Our Portfolio (old)

We invest in change-making companies and projects that support Fair Trade and a green economy.

We were early to microenterprise and started making low-interest loans to promising young businesses back in 1992. We have continued to invest in groundbreaking businesses in the years since, inspiring other foundations to do the same.

Here is a list of companies and organizations we have funded over the years.

(This page was last updated 8.2022)

Active Investments (Equity)

AnaOno — Maker of undergarments for breast cancer survivors and host of a supportive community. Read More.

CERO — Cooperative Energy, Recycling, and Organics is a zero-waste commercial composting company serving greater Boston. This bilingual, worker—owned cooperative removes over 1,000 tons of food waste from the trash cycle annually. Read more.

Equal Exchange — Leaders of the Fair Trade movement, Equal Exchange is a retailer/wholesaler of coffee, tea, cocoa, nuts, and other foodstuffs; it was established as a co-op to mirror what is required of Fair Trade farmers. Read more.

IMPAQTO Capital —  Quito, Ecuador-based impact investment fund supporting locally-owned businesses in the Andean region that are generating positive social and environmental impact.

Oke USA — Importers of Fair Trade Certified and Certified Organic bananas and avocados from small co-ops in Ecuador and Peru. Oke USA partners with Equal Exchange to serve a growing market for Fair Trade foods. Read more.

Plasticoncentrates — A specialty color concentrate manufacturer, Plasticoncentrates is a Black-owned business based in Chester, PA, an underserved community, where it is creating local jobs. Read more.

Purple Elephant Ventures — Nairobi-based venture studio creating multiple start-ups each year at the nexus of tourism, climate, and tech. Read more.

ROAR for Good — This woman-owned wearable tech company operates Always On, a personal safety platform for hotel cleaning staff that summons help at the touch of a button, offering protection for some of the labor force’s most vulnerable employees. Read more.

Senda Athletics — Producing Fair Trade Certified sports equipment, Senda focuses on soccer and futsal balls, along with equipment made for use in the streets. This B Corp funds initiatives that help low-wealth and underserved communities access sports programs. Read more.

tonlé — This zero-waste clothing company provides an alternative model to fast fashion, sourcing fabrics from dead stock and after-market remnants and providing excellent jobs with benefits for its makers, women in Cambodia. Read more.

Active Investments (Loans)

ABC Stewardship — This coffee canning business has a special focus on job training and is based in Chester, PA, an area in need of jobs and economic development.

Accelerating Appalachia — This business accelerator fosters jobs in sustainable food, farming, forests, fiber, fuels, green building, and clean energy, helping to replace the region’s shrinking coal economy with green jobs. Read more.

Body Conscious — Based in Chester, PA, Body Conscious is a Black-owned massage therapy business that serves its local community.

Carol Minor — This Black-owned operation provides online business education and training for learners in the community.

Cheryl’s Southern Style Cooking — This Black-owned soul food stadium booth and catering company is based in Chester, PA, where its owner is a vital part of the local economy and involved in outreach to drug users and other community efforts. Read more.

Comon Yaj Noptic — This cooperative of organic coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico exports Fair Trade coffee while engaging in farming best practices and in wildlife and ecological monitoring, particularly of the local bird populations. Read more.

Divine Chocolate — Sellers of Fair Trade Certified chocolate. 45% of company owned by Fair Trade farmers. Read more.

Earth and State — A Fair Trade retailer based in Media, PA, Earth and State is very active in international Fair Trade Town campaigns and was instrumental in the work to make Media, PA the first Fair Trade town in the US. Read more.

First Step Staffing — First Step provides job training and placement for those just (re)entering the job market, focusing on the recently homeless, veterans, and the formerly incarcerated. Read more.

GoPark Safaris — A Kenya-based tour operator focused on providing high-quality, once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences for their clients. Read more.

Grant Blvd — A Black-owned sustainable clothing company that upcycles deadstock and thrift clothing, Grant Blvd addresses criminal justice reform in its activist clothing and with its employment policies and contributions to Books through Bars. Read more.

Just Desserts — This Oregon-based small business, which sells Italian ice and other sweets, is Black owned.

Kitchen Harvest (Philly Compost) — Kitchen Harvest provides residential and commercial kitchen waste pick-up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and turns its compost over to local farms. Kitchen Harvest assumed the equipment and debt of our investee Philly Compost. Read more.

Knotty Tie — Makers of colorful and custom ties, scarves, facemasks, and home textiles, Knotty Tie works with a local organization to help train and employ resettled refugees in their community. Read more.

Life Connections Peer Recovery Services —A peer-run mental health and addiction recovery service center in Iowa. Read more.

New Day Chester — With an emphasis on the arts and community building, this visionary redevelopment business is breathing new life into downtown Chester, PA, one of the most economically depressed cities in the nation. Read more.

Ocean Soul Africa — Based in Kenya, Ocean Soul Africa employs people to collect plastic trash from local shores and upcycles cast-off flip flops into colorful sculptures. They have created over 100 jobs and employ many more in beach cleanup. Read more.

