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Friday, February 7 2025

The Philanthrocapitalists at “Noonday Collection” jewelry and accessories are creating a legacy of global entrepreneurs. You might think of your next jewelry purchase as simply finding a unique item to accessorize your fashion. But at “Noonday Collection” — the world’s largest fair-trade certified jewelry and accessory company — every piece of jewelry represents an entrepreneur around the globe.

Local artisans walking with Noonday Collection buyers and ambassadors
Noonday Collection artisans, buyers, and ambassadors. Photo Credit: Noonday Collection

The impact of philanthrocapitalism

Primarily, when examining Noonday collection’s corporate impact you will find that it touches the lives of:

The 31-artisan business partners who are exporting cultures. They are creating products like handwoven textiles and beadwork from Guatemala by artisan entrepreneurs like Rosario who is now running for mayor in her local area.

“Noonday Collection’s” business partners also do good work on behalf of the environment. While creating beautiful works of wearable art, and jobs like in Ethiopia. Ethiopian farmers scan the ground for a different type of harvest as they move through fields of coffee, wheat and sorghum.

Creating jobs with dignity

Noonday Collection artisans
Noonday Collection Artisans. Photo Credit: Noonday Collection

First, the farmers harvest artillery shells from former conflicts.

Next, local craftspeople melt down the spent artillery shells.

Then they create beautiful beads that are transported to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Finally, the artisans string the beads into beautiful jewelry and accessories.

These entrepreneurs in some of the world’s most vulnerable places develop jobs that offer dignified work at a fair wage.

Principally, there are more than 4,500 — individual artisan-entrepreneurs like those in Addis Ababa — the sprawling capital of Ethiopia. And in 14 other countries where artisans create unique jewelry and accessory designs. Designs that are inspired by the local culture and its natural and manmade resources — like used artillery casings.

Finally, 20,000 family members are positively affected by a legacy of entrepreneurs created by Noonday Collection partners, artisans and ambassadors.

Entrepreneurs and ambassadors

Noonday Collection Ambassador--Nicole (Nikki) Formolo.
Noonday Collection Ambassador — Nicole (Nikki) Formolo. Photo Credit: Nikki Formolo.

One such ambassador is the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural entrepreneur — Nicole (Nikki) Formolo. Formolo is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Colima, Mexico. Formolo’s culturally fluid mother was influenced by her upbringing as a Mexican-American. Navigating traditional Mexican culture, and customs against Midwestern, American values.

In the 1940s when Formolo’s grandfather immigrated from Mexico to the United States he was like so many other immigrants at the time. They were so adamant about looking and sounding “American” that he and his wife did not teach any of their children Spanish. Formolo says:

“However, what did stick around was the incredible traditional Mexican food which my grandmother’s was the absolute best. Homemade tortillas, enchiladas, mole, beans and rice were my personal favorites.

My grandmother and mother also had impeccable style.

This is so important because I think our diversity is what makes America beautiful.”

We should be proud of where we come from and our story. It isn’t something that should be hidden or forgotten.

Noonday Collection Ambassador — Nikki Formolo.

Formolo’s multi-ethnic and multi-cultural background is further complicated by her father’s mostly English, Swedish, and Norwegian heritage.

Formolo credits her passion for creating compassionate spaces for others as a direct result of her complex heritage and growing up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA where she attended an ethnically diverse public school.

Creating entrepreneurs at home

Today, Formolo is a Colorado, USA based entrepreneur, coaching leader, insight council member, and an ambassador at “Noonday Collection.” She beams as she talks about how “Noonday Collection” gave her the opportunity to start a home-based business.

Formolo’s business of styling people in her community with fashion jewelry and accessories serves to uplift families — especially women and children out of poverty and into businesses of their own.

Noonday Collection Ambassador — Nikki Formolo. Video Credit: Antoinette Lee Toscano

Formolo said:

“I had found myself a stay-at-home mom and stepmom, in a brand-new state. (And) I was searching for (a) community and (a) career where I could make a difference. Then I stumbled across a blog by Jen Hatmaker, where she was talking about Noonday Collection and how they were seeking more Ambassadors. And I signed up 24-hours later. Certainly one of the best ‘yeses’ of my life.”

Doing business with “Noonday Collection” means so much to Formolo and thousands of mostly women around the globe. Because they can create schedules and income to better care for their families emotionally, physically, and financially.

Style friends and change the world

Style your friends. Change the world .

~Noonday Collection.

