A group that set out to fight modern slavery has found it has much to offer in a far wider field, all because of how it looks at challenges and assets

As they endeavour to make the world a more sustainable and responsible place, charities, campaigners and even companies that try to do the right thing might often feel overwhelmed. The problems are immense, progress is slow and frustration awaits around every corner.

But to see only mountains that have to be climbed would be a mistake, says Kilian Moote, senior director of Free2Work, a project of the San Francisco-based non-profit group Not For Sale. When tackling a difficult social problem “think about your work in terms of assets, rather than simply thinking of the challenge or the issue that you are addressing”, he advises.

Not For Sale was established in 2007 to tackle a particularly thorny societal problem: slavery. Not For Sale runs projects that highlight the effects of human trafficking, and help the survivors of slavery, forced or coerced labour or trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Slavery is the dirty secret of many supply chains. It taints “the food we eat, the clothes we buy and the electronics we love”, Not For Sale says.

Though it started with a fairly standard objective to campaign against slavery, Not For Sale has realised that it can both further its goals and generate income to support its projects through social enterprise. Alongside its continuing work to combat slavery, it has become an incubator for start-up companies that in the long term could help fight a fundamental cause of human exploitation: poverty.

Community profits

This is where the idea of taking a step back and thinking about assets comes into play. Moote says: “For example, the Amazonian community that we work with is in one of the most ecologically diverse regions of the world, yet the people are some of the poorest. So you can look at that as a challenge, but you can also look at it as an asset. There is such a wealth of ecological resources, we can continue to find a way to unlock that wealth to help benefit social businesses.”

Not For Sale works in the Peruvian Amazon, in partnership with Afimad, an organisation that represents indigenous communities. The communities are considered at risk – their people can be lured away by promises of legitimate jobs that turn into forced labour. To fight this, Not For Sale and Afimad provide a suite of services that are essentially philanthropic: workshops for local people explaining how trafficking works and how to avoid falling victim to it, and help for those that have been trafficked to return home. They stand in for the state in some instances, by providing education and healthcare.

But the main goal, Moote says, is to find “long-term sustainable solutions to some of the problems within the communities where we work”. This means starting up businesses, so that vulnerable communities generate income and consequently become less vulnerable.

Rebbl with a cause

From its work in the Peruvian Amazon, Not For Sale has created an organic herbal tea company, Rebbl Tonic [www.rebbltonic.com ] (with Rebbl standing for “roots, extracts, berries, bark, leaves”). This is a for-profit venture, Moote says, “that sources strategically from the communities that we are working with in the Amazon”.

Rebbl is a standalone start-up. Not For Sale owns “a percentage of equity within the company, and because of that we have a board seat,” Moote says. Consequently, Not For Sale can ensure that Rebbl sources its ingredients in a socially responsible way and, as the company grows, its purchasing from the Amazonian communities in which Not For Sale works will also grow.

Because Not For Sale is also present in the communities that supply the ingredients, it can ensure that sales of ingredients really do lead to raised income levels. In addition, says Moote, “we’re taking our percentage of earnings and investing it into activities such as job training and education that a for-profit entity could never justify investing money into.”

Rebbl launched into the market in July 2012. It is so far available by mail order and in shops in northern California. Not For Sale is leaving nothing to chance. “We went out and found a very strong and competent series of experts from the beverage industry,” Moote says.

Not For Sale’s contribution to the start-up was “sweat equity”: ideas, contacts and incubation services, rather than cash. Moote says: “To justify the percentage of ownership, we have leveraged our time and network and expertise” – in other words, Not For Sale’s assets.

Infusion of solutions

Moote adds that the Rebbl model is “potentially ideal for this social enterprise space, for non-profits looking for sustainable solutions.” Because Rebbl has been spun out to be a standalone entity, Not For Sale does not assume all of the risk. But because Not For Sale was able to offer more than an idea alone, the start-up process was easier than rounds of pitching to potential funders, who might be hard to convince because they prioritise profit over the social orientation of the initiative.

Not For Sale is considering other ideas that will build on the model. “One of the things we are looking at is a way to expand our work in Peru and create a commodity distribution company that might focus on other commodities that the [Peruvian] community can source, rather than simply the ones that Rebbl tea needs,” Moote says.

Supply chain consulting is a further avenue that Not For Sale might go down. “We do a lot of engagement with companies and we have a lot of expertise in supply chains,” Moote says. “We’ve been thinking about a specific consulting company that would help larger corporations really think through their supply chain in a more in-depth way.”

Not For Sale also has a joint venture in the Netherlands, where it works in Amsterdam’s red light district. Moote says Not For Sale’s Dutch partner “has worked for 20 years in the red light district and what she has found, currently, is that about 80% of the women come from Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. What we’re attempting to do is build a rapport with these individuals and really understand and document which ones are there by force or are looking for an opportunity to transition out of that form of exploitation.”

One solution, according to Not For Sale, is soup. The organisation provides culinary training for formerly trafficked women, and has spun out of this a line of organic gourmet soups. This is done in a joint venture with Dutch retailer Hema, which sells the soup in its stores. “The joint venture helps us to fund a piece of that work [in the red light district],” Moote says. “As the soup distribution grows we hope to be able to 100% subsidise that work.”

Not For Sale – fast facts

  • Founded by David Batstone, a San Francisco University professor, after he discovered that workers at one of his favourite restaurants had been trafficked.
  • Provides rescue, repatriation, shelter, healthcare, legal, life skills, education and job placement services in communities vulnerable to trafficking. Works directly or with partners in India, the Netherlands, Peru, Romania, South Africa and Thailand.
  • Says that 30 million people are victims of modern slavery, debt bondage and sex trafficking. Lack of transparency in supply chains can provide cover for slavery.
  • Funded by donations, grants, through work with development agencies and, increasingly, by social enterprise.
innovation  NGO strategy  social start-up  Stephen Gardner  Supply chain innovation 

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