2025 Market Development Grants
The R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund is proud to announce the recipients of its Market Development Grant Program for 2025. The program supports artisan enterprises with a clear mission to increase incomes to underserved communities, preserve traditional craft techniques, and address the environmental impact of their production.
Small grants of $5,000 to $10,000 help artisan enterprises make strategic market development investments to further their mission and strengthen their impact. In addition to financial support, the program offers grantees mentoring, coaching and networking to support their international marketing and overall business development.
Grants have been awarded to eight enterprises from six countries around the world creating livelihoods for artisans in rural communities. We congratulate:
For generations, the Shauka and the Bora Kuthalia communities in the Kumaon region of India have spun and woven natural local fibers like wool, pashmina and hemp using drop spindles and foot operated Bageshwari spinning wheels. © 2025 Avani
Avani is a community-based organization creating sustainable livelihoods in the Kumaon region of the Indian Himalayas through the revival of heritage craft, implementation of appropriate technology and conservation initiatives in rural communities. More than 2,200 artisans and farmers have benefited from Avani's initiatives in this remote mountain region in northern India.
Bawa Hope works with 140 artisans in Kenya to create contemporary jewelry. © 2025 Bawa Hope
Bawa Hope is an ethical fashion company working with 140 artisans in the informal settlements in Kenya to create and develop contemporary, ethnic jewelry which satisfies the conscious consumer’s desire for value, quality and fashion while creating sustainable opportunities for artisan communities.
Bawa Hope collaborates with refugee artisans to produce a line for MADE51.
The artisans of Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans create ceramics, blown glassware, olive wood tableware, and embroidered home textiles. © 2025 Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans.
Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans is a Fair Trade organization supporting Palestinian artisans creating home décor, kitchenware and accessories with traditional Palestinian materials and craft techniques. Each piece is handcrafted with care, using hand carving and hand molding techniques passed down through generations. By marketing these products worldwide, Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans shares the heritage and craftsmanship of Palestine with the global community.
Join Delzur on a journey through the vibrant territories where ancestral techniques bring stories to life. Skilled hands weave intricate patterns inspired by nature, crafting a tapestry of culture, wisdom, and connection.(c) 2025 Delzur
Delzur collaborates with 220 artisans in 12 indigenous communities in seven regions in Columbia to weave a tapestry of cultural reverence and ecological harmony in its handcrafted collections. Indigenous stewardship has proven to be one of the most effective methods for protecting biodiversity and mitigating climate change. In Colombia, 35% of national territory is titled to and governed by indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, including 50% of Colombia’s remaining forests.
The colors of Fair Weave’s Arun Throw Blankets are inspired by the serene beauty of the sunrise in the Cambodian countryside. © 2025 Fair Weave
Fair Weave is a social enterprise working with 120 women weavers based in the Phnom Srok district in northwestern Cambodia to offer ethically made, handwoven textiles made with natural fibers and dyes for home furnishings and apparel. In this region of Cambodia, Khmer women have been weaving since the 13th century. Textiles are handwoven on traditional looms with skills handed down from mother to daughter for generations.
Hadithi Crafts works with more than 65 women’s groups in southeastern Kenya to market baskets, accessories and toys created by more than 1800 women artisans to international buyers. © 2025 Hadithi Crafts
Hadithi Crafts is a community based organization representing more than 65 women’s groups in southeastern Kenya in the Tsavo ecosystem. Over 1800 women from 20 villages weave baskets and create jewelry, Wildlife Friendly® accessories and toys to earn an income to support their families. This income provides an alternative to subsistence farming, poaching wildlife or cutting down forests for charcoal, timber and more farmland.
Kullvi Whims is a social enterprise rooted in the heart of Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, merges tradition with contemporary charm. From sourcing wool from nomadic shepherds to natural dyeing with local flora and hand-crafting all products, Kullvi Whims collaborates with over 400 artisans, celebrating cultural heritage and sustainability.
Studio Xaquixe is a glass innovation studio in Oaxaca, Mexico creating blown glassware using recycled glass collected from local communities and using waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants to fire its glassblowing furnaces. Xaquixe supports the dissemination of sustainable technologies by artisan communities in Oaxaca through its non-profit arm, Procesos Proambientales Xaquixe (PPX) which develops green technologies based on local systems and resources.
The R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund is proud to partner with ByHand Consulting, Powered by People, and Trade+Impact in implementing this grant pro gram to support artisan enterprises around the world.
Initial funding for the program has been provided by the Rucker/Gibbs Family Charitable Fund. Additional sponsors are invited to join us in investing artisan enterprises around the world.
The R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund invests in early-stage artisan enterprises creating sustainable livelihoods for rural communities with few economic alternatives. The fund deploys capital using a range of investment vehicles from grants to revenue-based equity investments while seeking a return of capital for further investment, thus creating a reinvestment cycle that multiplies the catalytic impact of philanthropic capital.
Contact ellen@sproutenterprise.net for more information or click here to invest in the fund.