Noonday Collection’s tagline and its company’s intention. Ambassadors like Formolo help friends in their local community choose jewelry and accessories that have a tangible, global impact.

This company — Noonday Collection brings wearable art to the global masses.

It does so by developing other entrepreneurs around the world through training, engagement, and other philanthropic support.

Noonday Collection is a clear example of the not so new term — Philanthrocapitalists. An organization that earns capital while doing good in the world.

Philanthrocapitalism

Noonday Collection Trunk Show showing ladies buying jewelry.
Noonday Collection Trunk Show. Photo Credit: Noonday Collection.

Dr. Linsey McGoey, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex, United Kingdom had this to say about philanthrocapitalism. 

Philanthrocapitalism is a term that was coined a few years ago in an article in the Economist magazine and was developed most comprehensively in a book entitled ‘Philanthrocapitalism: how the rich can save the world,’ co-written by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green.”

~Dr. Linsey McGoey, lecturer University of Essex.

“The concept is that philanthropic organisations are increasingly harnessing the power of the market in order to make philanthropy more efficient and achieve better results. There is actually a far larger heritage behind the idea than many proponents seem to realize. Notably, Rockefeller and Carnegie, some of the leading philanthropists of the early (20th) century, were explicit in the aim to apply some of the business strategies of their own profit-making organisations to their philanthropic activities.” 

Creating meaningful opportunities

Companies like Noonday Collection are using the market to do philanthropic work. And it is applying successful market strategies to enhance its philanthropy. Its chief goal is this:

When you shop our collection, host a trunk show, or become an ambassador you join us in creating meaningful opportunity for people around the world. Together we are building a flourishing world where children are cherished, women are empowered, people have jobs and we are connected.

Jessica Honegger, Cofounder — “Noonday Collection.”

Noonday Collection is born

Jessica Honegger developed the idea for “Noonday Collection” in 2010 after she connected with Jalia and Daniel. They are talented, Ugandan jewelry designers who dreamed of using fashion to create dignified jobs in their community. Honegger hosted the first “Noonday Trunk Show,” selling Jalia and Daniel’s jewelry in her home to raise funds to adopt a child from Rwanda. Women fell in love with the style and “Noonday Collection’s” story. And Honegger began to dream bigger than a fundraiser.

Noonday Collection’s founders

Later, Honegger partnered with Travis Wilson. Both Wilson and Honegger had spent years working in Africa and Latin America. Wilson is passionate about social entrepreneurship and he is experienced in building businesses. Together, Honegger and Wilson started a business that works to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship. This was the birth of “Noonday Collection,” a business that uses fashion to create meaningful career and business opportunities around the world.

Philanthropy at home

“Noonday Collection’s” philanthropy does not begin outside of its home country’s borders.

Formolo had this to say about her philanthropic work:

The beauty of being our own social entrepreneurs is the ability to donate towards causes we feel passionate about in our own communities.

Noonday Collection Ambassador — Nikki Formolo.

“This is why I am choosing to partner with (USA-based) Team River Runner (TRR), (a national 501(C)(3) organization) by donating 20 percent of sales from our “Noonday Collection trunk show” (in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA) towards (its) efforts in helping to provide healing for our veterans through the beautiful Colorado wilderness adventures.”

A man in a kayak doing a combat roll.
A man in a kayak doing a combat roll.
Photo Credit: Team River Runner — Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

TRR’s mission is providing recreational therapy for veteran, first responders, and their family members.

It provides kayaks, rafts, protective, adaptive, and safety gear, training, outdoors skills, and whitewater kayaking and rafting trips all at no cost.

“Noonday Collection” will hold a special “trunk show” in honor of Team River Runner’s — Fort Collins’, Colorado USA chapter. It is donating 20 percent of its “trunk show” event sales to Team River Runner — Fort Collins.

“Noonday Collection” is an organization with a purpose that is good for the world and its own bottom line.

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About Author

Antoinette Lee

Antoinette Lee, MBA — an American Adult Cross-Cultural Kid (ACCK) and Third Culture Adult (TCA) with family ancestry in Nigeria, Ireland, Spain, and the Indigenous Arawak of Jamaica.

Lee is a freelance writer at Culturs Magazine and Paddling Magazine, a health and wellness public speaker, an outdoor industry influencer, model, and brand ambassador for several top-tier outdoor companies.

She is the co-founder of Diversify Whitewater and founder of the American Adventure Sports Club. She can usually be found in the Northwoods, stewarding the forest and river around her homestead while living the adventure sports lifestyle.

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