We’re a one-of-a-kind social enterprise out to help you change lives with your everyday choices.
Our story wouldn’t have its start without WE Charity, our partner that shares our mission to make the world a better place. In 2009, Craig and Marc Kielburger, along with Roxanne Joyal, founded ME to WE to support WE Charity’s efforts, and to provide people in WE Villages partner communities a sustainable source of income. ME to WE donates half its net profit to support WE Charity, while the other half is reinvested to grow the mission of the social enterprise. In the last 5 years, it has donated, on average over 90% of its yearly profits to WE Charity, which has resulted in $20 million (cash and in-kind) donated to date.
ME to WE Artisans was created in 2010, to connect women in Kenya’s Maasai Mara to a wider market and a fair wage for their beautiful, traditional beadwork. Nearly a decade later, we now work with over 1,800 extraordinary makers in Kenya and Ecuador, from artisans to leatherworkers and cacao farmers, who we’re honored to call not just partners, but friends—skilled entrepreneurs who are leading their families and communities to a bright future.
Each ME to WE product gives back to these same families and communities in one of five ways—helping provide education, clean water, health care, food security and financial opportunity. When you give a ME to WE gift, you’re part of something so much bigger than a simple gesture. You’re part of a sustainable cycle of good. And through our Track Your Impact promise, you get to see where and how you changed lives, with stories about the people and places behind every purchase.
Ready to turn gifting into do-gooding? We’re so excited to see what we’ll do together in the next 20 years.
From humble beginnings to a global movement
When we started our journey in 2010, we never imagined how far it would take us. Today, we’re proud to collaborate with renowned brands and retailers, with our products sold in top stores across North America. We’ve created exclusive collaborations with some of the world’s most-loved celebrities, social media influencers and thought-leaders, and have been featured in prominent media publications and broadcasts including Cosmopolitan, ABC, Marie Claire, People, Coveteur and ET Canada.
ARTISANS SPOTLIGHT
The women behind our Rafiki Bracelets
It started with one beaded piece and a handful of mamas. We wanted to connect them to women around the world, so we called the bracelet rafiki, meaning friend in Swahili. Now, we work with 1,800 makers in Kenya and Ecuador, empowering them to earn a sustainable income for their beautiful handiwork and to create brighter futures for their families. Watch their extraordinary story of change.
COLLABORATOR SPOTLIGHT
#GirlLove by Lilly Singh
Since 2016, we’ve collaborated with Lilly Singh, one of the world’s top social media influencers, to create the #GirlLove Collection, which empowers girls with education through every purchase. Lilly has also joined us on ME to WE Trips to Kenya and Ecuador. Shop #GirlLove here.
KENYA ARTISAN SPOTLIGHT
Meet Mama Toti
For 10 years, Mama Toti dreamed of a goat—a symbol of prosperity in her native Kenya. When she started working with ME to WE, she turned that dream into a reality. With her first paycheck she bought not one, but two goats. Then she bought two more. Today, Mama Toti has an entire herd, and she and her business are flourishing. Empower more women like Mama Toti—shop the Mama Toti Rafiki Bracelet here.
ECUADOR ARTISAN SPOTLIGHT
Meet Mirian
Mirian is a farmer, small business owner and mother of four in the Amazon’s Los Rios community. Since starting to work with us, she’s added professional artisan to her repertoire. She joined for the job opportunity and the income. She wants to support all her children through high school and dreams of sending them to university. “We’re an organized group of women. That’s what I like,” Mirian says in Spanish, through a translator. “We’re moving forward to benefit our children. What we want is to work and get more and more orders. I’m motivated. I want to share our craft with the world.”
Shop our Ecuador collection here.
CACAO FARMER SPOTLIGHT
Meet Renata
Renata’s farm is in Chone, a cacao-growing community located in the coastal province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, where family farms crowded with cacao trees shape the landscape. Growing cacao is a way of life for farmers here, but access to a market and a fair price is not. Now, ME to WE Chocolate is helping to provide farmers—like Renata and her husband, Jorge—with the opportunity to rejuvenate and celebrate Ecuador’s best-kept secret, Fino de Aroma cacao, while earning a sustainable income to support themselves and their toddler son.
Shop ME to WE Chocolate here.
ARTISAN FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT
Meet Roxanne
CEO and Founder Roxanne Joyal was inspired to create ME to WE Artisans after traveling to Kenya in 2010 and witnessing talented Maasai women sell their beautiful beadwork at a loss. Roxanne reached out to form a partnership with these women, one that would give them access to a wider market for their jewelry and a sustainable income. Today, we have partnerships with thousands of women in Kenya, and more recently in Ecuador, where they have access to entrepreneurship workshops, small business training and mentorships from expert local artisans. Our design team collaborates with the artisans to create a mix of modern and traditional designs at our atelier. Roxanne’s vision has paved the way for these women in building a brighter future, not just for them and their families but for generations to come.
In recognition of her ground-breaking work, Roxanne was honored with the Order of Canada in May 2017.
SINCE 2015
A proud B Corp
ME to WE provides products and experiences that make an impact, from handmade accessories to life-changing trips to our partner communities. We’re proud to be a certified B Corporation. B Corp is to business what Fairtrade is to coffee or Energy Star to appliances. It’s a guarantee, backed by rigorous assessment, that a business is making a positive impact on its local and global community. ME to WE has been a proud certified B Corp since 2015.
A STORY BEHIND EVERY PURCHASE
Track Your Impact
Every ME to WE product has a unique Track Your Impact code. Enter it at TYI.org to see where and how you made a difference—explore videos, photos, stories and more.