1. Their styles appeal to my aesthetic.
2. They have an easy-to-use, playful website and the founders seem like genuine people committed to providing affordable, attractive eyewear.
3. They have a One for One mission; for every pair you purchase, Warby Parker donates a pair of eyeglasses to someone in need. Through the help of organizations like Restoring Vision, they are able to distribute eyeglasses to people around the world who need them and don’t have them.

I hope Warby Parker will soon venture into sunglass territory so that those of us who don’t wear glasses can support them as well. For now, I’ll direct my glasses-wearing friends and family to their site.

I recently read about an initiative in GOOD Magazine that really struck me: The Bamboo Bike Project. Columbia University’s Earth Institute has been putting research dollars into producing more sustainable bikes for people in the developing world.

The problem they are trying to solve: Many people in Africa and other parts of the developing world cannot afford cars and so travelling by bike is the best and most affordable way to travel. Unfortunately, many of their bikes are made out of steel that is so weak, you can bend it with your hands. The bikes don’t stand up to the rough dirt roads in the region.

Their solution: The researchers have found a way to create sturdy and sustainable bikes for people in Africa; they are using African-grown bamboo as the main building material. Bamboo grows plentifully in Ghana and Kenya as well as in many countries worldwide (including the US). This makes it a possible for people in Africa to produce their own bikes from resources that are abundant in their region. Bamboo is also stronger than steal and lends itself nicely to bike frames.

Through Bamboo Bike Studio, an off-shoot of the Bamboo Bike Project, you can become a part of this project. This group is selling bamboo bikes for $1250. It sounds like a hefty price tag, but it also covers a weekend spent with the Bamboo Bike Studio team as they show you how to assemble your bike. Half the revenue also helps to fund continued research on how to produce these bikes cheaply in Africa.

I was excited to read about Bamboo Bike Project because the project aims to create a bike that can be easily replicated by Africans. If the industry catches on, Kenyans and Ghanians will be using their own resources to create a product that is really needed in the region.

Bamboo Bike

I have been really interested in TOMS Shoes for about six months now. Like many other folks, I was  struck by their one-for-one mission; for every pair of shoes the company sells, they give a pair to a  child in need of shoes. Several times a month, volunteers and TOMS employees go on “Shoe Drops” and they deliver thousands of pairs of shoes to children in places like Argentina, Ethiopia, South  Africa and even New Orleans. Thus far they have given away roughly 130,000 pairs of shoes and  this year, they plan to give away 300,000 more pairs.

One of the coolest aspects of this innovative company is the way they spread awareness about TOMS and their one-for-one mission. The company has successfully motivated and involved their supporters in marketing their product and helping to spread the word about the benefits of companies developing their own one-for-one mission.

The Shoe Drops are a great way for volunteers to experience first-hand the incredible work that the company is doing. Volunteers are able to help in a meaningful and needed way and leave the trip not only more jazzed about the TOMS movement but more motivated to combat poverty and the systemic problems that produce such destitute conditions in parts of the developing world.

TOMS also has an exciting internship program. Interns seem to have a lot of responsibility and receive a stipend every two weeks. They are also provided with dorm-style housing near the beach in Venice, CA.  The Campus Rep program engages college students to promote TOMS on their campuses. The Vagabond Tour (which I believe is on hiatus until the winter) is a program where a group of college-age folks drive across the country, visiting campuses, concerts and other events to spread the word and sell TOMS.

The ways in which TOMS involves its supporters in its work is a great example of what marketing guru, Seth Godin, discussed in his recent book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Tribes focused on how long-lasting and sustainable change is most often effected by a group of people who are connected to each other and a similar idea. A tribe leader engages and connects a group of people motivated by an idea and together they build a movement.

TOMS has successfully grown a corps of supporters who are energized about the one-for-one mission and eager to get involved. The company has taken the further step to engage these folks in their work in meaningful ways. It is exciting to see a company so connected to its customer base and the communities they serve. Furthermore, I’m glad to see TOMS is setting an example for other companies that could incorporate a one-for-one mission too. I look forward to seeing how TOMS and the one-for-one movement grow in the future.

I made the loan about a month ago and just looked at the site again to see if there was more information on how Queen was doing. I haven’t yet found an update, but I did see the pictures of all the other folks who loaned her money as well. 23 of us collectively made a $700 ten-month loan to Queen.

I feel like the 23 of us are in a little club, all wishing Queen the best of luck in her endeavors.

Ever since hearing about Kiva about 9 months ago I have been telling others about their innovative mission. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website which allows people to make direct loans to entrepreneurs worldwide. This is how it works:

• Kiva partners with micro-lending institutions in countries worldwide.
• These partner organizations seek out entrepreneurs in their communities who could use some capital to grow their small businesses.
• The local partner organizations submit profiles of these entrepreneurs to Kiva (profile includes some personal info about the individual, cost of loan and what the individual will do with it.)
• Kiva posts their profiles on their website.
• Kiva lenders like myself then look through the profiles and choose an individual to lend to (you can sort the profiles based on categories such as country, gender, popularity, etc.)
• Kiva lender can lend amounts over $25.
• Over the course of the loan (Queen’s loan is 10-months long), entrepreneurs repay the loan. The repayment rate is 98.6%
• Kiva lender can then reloan their money to another entrepreneur

Since it’s inception in 2005, Kiva has been wildly successful. As of mid-July, 2009, Kiva had distributed $81,993,335 in loans from 527,583 lenders.

I am looking forward to continuing to be a part of the Kiva community and to watching the organization grow.