Dear Readers,
Committed as I am to using this platform to lift up good work and share information and inspiration, this week’s post is a re-post from an organization I greatly admire —the IBU Movement — founded by a woman I am privileged to call a much admired friend, Susan Hull Walker.
IBU’s mission is to elevate the work of women artisans from around the world by creating a marketplace for their beautiful handmade products, and through the sales, provide economic independence for the women, their families and communities.
I have traveled with Susan and had the privilege to meet many of the IBU artisans, witness the transformations in their lives, and observe the mutual respect that is at the core of these relationships, often resulting in the artisans and Susan collaborating for special IBU designs.
Susan writes a blog about the artisans, and in the one I am sharing with you today, she focuses on a community of women I’ve written about before — SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association in India — a globally admired collective of 2.9 million women who partner with Project Dandelion in our global campaign to unify, amplify and activate women’s leadership everywhere as a much needed ally and proven accelerator towards solving the nature and climate crisis.
Art and Artisans have a big role to play in spreading the seeds of hope that a better future is possible and in our hands to participate and create.
In Susan’s newsletter below, she shares the story behind SEWA’s new Project Dandelion inspired products. It’s an example of the way I believe positive, sustainable change happens anywhere and everywhere…woman to woman…like the seeds of the Dandelion, regenerating hope and beauty as reminders of the actions each of us must take to protect, preserve and regenerate the beauty and life sustaining resources of Mother Earth.
Ibulliance: Bold Seeds of Change
The majestic dandelion. Yes! The humble yellow flower sprouting across lawns and fields is a magical plant. Children delight as they blow spherical poms into a cloud of parachuting seeds, while their parents curse the proliferation of what many consider nuisance weeds.
However, the dandelion is one of Mother Nature’s secret weapons: attracting pollinators in early spring, offering health benefits when consumed, and growing deep roots which prevent erosion and improve soil nutrients. Inspired by this tenacious vegetation, our friends battling the climate crisis through social awareness and action campaigns, have adopted its name, noting it represents resilience, growth, and the unstoppable spread of change.
(Clockwise) Former President of Ireland and Chair of The Elders Mary Robinson; Jane Fonda with Ndidi Nwuneli; and Connected Women Leaders co-founders Ronda Carnegie, Pat Mitchell and Hafsat Abiola.
Project Dandelion was co-founded in 2022 by Ibu Ambassador Pat Mitchell, along with Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, and global women leaders — Ronda Carnegie and Hafsat Abiola — envisioning a new way to combat the pressing issue of a warming planet. Through research, they identified a gap — no unified mass-mobilization campaign for climate justice existed. So they created one targeting women, who are disproportionately impacted by our climate crisis and are making waves in finding solutions. Yes, Women!
As an Ibu ally, you already know the power of women championing change, but did you know how much this global issue affects women specifically? And how women are making a difference?
It is estimated that 80% of people displaced by the climate crisis are women.
When more women are involved in group decisions about land management, the group conserves more.
Where women have higher social and political status, their countries have 12% lower carbon emissions.
Mary Robinson, SEWA leader Reema Nanavaty and Jyoti Macwan in Gujurat, India, to celebrate SEWA’s Cleaner Skies Campaign, which challenges its members to activate for climate by making their work and livelihoods green. SEWA is now a green union that advocates for a climate safe world under the leadership of women workers.
This year, Project Dandelion has partnered with SEWA — an organization representing 2.9 million women working in the informal economy across India. These women are not only preserving their craft but also building sustainable livelihoods through SEWA Bazaar, their digital social enterprise. Learning about the climate efforts of Project Dandelion, the women of SEWA created a collection of scarves, as well as short kurtas, embroidered with the yellow dandelion symbol.
We are so inspired by the vital work Project Dandelion is championing, and embrace their mantra that Every Issue is a Climate Issue. Ibu is proud to support their efforts by offering the SEWA hand-embroidered designs through our Ibu Marketplace. Every purchase supports these artisans in overcoming the challenges posed by the climate crisis and strengthens their ability to secure income in uncertain times.
SEWA embroiderers working on their Dandelion collection in India.
From the smallest seeds of change, we can produce a movement like a lion’s roar. Let’s lift our voices together for a better planet and future for women around the world.
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I recommend Susan’s IBU blog as an inspirational way to start any week and you can subscribe at the link above.
You can also purchase the SEWA scarves and short kurtas (or tunics) online or at IBU’s lovely shop in Charleston SC, and wear with the joy that comes from knowing you have lifted up other women and you have planted your own seeds of hope in the future.
Onward!
- Pat
