Help Stop Violence While You Shop: Eziba and V-Day Announce Marketing Partnership
02/06/2002
Women artisans from around the world work with Eziba to create a line of beautifully handmade V-Day products; Retailer to be Exclusive Merchant for V-Day Goods.
North Adams, MA - February 7, 2002 - Help Stop Violence While You Shop: Eziba, leading retailer of handcrafted goods from around the world, and V-Day, the global movement to stop violence against women and girls, founded by "The Vagina Monologues" playwright Eve Ensler, announced today a multi-level marketing partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, Eziba will be the exclusive merchant for all goods related to V-Day fundraising, including those merchandised at the numerous productions of Eve Ensler's play around the world. A percentage of proceeds will go directly to V-Day to help fund groups working to end violence against women and girls.
"The partnership with V-Day is particularly resonant for us," said Bill Miller, Eziba President and CEO. "Their goal of empowering women around the world mirrors our mission of increasing opportunities for our artisans, most of whom are women. And because a majority of our customers are women, we believe the V-Day program will find a natural audience with the Eziba consumer."
Acting as the exclusive merchant for V-Day, Eziba will research, develop, stock and fulfill all orders for V-Day merchandise, including products related to "The Vagina Monologues" play. Staying true to the V-Day mission, Eziba will develop products produced exclusively by women and women's cooperatives around the world. The majority of products will be jewelry incorporating the V-Day logo.
"Our affiliation with Eziba will help us to bring V-Day to a new, far-reaching audience," said Eve Ensler, V-Day Artistic Director and Founder. "Eziba's design, merchandising and marketing expertise will help us expand our fundraising efforts. With V-Day products by Eziba, nyou can help stop violence while you shop"
V-Day Executive Director Willa Shalit added, "Eziba and V-Day are a great fit in terms of philosophy and design. And, Eziba's incredibly strong online presence enables V-Day to offer products worldwide to V-Day's wide-spread audience, from NYC to Cebu City, Phillipines."
Select items from the first collection developed jointly by Eziba and V-Day are featured in a four-page spread in Eziba's February catalog and the full line is featured on the Eziba web site (www.eziba.com/vday). The debut V-Day collection features an array of jewelry with a "V" motif, including a Mexican-made sterling silver link bracelet with an enamel "V" charm and a glass bead necklace with sterling silver "V" inspired pendant and matching earrings from South Africa. Other hand-crafted items include a journal with Zulu beaded bookmark, Peruvian clay wind chimes, a silk embroidered scarf from India, a ceramic "goddess" sculpture from Columbia, as well as scented candles, pajamas and "The Vagina Monologues" book by Eve Ensler, among other items. A percentage of proceeds will go directly to V-Day to help fund groups working to end violence against women and girls.
Besides the catalog and online merchandising of V-Day merchandise, Eziba will also provide merchandise for sale at the numerous benefit performances of "The Vagina Monologues," which will take place in more than 200 cities and at 600 colleges around the world during V-Day 2002. Eziba will also issue special discount codes that V-Day will distribute to its representatives for select programs.
About Eziba
Eziba, www.Eziba.com, launched November 9, 1999, as a premier retailer and global bazaar, offering via its web site and catalog an exclusive and constantly changing selection of authentic handcrafted items created by artisans from around the world. The product offering ranges from home furnishings, accessories and apparel, to art and artifacts, gifts and toys. With a blend of education, entertainment, and e-commerce, the web site and catalog are designed to inform and inspire the shopper with a presentation rich in cultural context and content that conveys the story and the people behind each object. Eziba is a pioneering company in its business model, site design, and innovative approach to corporate social responsibility (a portion of founders' stock has been pledged to the Eziba Artisans' Trust to improve artisans' lives in developing countries). Eziba is a corporate sponsor of some of the most forward thinking and effective artisan related organizations, including the Crafts Center, Aid to Artisans, and the Artisan Enterprise Network. Leading online retailer Amazon.com has invested in Eziba. Other investors in the $70 million second round of funding are Rho Management (Compaq and iVillage), New Enterprise Associates (UUNet and Silicon Graphics), and Berkshire Capital Investors (Tripod). Eziba is headquartered at MASS MoCA, a center for contemporary visual and performing arts and high tech industry housed in a 19th-century mill complex in North Adams, Massachusetts, with a second office in New York City.
About V-Day
V-Day is a global movement that helps anti-violence organizations throughout the world continue and expand their core work on the ground, while drawing public attention to the larger fight to stop worldwide violence (including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual slavery) against women and girls.
V-Day is also a day (on or around Valentine's Day in February), for which annual theatrical and artistic events are produced around the world to transform consciousness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. Each year, V-Day promotes a series of innovative productions, events and initiatives that are identified collectively as V-Day and the year (i.e. V-Day 2001, V-Day 2002, V-Day 2003...).
V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots national, and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. In just five years, V-Day has raised over $7 million and was recently named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities".
Press Contacts:
V-Day
Susan Celia Swan
212.445.3288
Eziba
Karen Peterson
Emily Grosman
LaForce & Stevens
212.242.9353