Opportunity Main Street — Creating an entrepreneur hub focused on building community wealth in Baltimore, Maryland. Read more.

Pachamama Coffee Cooperative — Uniting thousands of growers from Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ethiopia, this Fair Trade coffee company is owned exclusively by coffee farmers. Read more.

Playa Viva — A Regenerative Boutique Hotel located in Juluchuca Mexico near Zihuatanejo dedicated to regenerating the ecosystem and bringing back the abundance of this place. Read more.

Rende Progress Capital — A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) focused on racial equity; they work to make capital available to those who are not served well by traditional banks. Read more.

Ricinomex — Producer of castor oil in Oaxaca, Mexico, empowering 3,000 local small-holder farmers.

Simply Good Jars — Committed to sourcing fresh, local ingredients, Simply Good Jars sells salads packaged in returnable jars. Their vending machines are meant to make healthy food convenient and sustainable. Read more.

South Philly Food Coop — This community alternative to big box grocers is committed to sustainable food sourcing and serving the broader needs of its community, making healthy food accessible regardless of income. Read more.

Tosheka Textiles — Based in Kenya and Philadelphia, Tosheka Textiles weaves recycled plastic bags into attractive textile purses and bags, converting trash to stylish consumer goods. Read more.

Wash Cycle Laundry — This green laundry business makes most of its urban pick—ups and deliveries by bike and uses energy efficient machines and green detergents. Wash Cycle hires people returning from prison and drug rehab. Read more.

wearwell — This online wardrobe service sources exclusively from sustainable fashion companies and allows customers to select the issues that matter most to them, like environmental sustainability and Fair Trade. Read more.

Young Mountain Tea — Sustainably sourcing and raising the quality of tea from Indian and Nepali tea farmers to earn livable wages and raise their quality of life. Read more.

