GoodWeave – a nonprofit organization founded in 1994 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi – is the leading international institution working to stop child labor in global supply chains through a market-based system and holistic approach. We partner with companies and local producer communities to bring visibility to hidden supply chains; protect workers’ rights; provide assurance that products are free of child, forced and bonded labor; and restore childhoods.

With 30 years of pioneering and innovating a system that at the core harnesses market power through its work with brands and producers, GoodWeave has restored freedom to over 10,495 children, directly provided educational opportunities to more than 96,400 children, and deterred hundreds of thousands of children from entering labor. In 2023 alone, more than 117,817 workers were protected under the GoodWeave Standard. GoodWeave has expanded its work, which started in the rug industry, into home textiles, apparel, fashion jewelry and bricks where its reach and impact continue to grow. GoodWeave’s impact goes beyond reach numbers as it has been a leading voice in positively influencing societal norms and behaviors to eliminate child labor.

Our Founding Story

During a live television talk show in Germany in the early 1990s, an elderly woman called up. She had been listening to Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi talk about the scourge of child labor in South Asia’s carpet industry. And she was moved. She was convinced. She said she was going to throw out her carpet. And then she issued a challenge: “I am very old. I only have 10 years left. I can’t wait. You look young. You must do something so that I can buy a new carpet.” It’s been more than 25 years since Kailash’s idea for GoodWeave was born. Watch Kailash talk about this founding moment, which, together with many of his other initiatives to stop child labor, led to his Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Commitment

GoodWeave International works to stop child labor in global supply chains, permanently. Our mission and values, which put vulnerable children at the center of all that we do, and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, guide practices across our grassroots-to-global organization.

GoodWeave is steadfast in its commitment to nurturing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for our staff in all decision-making bodies and processes. Organizationally, we uphold our policy of equal employment, advancement, and leadership opportunity. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination.

In our work, we aim to represent and reflect the communities whom we serve by engaging diverse stakeholders up and down the supply chain – from the home-based worker to the end consumer. Child labor and intertwined issues of forced and bonded labor are substantially rooted in discrimination – both in international business practices and societal norms. We believe in an inclusive approach that engages people with lived experience; worker and community representatives; human rights, gender, climate, and regional experts; civil society, government, and private sector representatives; and other key stakeholders. We seek to ensure sustainable impact by advancing the rights, needs, and voices of the marginalized children and communities whom we serve.

We firmly believe that diversity fuels innovation, equity drives opportunity, and inclusivity fosters a sense of belonging. With our team members, partners, and stakeholders, and through our operations and programming, we seek to create a world where everyone can thrive and flourish.