Make Business a Force For Good

PCE Ventures meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Certified B Corporations have a triple bottom line of purpose, people and profit. This is embedded into the laws of our corporation, meaning we equally consider our impact on our employees and production partners, customers, community and the environment.

Empowered Women Change The World

Statistically, women reinvest much more of their wages into their families.

We believe that when you empower a woman, you empower a village, and in Ethiopia, we're creating opportunities for women today to build a better world for tomorrow.

To us, empowerment demands more than just jobs and living wages. We aim to break the chain of dependency by providing women with the skills, tools, and means they need to uplift their communities, their way.

Nobody is better-positioned to transform Ethiopia than the women who call it home. It's time to let them lead, and with every purchase, you help them light the way

TIMELESS TRADITIONS

Ethiopia is home to one of the oldest civilizations and some of the finest natural resources on Earth. It's led to some pretty incredible traditions, perfected over the centuries – coffee brewing, cotton weaving, and yes, leatherworking, are just the tip of the iceberg.

TRADE > AID

Despite that legacy, Ethiopia came to be considered one of the world's charity cases – starring on TIME Magazine covers and in teary-eyed commercials for years. Donations and dollars might help in the short term, but socioeconomic transformation doesn't come from a free pair of shoes. In fact, that just means one less sale for the local shoemaker.

We believe that living wages, safe workplaces, and educational opportunities go further.

Here's Our Challenge.

150,000 women in prostitution in Addis Ababa
26% of women are unemployed in Addis Ababa
4.6 million children are orphaned in Ethiopia

With few opportunities for education, professional skill development, or vocational training, many young women are forced into coercive, exploitative means of providing for themselves and their families. Girls as young as 8 years old believe that they are chasing opportunity, only to end up trafficked or enslaved.

Together, we can create a future without exploitation by attacking the root of the crisis.

Where We Come In.

At PCE Ventures, we hire at-risk women, pay living wages and benefits, and provide skills training, career advancement, and financial literacy opportunities to all of our employees.

Since the formation of PCE Ventures, we have partnered with an organization called Ellilta Women at Risk (EWAR), with a goal of restoring independence to women who have been exploited through prostitution, ultimately fighting to end prostitution in Ethiopia. They have successfully graduated over 1,000 women through their program, with over 90% of the graduates being able to remain free from prostitution.

Our Partnership with EWAR operates beyond the traditional charity model and extends into the skills training and job creation opportunities that are made available at our factory in Ethiopia. PCE Venture's has developed methodologies to create economic opportunity, leveraging a trade model built out of mission.