Two strangers were on parallel paths, working to connect marginalized artisans in developing countries with shoppers in America. This is the story of how their paths crossed to create WorldofGood.com.

Not long ago, in a country far, far away….
It’s the Summer of 2003, Robert Chatwani and Priya Haji, two San Francisco Bay Area-based thirty-somethings, perfect strangers at the time, and future proud founders of WorldofGood.com, are walking similar paths at two different open-air markets—just miles away from one another in Western India.

Each is striking up conversations with the local artisans, and each is hearing the same story over and over: We need more shoppers like you; greater access to markets. We would be able to create so much more opportunity for ourselves, our families, our communities, if we just had more people buying.

And the entrepreneurial wheels in both of their heads began to turn.

They both knew there had to be a way to link these talented artisans—and thousands more like them—with the millions of shoppers back home that buy $55 billion worth of mass-produced, factory- and sweatshop-made stuff every year. Didn’t there?

Aaaaand…action!
Back home, our two wily do-gooders began to craft their plans of attack.

Robert, a young rising executive at eBay, took his idea straight to the top of the food chain, securing the support of founder Pierre Omidyar, then-CEO Meg Whitman, and other key players in the company’s innovative, forward-thinking leadership team.

Priya, a seasoned entrepreneur with two social enterprises under her belt, convinced a couple of her newly minted MBA buddies to quit their jobs to start their own company, a fair trade wholesale business they called World of Good, Inc.

It wasn’t until two years later that Robert and Priya would realize they needed each other to complete the task at hand.

Full circle
Fast forward to Fall 2005. An introduction from a mutual friend, one serendipitous (and very, very long) phone call later, and the idea for the WorldofGood.com marketplace was born.

It was a no-brainer, and a perfect match.

Robert had, in eBay, a platform where $60 billion worth of stuff is sold every year—more and more of which was being spent on “good” products by an increasingly engaged buyer base. Distribution and global marketing reach? Check!

Priya had, in two years at the helm of World of Good, Inc., built the relationships and knowledge to authentically understand and navigate the inner workings of the global fair trade market. Supply chain know-how and industry credibility? Check!

It was only a matter of time before they had recruited a mighty team of do-gooders, and rallied hundreds of like-minded organizations together—all for the first time—around one simple, but pretty groundbreaking idea: one online destination where people could go to shop for products that make a positive impact on the world.

Now, five years later, those same artisans from those same open air markets in Western India—as well as thousands like them from all over the world—can sell their wares to millions of shoppers browsing the WorldofGood.com website.

One idea, two crafty minds, and a windfall of support from kindred spirits all over the world—and we are well on our way to figuring out how to reach the Big Lofty Goal: a steady job, healthy happy families, and a positive, promising future for millions.