GoodWeave International fights child labor exploitation in handmade carpet manufacturing with help of FileMaker Platform

Founded by 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, small nonprofit achieves big goals with custom FileMaker solution

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 10, 2015 /CNW/ -- GoodWeave International, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to stopping child labor in rug production, is achieving its mission by automating operations with a custom FileMaker solution. The solution helps consolidate data from 3,500 annual factory inspections; track GoodWeave certified rugs across a complex supply chain; and manage fundraising, communications and financial operations.

GoodWeave works with the top consumer capitals of the world and the key rug-producing areas – Nepal, Afghanistan and India – to incentivize manufacturers to stop exploiting children. Since its founding, GoodWeave has reduced the number of "carpet kids" by three-fourths: from 1 million to 250,000 children. As a result of his efforts, founder Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

Despite its small size, GoodWeave conducts a complex, systematic effort to rescue and safeguard children – one with intense data management needs. Using the FileMaker Platform, FileMaker Business Alliance Member Colibri Solutions, LLC (contributing most of its development work pro bono) created a custom solution that:

• Consolidates data collection among 45 personnel in three countries who conduct the 65-point-plus factory inspections.
• Tracks GoodWeave certified rugs across 165 exporters' supply chains, which span interrelated suppliers and subcontractors in locations ranging from urban factories to "loom sheds" and private homes in villages.
• Enables a 13-person headquarters staff to manage tracking, fundraising through efforts such as Stand with Sanju, media outreach, web site updates and financial operations.
• Protects sensitive data, including information about the children rescued by the program.

Once a carpet is produced by a child-labor-free facility and assigned a number, FileMaker tracks the carpet no matter where in the world it is shipped.  Retailers and consumers can feel proud that they are carrying and purchasing rugs, respectively, with the GoodWeave label.

In the future, GoodWeave plans on accelerating inspections by replacing the use of paper with iPads and FileMaker Go, a free app available on the iTunes app store.

"We're a tiny staff with a huge mission," says executive director and co-founder Nina Smith. "Our FileMaker solution has been instrumental in our successes in stopping child exploitation. Next, we plan to replicate the market-based approach we've taken with GoodWeave in other industry sectors."

Read the full story here.

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