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Women in Iraq Create Prosperity Candles for U.S. Market

Women in Iraq Create Prosperity Candles for U.S. Market

Published 06-25-10

Submitted by Prosperity Candle

With its unique mission to support thousands of women entrepreneurs living in distressed areas of the world to build thriving businesses, Prosperity Candle inaugurates its first handmade pillar candles - in partnership with enterprising women in Baghdad, Iraq.

Founded on the belief that business has a vital and transformational role to play in addressing the global challenges we face today, Prosperity Candle invests in women as independent and resourceful entrepreneurs who are critical to creating the foundations for peaceful and prosperous societies. This is especially true in places where the company has chosen to work - such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Haiti - where women are often left to single-handedly rebuild their lives and support their families in the shadows of conflict and the aftermath of disaster.

In partnership with Women for Women International, a non-profit organization that helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives, Prosperity Candle has launched with its first women candle entrepreneurs in Baghdad, Iraq. The women - many of whom are widowed - have responded enthusiastically to a business opportunity that is simple to learn, requires incremental investments in low-cost equipment (wax, molds and wick), can be created in the safety of their homes, and can be easily expanded to employ dozens of people in their communities.

"Six years ago we envisioned an innovative model called Shared Prosperity," states Ted Barber, one of the company's founders. "Simply stated, it is a business that prioritizes social benefit to a group that is among the most isolated from global commerce - women entrepreneurs in places of conflict, social unrest and natural disaster - and offers them ongoing support, sustained market access, and the opportunity to create a thriving business. With this goal in mind, we share Prosperity Candle's profits with every woman who makes high quality candles for us - not at the end of the year as a charitable donation, but every quarter as a valued partner in this social venture."

"Empowering women to go beyond survival and earn well above a living wage is one of the company's core objectives," co-founder Amber Chand adds. "Women-owned enterprises have a central role to play in the world as an untapped source of employment, economic growth, and social stability. We deeply believe that when a woman thrives, an entire community thrives." To further this mission, the Prosperity Candle Foundation has been launched to inspire, educate and support women entrepreneurs through business and entrepreneurship trainings.

"Candles make perfect gifts for any gift giving event, like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries," notes Siiri Morley, also a co-founder, "and Prosperity Candles are unique, meaningful gifts reflecting the hopes and dreams of women who are seeking to not only survive, but to thrive."

To learn more about Prosperity Candle and its mission, and to purchase Prosperity Candles, please visit www.prosperitycandle.com

About Prosperity Candle
Prosperity Candle is a social enterprise that invests in enterprising women living in distressed areas of the world who are enthusiastic to start their own businesses producing distinctive candles for local and international markets. It focuses on places that are torn by conflict and social unrest, devastated by natural disaster, and trapped in never-ending poverty, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and Rwanda. To support its objectives, the company has created the Prosperity Candle Foundation with a mission to support, inspire and educate women entrepreneurs in places of conflict and natural disaster around the world. The company is based in Northampton, Massachusetts.

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Prosperity Candle

Prosperity Candle

Prosperity Candle partners with women entrepreneurs in places of distress to establish highly scalable businesses with sustainable links to global markets. We enable a woman to not only earn a living wage, but a prosperity wage, one that enables her to generate employment for others in her community. We aim to empower women to not only survive, but thrive.

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