Retired & Inactive Investments

YELLOW LEAF HAMMOCK — Producers of fairly traded hammocks, Yellow Leaf supports an indigenous community in Thailand with its supply chain. They are a B Corporation. Read more.
FORESTRADE — Wholesaler/retailer of Fair Trade Certified products. Established new Fair Trade businesses in post-tsunami Sumatra.
GREEN VILLAGE — Producer of “green” industrial cleaning products
ICESTONE — Makers of high-end, gorgeous, LEED certified counter tops and flooring made out of 75% recycled glass. IceStone is a B Corp.
ONE DEGREE SOLAR — Designers and distributors of solar lights and battery/phone chargers.
2nd ACT ACCESS 1 — Non-profit that builds accessible housing as inspired by the needs of Untours Foundation co-founder, Norma Taussig, following a stroke.
BELU — UK water bottling company using profits for clean water projects.
BODHI TREE — Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant owned by Buddhist munk to employ street youth in Ho Chi Minh City.
C & C IMPORTS — Fair Trade wine company.
CALL TO RENEWAL — Non-profit that raises poverty issues and solutions.
CEDRIC — Attorney services for low-income people in PA.
CHARLES MADEN — One man jitney service in Philadelphia who donates services to vulnerable populations.
CHERYL’S WAY TO WORK — Welfare-to-Work program for a young man with a police record.
CHESTER CCIP — Non-profit offering a comprehensive approach to revitalizing Chester, PA, through home ownership.
CIRCLE OF AUNTS & UNCLES — A community loan fund in which a circle of donors select entrepreneurs together, loan them funds, and mentor them.
CITY SORT — Mail sorting business in PA that employed dozens of people.
COOKMAN U.M. CHURCH — Low-income church in PA providing job training and 24-hr. support to vulnerable populations.
COOPERATIVE COFFEES — Fair trade coffee roasters who import coffee from Chiapas, Mexico, where farmers lives were in danger.
CRAFT LINK — Vietnamese co-op of craft workers in Vietnam.
DAMON CORBIN — Minority owned flooring company that uses environmentally friendly carpet cleaning products.
DVCRF VENTURES — Reinvestment fund investing in economically challenged neighborhoods in the Philadelphia area.
ECOZOOM — Makers of an efficient cook stove made for the developing world.
ENNA, Inc. — Minority owned fashion design business for plus-size women.
FIRST NATIONS — Native American businesses promoting economic and social development
FONKOZE — Microlending bank in Haiti that has survived countless hurricanes, floods, and coups to help alleviate poverty.
FRESHLOOK — Environmentally friendly hair products sold mostly online.
GLOBAL EXCHANGE — Fair Trade online and storefront retailer. Planners and leaders of study tours to Fair Trade producing destinations.
GREENSGROW — Urban garden and business that has blossomed to be the center of its Philadelphia neighborhood.
GREENSEEDS — Consulting firm to social justice organizations.
GORDY FAMILY — Remodeler of low-income housing in PA to prevent foreclosure.
HITCHARAMA — Vacation-trailer business hoping to invest in promising entrepreneurs, like the Untours Foundation.
HOMECARE ASSOCIATES — Home health care co-operative of mostly former welfare recipients offering workers excellent training, benefits, and annual profit sharing.
HONEY — Mexican Fair Trade honey business.
IRON MAN — Chester, PA, based, mom and pop Black-owned iron-works business.
JONATHAN ROSENTHAL — New England synagogue that imported olive oil from a Palestinian, women-led, Arab-Jewish non-profit organization.
KEEP MEDIA GREEN — A nonprofit focused on protecting and preserving open green space and the natural environment in Media, PA.
KESTREGROWTH BRANDS — Fairly traded vanilla and spice company.
KIA — PA entrepreneur with a make-up and consulting business.
LANCASTER FOOD COMPANY, Inc. — Food company sourcing local and Fair Trade organic ingredients, hiring from vulnerable populations.
LANDLESS WORKERS (Biontatur 1) — Heirloom seed business in Brazil designed to provide cash income to settlers on lands reclaimed by the Landless Workers Movement.
LANDLESS WORKERS (School) — Adult school focusing on sustainability issues for settlers in the Landless Workers Movement.
LITTLE SOULS INC. — PA based doll company that hired and trained workers from vulnerable populations.
LITTLE SOULS INTERNATIONAL — Doll factory set up in Sri Lanka where profits were returned to the workers.
MUT VITZ — Mexican Fair Trade coffee and honey business.
MY MILKCRATE — Phone app that lists businesses and restaurants that are Fair Trade, B Corps, green, local, vegan, etc.
NATIVE ENERGY — Business offering carbon offsets to compensate for non-renewable energy use. Majority Native owned.
NIA PRODUCTIONS — Minority owned lawn and snow removal company.
NEW DAY CHESTER, Inc. — Dynamic community development and “place making” in Chester, PA, spearheaded by Chester artist Devon Walls and the Bard Rock Fund.
NEW THREADS —Clothing recycling and upcycling company that created jobs.
PACA — Non-profit economic and social development organization for the rural poor in PA.
PRESERVING SENTIMENTS — Minority owned business aiming to do profit sharing and business training with vulnerable teens in Chester, PA.
PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK — Non-profit advocacy watch dog reporting on Philadelphia Public schools.
PHILLY FRESH — Former minority-owned pickle company later run by Weavers Way Co-op. 
PILLARS — Experimental entrepreneurial incubator inspiring small businesses to pull others along. Entrepreneur is now succeeding in a community in New England.
SAFE-TY — Minority owned house cleaning business in Chester, PA.
SAPECO — Development of worker-owner businesses in Mexico.
SELF HELP — Credit union specializing in home mortgages to the lower middle class.
SELENE WHOLE FOODS COOP — Food co-op in Media, PA, that sourced Fair Trade Certified ingredients for some of Media’s restaurants.
SENDA ATHLETICS — Makers of Fair Trade Certified soccer and futsal balls.
SERRV — Online and storefront retailer of Fair Trade items and scout for new products bringing developing world cooperatives into the Fair Trade system.
SHORE BANK CDs — Invests in Chicago’s urban development.
SHORE BANK REHAB CD — No interest loans to minority contractors in Chicago to renovate abandoned buildings for low-income housing.
SHORE NEIGHBORHOOD INST — Loans to Chicago projects participating in renewal of affordable neighborhoods.
SIMONE’S ART GALLERY — Art gallery formerly in Chester, PA.
SOKHNA SOUKEYNA — One of the first fairly traded clothing companies.
SOSTENICA — Microlender in Nicaragua incorporating novel and forward thinking sustainability practices.
SPEAK SHOP — Online, Fair Trade language school using indigenous teachers.
HUTTON — Cottage industry jewelry making.
THE GREEN PROGRAM — Educational travel company with clean energy generation destinations for college students.
TRANSFAIR — Main certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.
TRF CHILD CARE — Child care development in low income neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
WEST PHILADELPHIA ENTERPRISE CENTER — Non-profit offering access to capital, business education, and economic development to high-potential minority entrepreneurs.
WHITE DOG CAFÉ FOUNDATION — Foundation that launched the “buy local” movement in the Philadelphia area and several strong organizations, like the Sustainable Business Network.
WITNESS TO INNOCENCE — Non-profit offering support for exonerated death row survivors post-imprisonment. Empowers survivors and their loved ones to be effective leaders in the abolition of the death penalty.
YKPR — Establishment of microlending institute in Indonesia.
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SERVICES — Non-profit teaching art to Philadelphia students, who drop out of school, proving art an effective avenue to future success.
YWCA OF CHESTER — Non-profit reaching vulnerable populations.
INTERTRIBAL COUP — The Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, a Native American nonprofit focused on energy, telecommunications, and environmental issues affecting member tribes.
PHILLY COMPOST — Residential compost collection company.
POPPYS GREENGROCER— Community-based food market.
RB’S RECYCLING — Community recycling program.
RELEVEE — Social enterprise jewelry maker that trained and employed women in need.
TUSCARORA ORGANIC GROWERS COOP — Regional organic produce cooperative.