Skoll Entrepreneur(s): Connie K. Duckworth
Change(s) Addressed: Economic & Social Equity

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DESCRIPTION:

Connie made history as the first female sales and trading partner at Goldman Sachs. In 2002, she was asked to join the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, a bipartisan commission formed to insure Afghan women a voice in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Returning from a trip to Afghanistan in 2003, where she witnessed the indescribable hardships women faced, she outlined the vision for Arzu: a nonprofit that would help empower women and operate on a sustainable economic model. She provided seed capital for the first year of operations and currently oversees Arzu’s operations.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS OF 2010

Despite continued conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ARZU STUDIO HOPE:

• Continued all ongoing core literacy and healthcare programs for ARZU’s 700 weavers and 2,100 direct beneficiaries in 9 rural villages. Since inception in 2004, no woman attended to by Arzu has died during childbirth.
• Extended the ARZU brand to ARZU STUDIO HOPE with the launch of a new website (www.ARZUSTUDIOHOPE.org) with social media and e-commerce capability to reinforce growing market awareness and sales.
• Defined a multi-channel segmented market strategy and reconstructed the carpet supply chain, to accommodate essential custom and contract orders, leading to a 44% growth in sales.