Artisan Impact: Karachi, Pakistan
Dominion Traders works with underprivileged artisans who make stone and shesham wood crafts in the city of Karachi. It disperses orders to independently owned and operated onyx workshops that own their own equipment and rent or own their facilities. Most are family businesses employing several family members. Benefits to artisans include profit-sharing, pension plans and medical benefits. Dominion Traders provides interest-free loans and advances to artisans.
Dominion Traders was founded by the late Mansoor Ali, who pioneered fair trade practices in Pakistan’s stone industry while hiring artisans regardless of religion or ethnicity. The organization is now managed by his son, Syed Fahad Ali. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Dominion Traders since 1983, and Do Good Shop since 2017.