Idea
Ardh is an online marketplace and community of culturally diverse ethical brands and consumers.
The Ardh platform is currently in development and will allow consumers to shop according to their values, from culturally diverse ethical brands in one place, and to connect with one another to build a community passionate about ethical living.
They also provide support to micro-businesses looking to develop ethical business practices for social and environmental impact, branding and marketing strategies to champion cultural narratives of sustainability, and consultancy services to organisations interested in connecting with the culturally diverse ethical market.
People
They are a team of three South Asian women with over 40 years of combined experience working in the ethical consumer market, international development and entrepreneurship education and practice.
Shanza has eight years of experience in international development, climate and gender justice work. She has led climate coalitions in the UK and worked with communities around the world to develop micro-businesses driven by sustainability, gender justice and the sustainable development goals.
Kadeza has spent the last 10 years running her own design business and supporting new ventures in the higher education sector. Specialising in instructional design and delivery of ideation and creative business development.
Zinia has a wide range of experience gained over 20 years including working as an ethical designer for brands and a community facilitator. She was the first Muslim ethical designer in the UK and has been mentoring ethical start-ups and businesses for the past decade. Zinia is passionate about the environment, social justice, workers’ rights, and educating people about ethical consumption.
Impact
Ardh’s mission is to empower culturally diverse brands and consumers to champion their heritage and values of sustainability through ethical living.
The platform aims to make ethical living accessible and convenient through simple swaps that make a lifetime of impact. They believe education is a big part of this mission and create/curate content that is representative and reflective of the diversity of ethical consumers today.
Through doing this, they seek to build on the financial, intellectual and social resources of culturally diverse communities, to enable them to create sustainable solutions to climate change. As well as, to strengthen ethical supply chains by supporting people and communities around the world to earn a fair and sustainable livelihood through the ethical production of goods.
They work with majority women-owned micro-businesses and aim to support these businesses to grow and scale-up through services such as mentorship, skills development and the development of a culturally diverse and ethical professional community.
Lead entrepreneur
Shanza, Kadeza and Zinia
Get in touch
Ardh would like to hear from culturally diverse brands interested in joining the Ardh community and marketplace, and organisations or mentors looking to provide financial or in-kind support to culturally-diverse micro-businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19.
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