How Soko Built a Model for Social Change with Cellphones, Jewelry and a Handful of Skilled Women in Kenya  

As a woman dresses for her board meeting in Boise, Idaho, she completes her ensemble by draping a unique Lulu Strands Necklace she purchased from Soko around her neck. Halfway around the globe, Veronicah who made the necklace in Kibera, a slum area outside of Nairobi, just received her payment—via her mobile telephone—for that necklace along with an order for 10 more just like it. Both women feel empowered, happy, and, with the help of Soko, connected to something much larger than them.

The two will likely never meet, yet each woman has helped the other; a savvy consumer connected to a producer of quality, ethically produced goods, nearly a world away. Soko –a technology company that happens to sell jewelry–brought them together. Soko means marketplace in Swahili. Social change and female empowerment are not the goals of most markets, but that is exactly what makes Soko different.

An Ethical, Fast-fashion Movement

The bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings that Soko offers all incorporate ethically and sustainably sourced materials such as bone and horn that are upcycled from food production and metals like brass, recovered and recycled from automobile engines. Asked to describe Soko, founder, Ella Peinovich calls them “a supply chain innovation from the artisan to the consumer,” and an “ethical fast fashion movement” with trendy products, ethically produced and at a competitive price.

Soko’s growth has far surpassed what Peinovich and her partners dreamed just a little over two years ago. Ella Peinovich was doing her graduate studies at MIT, building toilets in Kenyan slums, where she witnessed what she described as the, “incredible ingenuity and beautiful cultural capital” of Nairobi. She soon brought pieces of that culture, jewelry handmade by local artisans, back with her in her suitcases to sell in her mother’s art gallery.

Following her graduate studies at MIT, Peinovich wanted to create a systematic approach to empowering individuals, and to design a platform model where people could own their own contributions while using technology to interact. She joined forces with Catherine Mahugu and Gwendolyn Floyd to create Soko in 2012. The trio “aligned in creating this company by women, for women, and with this vision of female empowerment,” Peinovich said. They have empowered their customers to become a part of that vision too, helping women halfway around the globe. “The really exciting thing for us,” she said, “is that we’ve seen this wave of consumers that are absolutely just as thrilled that our business exists as we are to make it.”

Technology at Heart

“Soko is really a technology company at heart. We developed proprietary technology and supply chain innovations that allows us to work with these artisans as independent entrepreneurs,” explained Peinovich.  Soko began with five artisans. They quickly asked those artisans to each bring five more to the fold. Now, Soko works with nearly 1000 artisans around Kenya that chose how, when and where they work, and determine pricing of their merchandise. The artisans’ control over their own livelihoods differentiates Soko from other ethical production supply chains.

The business partners divide their time and duties at Soko. Peinovich travels between Kenya and the United States to their offices in San Francisco and New York. Floyd heads U.S. operations from San Francisco. Their technology development center, led by Mahugu and based in Nairobi, develops the Android enterprise tools that allow Soko artisans to interact, transact business, and tracks their revenues.

From Kenya with Love

Soko provides artisans with an online store, professional images of each piece of jewelry offered, access to consumers who understand the value of handcrafted goods, and worldwide channels in which to market them. Soko also provides trend information so artisans know what items will be popular this season based on fashion forecasts, so they can plan accordingly. Soko also collaborates with the artisans and offers motifs and design inspirations, but the artisans know best how to bring potential designs to reality.

Aside from the initial hurdle of finding a product people want to buy, the day-to-day challenges of business in Kenya have included health issues due to water system compromise, loss of electricity, spotty internet service to their computers, and social challenges other companies never face. When sourcing metal jewelry such as hammered cuff bracelets, Soko learned, for instance, that although they desired to hire female artisans, men traditionally do metalwork. With the expanded need for artisans, more women are learning to cast metal, work at a furnace and solder jewelry. Male artisans are increasingly hiring women to fulfill those roles, speaking volumes about the quiet social change Soko is facilitating.

Access to working capital represents one of the biggest barriers for the Kenyan artisans. To compensate, Soko provides purchase orders and deposits against those purchase orders and works with Kiva to provide small loans by telephone. A recent partnership with Unreasonable Capital and the Nike Foundation provides larger loans of up to $10,000 to help artisans purchase tools and equipment to expand their businesses.

Unexpected Growth

“We achieved in the last two years where I think we really thought we would be in five.” Peinovich explained. Buyers can now find Soko jewelry at Nordstrom, Forever 21 and Anthropologie, as well as on their website. With larger, wholesale orders have come new challenges and opportunities for Soko and their artisans to grow. Larger markets demand consistency and quality standards, and Soko bridges the gap by training artisans in techniques to improve both.

As Soko gears up for what Peinovich indicates will be an “exciting” 2015 holiday season, they have recruited additional artisans. They try to ensure that women are working on at least 50% of the production of the projects—involved in the technical skillsets, not just human resources and cleaning. The heart of Soko still rests in helping “women participate in dignified employment.” At the end of the day, Soko’s artisans keep 25-30% of the net profits, much better than the 8-10% expectation of a fair-trade model.

Changing the lives of women is no small order, but the Soko team is committed to change. They needed to know what effect their employment of local artisans was having in Nairobi. How does a start-up measure social change?

Measurable Results

With the help of a grant from USAID, Allie Glinski from International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) traveled to Nairobi to perform a qualitative assessment of Soko’s impact within the community and to implement monitoring systems to help them improve operations and amplify their influence. Glinski interviewed the artisans, some of whom once lived at poverty level, and uncovered exciting results.

Many artisans now earn nearly four times more from their craft than they did prior to Soko. According to Glinski, ICRW’s previous research indicates that, “money goes farther in the hands of women.” Not only are women moving their families out of the slums, but also, for the first time, they are moving past the vulnerable poverty threshold and their fear of returning to poverty. Increased financial security encourages women to invest in their futures by sending their children to school and through the purchase of farms, land and homes.

Every gorgeous piece of jewelry purchased from Soko empowers a Kenyan woman to participate in the global economy, build her business, and provide for her family. It is win-win for the purchaser and the artisan, and that’s what Soko, a marketplace, is all about.