Our Mission
At Impactful Market, we are on a mission to end poverty through job creation, education, and empowerment - giving a hand-up to break the cycle of poverty. We believe there is transformative power in a business model that cares about the people & the planet.
Our Philosophy
Our purpose is to give villagers, refugees, and marginalized individuals the opportunity to gain self-sufficiency through employment that provides fair & living wage. But we are far more than just products, we embody a lifestyle. We believe every purchase we make can have the power to change someone else's life for the better.
Our Products
We know where every product comes from. Since 2013, our founder, Elisha, has personally met with our artisan partners. Because we value relationships at the core of everything we do. We are the bridge and the platform for their stories to be told around the world. We curate collections for conscious consumers at affordable prices with contemporary designs that also reflect the culture from which they are made.
Sustainability
We use sustainable practices, such as recycling and upcycling in our production process for waste reduction. We celebrate the unique qualities of our handmade goods & the makers behind them.
Our Impact
To date, we have invested over $220K into long-term solutions to ending poverty in Haiti. We give back to a small village called Fond Doux, Haiti, where we established a scholarship program and have given out over 345 scholarships to send children to school. We even hosted the first graduation ever in our village in 2016! Learn more about our nonprofit partner, Impactful Missions.
Meet Elisha
It all started in June 2009, when I first stepped foot in Haiti. It was the summer of my sophomore year at the University of California, Los Angeles, and I was on my first mission trip with Chi Alpha, a campus ministry at UCLA. I saw the abject poverty firsthand, where families lived without basic needs, such as food and shelter, and parents could not send their children to school. I knew it was not right.
A few more Haiti trips later, I found my passion in ending poverty. I believe that if we can establish long-term solutions, we can help bring economic stability to a family, a village, and perhaps an entire nation.
In December 2013, I launched a social enterprise, Impactful Market (formerly known as Elisha C.), working with artisans and farmers throughout Haiti to support sustainable fair trade jobs. I also established a Scholarship Program in Fond Doux, Haiti to send at-risk youth to school, from preschool to university.
This journey led me to become the Executive Director of Fair Trade LA in 2018, a nonprofit that officially designated Los Angeles the largest Fair Trade City in North America, advocating for global artisans and producers to receive fair wages, and raising awareness for fair trade as a solution to ending human trafficking.
I’m also the host of the FAIR Talks Podcast, where we dive into fair trade, sustainability, and effective solutions to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems. Through interviews with industry experts, social entrepreneurs, and fellow world changers, we are providing access to quality content that will shape the future of how we do aid, think about business, and what products we purchase.
I’m passionate about creating lasting change to solve global issues so that families can thrive all around the world.
Our time on this earth is so short. Time truly flies. So, how do we make it count? I ask myself that every day.
This question has led me to start Impactful Market and Impactful Missions, where we are on a mission to make an impact with our short time on earth.
Join me in making this world a better place.
With much love,
Elisha Chan
