Mocha Club//fashionABLE A division of African Leadership 1512 Compton Ave| Nashville, TN 37212 Barrett Ward| Mocha Club Founder|barrett@themochaclub.org Factoid: Introducing fashionABLE Feb 3, 2011 Who: • Mocha Club, a nonprofit organization parenting fashionABLE • FashionABLE, a nonprofit organization What: • FashionABLE is Mocha Club’s newest venture offering a line of scarves hand‐weaved in Ethiopia to provide sustainable business for women; it currently has 501(c)3 status. • Mocha Club created fashionABLE to further its development opportunities and abilities to provide sustainability in Africa. • There are six scarf styles available, each named after a women producing the scarves. Where: • Mocha Club/fashionABLE offices headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. • Scarf production occurs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When completed, fashionABLE scarves primarily sell online and in a number of boutiques in Nashville and Knoxville, Tenn. When: • New launch of styles/colors will be announced this spring and summer; venture officially launched in Oct. 2010. Benefits: • Purchasing a fashionABLE scarf provides jobs for women in Ethiopia so they may generate profits to sustain a living. Men help make the scarves to meet demand while more women have begun the training process. • FashionABLE provides an opportunity for responsible consumption.
Quote: • “It’s a simple business model: Scarves provide jobs; profits provide restoration. When you buy a fashionABLE scarf you are ABLE to provide opportunities, and women in Africa are ABLE to have a new choice.”
Mocha Club Background Established in 2005, Mocha Club aids development projects in Africa with five project areas. The organization targets young adults through musicians and a monthly membership fee of $7. It derived its name from the members’ sacrifice of two mochas/coffee drinks per month to contribute to Mocha Club’s projects. Project locations exist in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. African Leadership is Mocha Club’s parent company and is also located in Nashville, Tenn.