By Luba Kaplanskaya

Local Santa Cruz Entrepreneurship for Social Good: Rising International

Carmel Jud at a Rising International event in San Francisco, California.

Carmel Jud leads a local/global non-profit that is on a mission to protect women and girls from poverty and exploitation. On her 50th birthday, she participated in the Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup first Cruz Cares competition. Rising international is the first non-profit organization in the world to use the $185 billion dollar direct sales model to solve poverty both locally and globally. Instead of selling make-up or plastic product containers, Rising International sells fair trade products handmade by women surviving war, extreme poverty, and human trafficking. Through empowering and supporting women both in Santa Cruz and all around the world, Carmel’s organization allows women to make enough money to improve their lives for the better.

In March of 2015, Carmel walked away from Cruz Cares with $17,100 in prizes. From the competition, Rising International was able to sponsor 10 representatives (women who run their own business selling Rising International products.) One of the Rising International Representatives that was sponsored by Cruz Cares was a single mother living in a homeless shelter. She now works for a major tech company. Carmel shared that one of the best parts of winning Cruz Cares was that people became aware that Rising International worked with local women as well.

The organization also landed a big account. “That night when we pitched there was someone from Cisco in the audience. After we won, she came up to me and said she wanted to work together. We ended up creating gifts for Cisco that change lives around the globe. Our survivor artisans handcraft gifts that Cisco gives away at trade shows. It’s socially conscious giving that corporations are now starting to realize is important.” Said Carmel. Since the Cruz Cares competition, Cisco has become a substantial supporter of Rising International, with over 1500 gifts a year.

A woman in Guatemala creating handmade bracelets for Cisco.

Rising International is currently looking for people interested to help with the technology and software aspect of the organization. They are trying to set up a mobile sales system for their representatives. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Carmel Jud at carmel@risinginternational.org.