The Nest Impact is Greater than Ever

In 2016, Nest celebrated our tenth birthday. This was undoubtedly felt throughout our organization as something of a milestone – less because of the fancy round number and more because of the growth spurt we experienced quite strongly. As we put together our 2016 Impact Report, our sense of progress was confirmed by the tangible outcomes of our work. With scale as a major goal for us over the past year, 2016 signalled substantial evolution in our model to expand reach to artisans without sacrificing the quality of our high-level programming. After all, the global artisan community is enormous – we want to make sure as many artisans as possible can be connected to this one central place for transparency, business development support and advocacy.

We set about achieving scale through a few primary means: firstly, we dramatically expanded brand partnerships by launching our Artisan Advancement Project in partnership with West Elm, Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, PVH, Jaipur Living, Maiyet, and Target. If this sounds like an impressive family of brands, it most certainly is. Without the support of these  innovators, we would not be able to create what we believe to be revolutionary Standards for ethical production in homes and small workshops. We know that with our Steering Committee’s continued guidance, these Standards will play a fundamental role in bringing unprecedented transparency to the artisan sector.

We also launched our Remote Learning Center, so that artisan leaders around the world have a means to connect digitally while benefitting from affordable (i.e. no cost) resources that are available to them at all times. Imagine a phone consultation between the leader of a weaving collective in Peru and the head of production at Phillip Lim: these are the types of exchanges that the Remote Learning Center is making possible with the help of a little modern technology.

Lastly, we put a concerted effort towards growing our Professional Fellowship Program, so that more talented professionals from companies like Warby Parker, Salesforce, and West Elm, have the means to share their skills and expertise with artisan leaders who are seeking high-level advice. With these exciting changes in mind and the addition of four new team members who are truly tops, Nest’s 2016 was strong. Take a look at our Impact Report and let us know what you think. Your support makes everything possible! READ THE REPORT HERE!