Two of our new brands, Holstee and Symposium Clothing, are building their businesses at home to help build business in the developing world. By reinvesting 10% of their income in entrepreneurs abroad through microlending, these companies are tapping the power of entrepreneurship to achieve mutual gains—and reminding us of our shared destiny.

“This is your life. Do what you love and do it often.” So begins The Holstee Manifesto, which has now been viewed over 80 million times and become a beloved source of inspiration for many. Holstee hopes their apparel, accessories and paper products will inspire people to engage in a genuine conversation—about sustainability, consumption, entrepreneurship and passionate, purposeful living. Through a partnership with international microfinance nonprofit Kiva, they invest 10% of their revenues in loans to entrepreneurs in developing nations. The results speak for themselves; so far they’ve funded 220 entrepreneurs around the globe. You can even track their latest loan recipients here.

Symposium Clothing shares Holstee’s passion for the power of entrepreneurship. Through a partnership with Women’s Development Businesses (WBO) they invest 10% of their revenues in the form of loans to female entrepreneurs in rural South Africa who are fighting for their families’ livelihoods. Made in LA, Symposium’s tees help support local business at the same time—another enterprise investing in the shared destiny, and shared prosperity, of the global community. We love it!

-Roozt

“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” – Kenyan proverb

As we fix our eyes on tomorrow’s election, most Americans have one burning question: what will happen to our economy? With the economy’s gears still grinding four years after the 2008 stock market crash—a record-shatteringly slow recovery period—economic policy has dominated the airwaves over the course of the presidential campaign, but one all-important ingredient in economic growth has largely escaped mention.

That ingredient is education. High-quality, equal-opportunity public education is all too often framed as a social justice issue—which it is, to be sure, but it is just as much an economic issue as outsourcing, interest rates or taxes. The catch is that education might have the longest time horizon of any investment we can make in economic growth. If we waved a magic wand and made our education system the world’s very best, the kids entering kindergarten today wouldn’t become inventors, entrepreneurs or artists for another two decades.

The long time horizon in a short election cycle is one of the reasons why the government doesn’t take the lead many of us wish it would on this issue. What can we do? Activists lobby the government to do more, philanthropists donate to nonprofits and schools; more recently, scores of young graduates are becoming teachers, and now social entrepreneurs are joining the fray. Two of our new brands—OAK Lifestyle and Seer Outfitters—are in the business of improving American education. These social enterprises are tackling a piece of the divide between the education our government provides and the education our kids need:

Backpack maker OAK Lifestyle works with nonprofit CapCityKids in Austin, Texas to donate one backpack filled with school supplies to a kid in need for every OAK backpack purchased. They’ve given out thousands of backpacks to homeless kids in Austin, helping lift the burden of purchasing school supplies for their families. While dedicated to helping out in their own backyard, they also partner with nonprofit Africa New Life in four Rwandan communities to sponsor thousands of kids from elementary school through high school graduation, bonding two distant communities together in the pursuit of education for all.

Seer Outfitters invests 100% of their profits from sales of their graphic tees and hoodies in programs that benefit underprivileged children and others in need. Through their nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, they personally implement many of their own initiatives, like after-school programs for at-risk kids. As the Roozt team learned firsthand through the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, decent food and shelter is, sadly, unreliable at best for millions of schoolkids—but usually overlooked as a step towards providing them with a better education. The purchase of just one tee from Seer Outfitters provides healthy food, after-school activities and shelter for one kid, for one day.

Serious gold stars to these guys. And remember, tomorrow’s the day—VOTE!

-Roozt
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” – Socrates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53o40qWmuYQ

You may have seen the stats. Over 1 billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water. In Africa alone a child dies every 20 minutes from contaminated drinking water. Meanwhile, global production and consumption waste billions of gallons of water and contaminate billions more.

The good news? We’re more aware of the global water crisis than ever, and social entrepreneurs are joining the front lines to solve it. New Roozt brands Maji Bottles, Desiar, Degree Six Clothing, Blu Kicks and Coastal Playground are harnessing the power of green to save the big blue, and we’re inspired by each of their unique enterprises. Read on for more!

From top to bottom, head to toe, Maji Bottles is an enterprise dedicated to solving the world’s water crisis. All proceeds—yep, 100%—from the sales of their stainless steel water bottles are invested in Charity:water, a nonprofit that drills wells in communities that otherwise would not have access to clean drinking water; to date they’ve raised over $40 million and funded over 6,000 water projects worldwide. So every Maji water bottle not only keeps plastic out of oceans and landfills (the average American consumes 215 plastic water bottles every year!) but also makes a direct impact in providing water to those who need it most. We’ll drink to that.

Meanwhile, Desiar is helping fight the clean water crisis with their “Shades of Change” program. For each new collection of handmade sunglasses they set a goal with nonprofit organization they feel is changing the world. In 2011 they partnered with the Thirst Project to build a clean drinking well, and every purchase of their shades goes towards this effort.

Our fellow Angelenos and water-lovers Degree Six Clothing started their line of trendy, high-quality basics to make their environmental footprint as small, and their social impact as big, as possible. By using alternatives to cotton they’ve reduced their products’ water footprints by as much as 95%, and their locally based supply chain emphasizes efficiency, low impact materials and ethical practices. That means each and every purchase saves hundreds of gallons of water and ⅓ pound of chemicals, while supporting ethical labor practices in the garment industry.

Some social entrepreneurs are looking seaward to help save our watery world. Ever get your tongue tied pronouncing that Hawaiian fish, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a? Bay Area sneaker company Blu Kicks had their “A-ha!” moment in Hawaii, where they were dazzled by the Humu’s beauty but troubled as its habitat fell victim to overfishing and contamination. When a local fishing guide (named Bubba, of course) pointed out the Humu’s uncanny resemblance to a sneaker, Blu Kicks was born. True to their island inspiration, Blu Kick’s organic canvas pull-ons are all about comfort, beautiful colors and laid-back style. Through partnerships with nonprofits Wild Aid and For the Fishes, who are helping to combat illegal wildlife trade in coral reefs, $1 for every pair sold is invested in protecting marine environments like the Humu’s.

The overwhelming bulk of humans are now concentrated on coasts, which comprise just 10% of total landmass. Coastal Playground is on a mission to protect Mother Nature’s most populous habitat and its greatest playground—the beach. Lifelong surfers and artists, they found a way to combine their passions through their 50/50 program, where 50% of the sales from their original graphic tees are invested in nonprofits that organize beach cleanups and raise awareness about the importance of protecting the coastal environment. This year alone they clocked over 5,000 volunteer hours, removing 1,000 pounds of trash from Cali’s beauteous beaches.

Stay thirsty, my friends!

-Roozt