you’re in the market for shoes and want to have a positive social impact with your purchase that you consider buying from Oliberte in Ethiopia.
This company makes shoes locally, creating jobs that pay a living wage to people desperately in need of opportunity and employment. Instead of giving away shoes to locals, Oliberte offers steady and dignified factory jobs making shoes for world markets. If we’ve learned anything from many years of studying social enterprise and poverty, we know that people always want work over charity, and opportunity over aid.
From sewing by hand a small number of shoes for export in 2009, Oliberte has now built a factory in Addis Ababa that produces the first fair trade certified footwear.
As the founder Tal Dehtiar calls it, Oliberte stands for “Footwear with a Purpose”. The company is a leader in the effort to improve workers’ rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike TOMS, Oliberte is a certified B Corporation with a mission to improve the lives of poor and low income people and families through dignified work in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is ranked 173 out of 189 countries in the United Nation’s HDI ranking for human development and desperately in need of economic development. Oliberte offers hope to local people while offering a “sustainable lifestyle brand” to consumers around the world.
