Chatting with the founders of Parker Clay, a B-Corp accessories brand about how they achieved their high score.
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How can a purse create a positive impact? In 2012, Ian and Brittany Bentley lived in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, working with organizations that empower at risk women through rehabilitation, skills development, and job creation. Two years later, they crafted their vision to create economic opportunities in the form of an accessories brand, Parker Clay. To ensure that their purses would create a positive impact, the brand applied for and achieved its B Corp certification in 2018 with an impact score of 89.4. Later they improved to 112 in 2022.
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Brands often partner with organizations to assess, vet and verify that they make their products causing the least harm to the environment and empower the people who make them. B Corporations undergo one of the most rigorous assessment processes that review areas such as environmental targets, waste production, wages, and diversity in management positions. To recieve a B Corp status, companies must score a minimum of 80 out of 200. As an accessories brand that has gone above and beyond to hold an 112 impact score, Ian and Brittany challenged themselves to review their Adids Ababa-based factories to better balance profit and benefiting the environment.
To learn more about what the B Corp process looks like and how Parker Clay ditched outsourcing to set up an Ethiopian business with representative leadership, the business duo shared with The Wellness Feed their take on how they became a high ranking B Corp brand.
Congrats on becoming a B Corp. Can you give a quick overview of the process and steps that you took to make it happen?
Thank you! Being a B-Corp is a big deal. It’s essentially a certification that affirms to customers that we are who we say we are, and that we do what we say we do! Becoming a B-Corp starts with scoring at least 80 on their Impact Assessment. Over 50,000 companies have tried, but less than 7% succeed, and the average score is 50.9. And that’s for companies that see themselves as creating an impact – countless more would never even apply.
What challenges did you face becoming a B Corp?
Well to start, it’s a lot of paperwork! But what came along with it was work on tightening up our operations, refining our process, and ensuring the impact we were creating was methodical and consistent. We had our re-test in 2022 and brought our score up to 112, which is one of the highest in our industry and a really exciting testament to the work we’ve done over the years.
How did your partnership with Ellilta Women at Risk (EWAR) come about?
Not long after adopting our first daughter from Ethiopia, we moved our whole family to California to work with EWAR. We witnessed firsthand the potential to empower vulnerable women and the transformative effect it can have on individuals, families, and communities.
How do you ensure a fair workplace environment?
We saw an opportunity to take that mission- empowering vulnerable women- even further with sustainable commerce and vocational training. As far as maintaining that mission in the workplace, we place a huge emphasis on transparency and communication – every employee has a voice and a clear path to raise ideas and issues.
How are women educated through your program?
Education is really central to what we do. At the most fundamental level, training women to become leather artisans allows them to earn a living wage with benefits while honing their trade and picking up vital skills. Other educational opportunities include topics like management training, business language, and computer skills to further their potential future prospects. And lastly, non-professional learning opportunities include things like our financial literacy course. When we discovered that many of the women on our team had never received a consistent salary or opened a savings account, we wanted to ensure they were being set up for success. We partnered with Enat (“mother” in Amharic), which is a women-led bank here in Addis Ababa, to offer financial training to our employees.
What’s the difference is between a fair and a living wage? Do you know what the number difference is in Addis Ababa?
So first of all, there’s no established minimum wage in Ethiopia, but here in the US, that’s obviously the bare minimum you can pay an employee, legally. Then a fair, or living, wage would be going beyond that; adding a certain amount to the wage to reflect that the legal minimum really isn’t enough to live a decent standard of life and provide for a family. With no set minimum to start from, we set the bar with a “basket of goods” assessment. That allows us to understand the real cost of living first, then ensure that even the lowest wage we pay lands above what we would consider a living wage.
Do you have an impactful employee story that you can share?
There are so many – honestly, every employee has a story worth sharing. One of the most impactful stories to me personally is Marta’s. Her team leader, Roman, had noticed some recurring mistakes in her work and shared confidentially that she thought Marta might have some vision problems. We offered to bring her to a local eye clinic, and the doctors there were stunned that she had been coping with near-blindness for over 20 years. Today, with a brand new pair of glasses, Marta is thriving and one of our best makers. I was so inspired initially by pure resilience, but also by the power of community, teamwork, and the transformations that can come from the small act of looking out for one another.
More brands are produced in Ethiopia. How do you ensure that your supply chain and manufacturing are and will remain sustainable and ethical?
The most important distinction is that we are not just an American company that outsourced its manufacturing to Ethiopia or partnered with a factory there. We have an Ethiopian business with an incredibly talented Ethiopian leadership team, reflecting our core values and working in the same factory as the rest of our employees. And we own that factory, so not only do we have complete oversight over the processes and practices, but we can improve and adjust the way we do things whenever there’s an opportunity to do so. Our local leadership team keeps us informed about what kind of issues might be affecting our employees and are always bringing new ideas to the table to further our commitments to sustainability and positive impact.
What’s next for the Parker Clay brand?
Naturally, we have new styles and designs landing with every new season. But something we’re really excited about, and that’s actually a bit of a game-changer in our industry, is our new community investing platform. So many people have supported our mission over the years and wanted to take their impact even further, without hoarding tons of leather bags in the process. Now those supporters, as well as anyone interested, can actually buy shares in Parker Clay and become sustainable fashion investors. To us, it’s literally driving our mission forward; diving even deeper into our commitments to transparency, social impact, and overtaking fast fashion with a more sustainable model. And for those who want to be a part of building the future of sustainable fashion in Africa, well, we’re doing it – hop on board! You can learn more at invest.parkerclay.com.