We are pleased to announce our new partnership with NOVICA and Handmade.com. These two platforms aim to fix long-standing problems in global trade. Together, we support a system where artisans are seen, paid fairly, and can connect directly with customers worldwide.
Many artisans face a long path from their workshops to international buyers, often mediated by numerous middlemen. This setup lowers their earnings, takes away control over prices, and keeps them apart from the people who appreciate their work. As a result, it has become harder for traditional craftspeople to make a living.
NOVICA and Handmade.com were created to change this reality.
A Two-Part Marketplace Built for Fair Access
NOVICA operates 10 local Artisan Empowerment Hubs worldwide. These hubs help artisans with training, getting started, meeting quality standards, taking photos, sharing their stories, and handling export and shipping. Artisans set their own prices, while NOVICA handles the challenges of international trade and connects them with customers in over 100 countries.
Handmade.com adds to this by offering a self-service marketplace focused only on real, handmade goods. It lets artisans and crafters run their own shops, talk directly with customers, and join a community that values authenticity and skill.
Together, these platforms cut out unfair middlemen and instead offer access, openness, and direct connections.
“Our partnership with Human Planet represents a powerful alignment of mission. Together, we can channel greater resources and attention into artisan markets, unlocking sustainable growth, strengthening resilience, and creating lasting impact for communities around the world.”
~ Roberto Milk
How Human Planet Helps Strengthen the Impact
As NOVICA and Handmade.com grow and adopt new technologies to help more people find artisans, Human Planet offers advice to ensure this growth also increases social impact.
We focus on improving the ways both platforms measure and guide their social impact. This means strengthening community leadership, making it easier to track and report results, and ensuring technology helps artisans stand out without losing their identity or culture.
This partnership ensures that as the platforms grow, artisans remain at the heart of decision-making and value creation.
Women’s Income Growth Drives Intergenerational Educational Impact
Sustainable impact is generated by strengthening the income stability of small-scale artisans, particularly women. When female artisans experience increased and reliable earnings, household resilience improves, and the likelihood that their children remain in school rises significantly.
“When a mother’s craft reaches a global market, her income becomes the shield that protects her children from dropping out of school, providing them better opportunities than the ones determined by their birth circumstances.”
~ Betigül Özman – Manager | Human Planet
Based on program assumptions, an increase in income for one female artisan positively influences an average of 2.1 children to continue their education. This demonstrates the multiplier effect of women’s economic empowerment on long-term educational outcomes and intergenerational opportunity.
Trade as a Way to Support Culture and Economic Power
This partnership is about more than just business. It aims to create a space where artisans can earn a fair living from their work and keep cultural traditions alive for the future.
By bringing together NOVICA’s global network, Handmade.com’s special marketplace, and Human Planet’s experience in impact strategy, this partnership demonstrates how marketplaces can work when fairness, openness, and community are built into the system.
We believe global trade can work in a new way. This partnership is a move toward a future where value returns to the makers and culture is kept alive through new economic chances.
