Ellie Living Up to its Values

A few years ago, we worked on defining our company’s core values. They are:

Equity & Responsibility, Conservation, Authenticity, Creativity, and Empowerment.

Brands, like Ellie, are citizens of the society with rights and responsibilities, we help improve the world of today and tomorrow. We truly care about the society we belong to, its laws, and its living beings.

Naming equity & responsibility as one of our core values required us to be committed to building an equitable workplace—a space where people can show up authentically in mind, body, and spirit. We honor the people behind our products, as much as we honor the product and the craft itself. We’ve been working to take serious steps toward ensuring our workspace and the product we’re providing is ethically and mindfully made.

Made in an ethical, fair trade environment and rooted in local tradition.

Here are Ellie’s main ethical policies:

1. Sustaining An Age-Old Craft: In an age of mechanization, we’re proudly preserving, growing, and modernizing a craft deeply rooted in Egyptian heritage.
2. Fair Labor Practices: Help ensure fair and safe labor practices, giving them a safer and better work environment.
3. Investing In Our Craftsmen: Improve livelihoods and empower workers to invest in their communities, by investing in their development and helping in transferring the craft to younger generations.
4. Fairly Compensated: We ensure that we’re providing a fair product, where every worker/employee is given a fair wage and is equitably rewarded for their work.
5. Providing Benefits: Ellie also provides health benefits to all full-time workers/employees.
6. Empowering Women: All our pieces are a result of the participation of talented, hard-working women, who are able to live their dream by developing their talents and becoming self-reliant. We encourage equality and empower women by recognizing and promoting their strengths and added value. Our ultimate mission is to create innovative, beautiful products while providing economic sustainability to artisan women across Egypt.
7. Soliciting Employee Feedback: We take employee feedback seriously and encourage a feedback culture year-round. We create both structured and informal opportunities for team members to have their voices heard.

Change the World with your Wallet

The way we spend our money can help change the world. Every time we shop we’re voting with our wallet, when we buy from brands that have a positive impact it’s like voting for a better world.

By carefully choosing what we buy, and looking behind the brands, we can choose products that have a positive impact on people, the planet, and animals.

When you are part of a movement of people making similar positive choices we can start to have a big impact on the world around us.

Why Shop Ethically?

Shopping ethically is not just about leaving behind the bad guys, it’s about so much more, from championing sustainable brands to reducing consumption and saving money.

There is something very satisfying about shopping ethically. It’s often difficult to define but those who shop ethically feel empowered knowing that the small changes they are making are a vote that can lead to big environmental and social impacts.

We Know We Can Always Do Better

We strive to have calm confidence, and yet yearn to improve. We suck compared to how great we want to become.

We want to be clear that we are not blameless and that we are still actively working to build an equitable workplace and a product that is as clean as can be. Every day provides an opportunity for reflection, action, and growth. We know that this work is lifelong, part of doing this work has been acknowledging and accepting that things take time and that time and money are limited.

Our voice is our brand and we use it intentionally. It is our responsibility to use our privilege, in every capacity, to advocate our mission, vision, and values, as well as educate our audience.