Mona unveils inspired corporate gifts by women, refugee & underrepresented creators.
PRESS RELEASE
August 2023 // For Immediate Release
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Today, Mona – the award-winning social venture incubated at Stanford University – officially announced the launch of its corporate gifting program showcasing underrepresented entrepreneurs and creators, the majority of whom are women and immigrants.
The social venture – funded by Alpine Social Ventures and Stanford – is centered on supporting and investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs. Its gifting program collaborates with small businesses to curate and design gift boxes of handcrafted products that fit companies’ gifting needs, leading to product investments in the small businesses and a more engaging experience for gift recipients.
Mona – which means “wish” in Arabic – was founded by award-winning social entrepreneur, author, lawyer, and professor Andrew Leon Hanna, who recently published 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs, a Financial Times Best Book of the year. He incubated the idea while at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, with support from the Center for Social Innovation and Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, and went on to win Alpine Social Ventures’ inaugural pre-seed investment competition.
“As the son of immigrants from Egypt, it is extra special for me to be able to advance the dreams, wishes, and visions of entrepreneurs representing all kinds of cultures and backgrounds,” Hanna says.
“I have gotten to know some of the most incredible entrepreneurs and creators – people creating powerful products and services infused with culture, joy, and care. People who don’t get enough attention and investment. Our goal at Mona has been to help amplify the work of unsung entrepreneurs with product investments, which are crucial for small businesses, and with a platform to tell their personal and brand stories to customers around the world.”
Mona’s partners are inspiring creators from across the country and, increasingly, around the world. Mona’s “Mexican Heritage Coffee Box” is co-designed with Areli Barrera de Grodksi, co-founder of Little Waves Coffee Roasters in Durham, North Carolina. Areli’s box includes specialty coffee grown in her father’s home region of Nayarit, Mexico, traditional copal incense, a Spotify playlist of Mexican music she curated, and cinnamon to make cafecito. Mona has launched many other boxes in the same spirit – from the Pan-African Wellness Box by Grace Kinda, to the Indigenous Creators Wellness Box that was co-created with entrepreneurs from three tribes in the Midwest, to the Global Unity Box that was co-created by five immigrants to the U.S. hailing from five different continents.
“Through Mona, we’re proud to have collaborated with and supported 30+ entrepreneurs thus far – 87% of whom are women, and 90% of whom are from immigrant and refugee communities. We also support them in securing zero-interest loans with our partners Kiva and DreamxAmerica, and help with marketing and distribution.” Hanna noted.
Kinda, who runs a Denver-based wellness company called Iber! Naturals, is one of the entrepreneurs who has benefited from various parts of Mona’s vision:
“Mona has been a HUGE support to our business,” Kinda said. “They not only supported us through applying for and crowdfunding successfully through Kiva, Mona helped us secure our largest holiday bulk order to date! The critical funding and resources we’ve received have already helped us surpass our production and sales goals for 2022, and will help us work towards a new permanent home for Iber! Naturals in the near future.”
Mona’s corporate clients to-date have included non-profits and foundations like Kiva and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, startups like Leaf Global Fintech and Knock, and established companies like IDT Corporation and Squarespace. Next, Mona is launching a flagship partnership with Goodwill Central Texas, whose leadership will hand-deliver hundreds of boxes each year to employees for their work anniversaries.
