ZOË Alliance Inc. is pleased to announce the investment made by TARIS Incorporated to scale its innovative social business model.  For its investment TARIS will receive a 20% equity position in the company.  The funds will be used to scale the operational infrastructure positioning ZOË Alliance and their producer network for a broader range of solutions and increased social impact.

During the last two years, ZOË Alliance has successfully demonstrated the tremendous potential for businesses to catalyze sustained solutions to global poverty by choosing to socially source 10% of their existing spending on gifts and promotional items.  Their unique approach to harnessing the power of market spending to fuel the growth of fledgling economies in developing nations has drawn the support of many multi-national and national organizations across the telecommunications, financial services, insurance, real estate, utilities, and non profit industry sectors.

Julie McDowell, President of TARIS Incorporated and Chair of Maple Leaf Angels in Toronto shared the following about her decision to invest, “It was clear to me that what ZOË was doing, was not only smart business, it was smart international development.  Their approach can help establish and build strong, viable businesses that can fund ongoing investment in their own local social infrastructure.  It is this approach that will achieve lasting and sustained independence in challenged communities in Guatemala, India and other countries that are increasingly important to Canada.  Simultaneously, as ZOË’s Canadian and US customer base grows, we will be creating interesting local employment opportunities as well.  I greatly value the opportunity to be part of such an innovative Canadian company.”

Over the next few years, ZOË Alliance will be growing both the economic impact achieved through the business, and the social impact achieved through the formal establishment of a sister charitable entity to better serve the training, development and social needs of the communities they work in.

“Our model has demonstrated that corporations in North America do want to be a part of ending poverty and that including village producer groups in their supply chain is something that we are able to make possible.  This goes way beyond traditional supplier codes moving us past the realm of meeting legal and social guidelines, and into strategically leveraging business expenditures to achieve a transformative impact in whole communities,” shared Angie Draskovic – Founder & CEO of ZOË Alliance.  When asked to provide an example, she said: “These past few years have demonstrated just how interconnected the global economy is in a very powerful way.  Business markets, and global trade provide us with the levers to shape society.  If a major corporation that routinely purchases 3,000,000 pens or aprons a year decides to source those from a rural regional production unit in a developing nation, not only do they get the items they purchased, they get to change the trajectory of a whole community.  That is the power of our model at ZOË and we are thrilled that TARIS Incorporated shares our vision and is investing in the required steps to scale the impact.”

Company Background

ZOË Alliance Inc. (www.zoealliance.com) is a social purpose business that harnesses market spending to help developing nations break the cycle of poverty.  ZOË Alliance helps companies transform impoverished villages with their regular purchases of corporate gifts, promotional, and large volume staple items.  Each dollar spent is stretched three ways:  to purchase an item that tells the story of hope; to create jobs with dignity in villages; and to donate funds toward a school or village project.

TARIS Incorporated provides advisory, training and research services to socially motivated entrepreneurs, and invests directly in companies that use commercial solutions to address extreme poverty or provide opportunities for people with disabilities.

ZOË Alliance Inc

ZOË Alliance Inc

ZOË Alliance Inc. is a social enterprise that harnesses market spending to help developing nations break the cycle of poverty. ZOË Alliance helps people and companies transform impoverished villages with their regular purchases. We stretch each dollar spent on a personal or corporate gift three ways: to purchase a gift that tells the story of hope; to create jobs with dignity in villages; and to donate funds toward a school or village project. We also help companies link their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to the bottom line by making it easy to source high quality, profitable products from producer groups in villages around the globe.

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