Culture of Peace Initiative

Ten Thousand Villages of Austin is a group of volunteers here in Austin with a vision to improve life for others in Austin and in the world. We believe where you purchase goods makes a profound difference to the producer of those goods. We have incorporated in the state of Texas and received our non-profit 501(c)(3) status.



Ten Thousand Villages provides vital and fair income to people in developing regions by selling their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed.



The Austin store will be one in a network of 145 Ten Thousand Villages fair trade retail stores in North America. The efforts of these stores improve the economic situations of tens of thousands of artisans by providing income for food, education, health care, and housing.



We know each of our producer groups, and know that they:

1) do not use child labor

2) provide employment in fair and safe working conditions and at fair wages

3) use environmentally sustainable resources



The store in Austin will be a self-sustaining retail store selling merchandise that has been obtained utilizing fair-trade principles. The vision is to use the proceeds to improve the lives of disadvantaged workers both here in the surrounding area and throughout the world. This includes but is not exclusive to providing a marketplace for these handicrafts, promoting cross-cultural education experiences and other activities deemed appropriate by the board of directors in accordance with our corporate bylaws and 501(c)(3) filing.



If you are connected to another 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we can partner with you to raise funds for this nonprofit. We will work with you to find a special time at the store to host a fundraiser for you. During that time period a percentage (10%) of the sales will be donated to this nonprofit. The work that your nonprofit would need to do is publicize the sale.