Ruth DeGolia '04, Mercado's founder, examines new merchandise with Sarah Moros '06, Mexico field director, and Erin Ruck '06, marketing director, at the company's headquarters in New Haven.

The World

With help from Yale, graduates launch company to tap global markets

While a student at Yale, Ruth DeGolia visited Guatemala for nine months and befriended women in the country’s highlands who were struggling to make a living in the wake of that country’s civil war. DeGolia knew these women were interested in selling their traditional handicrafts in the United States and around the world, but they weren’t sure how to get started.

So she and a fellow Yale student, Benita Singh, started Mercado Global, a non-profit fair trade organization that sells traditional handicrafts made by the women they met. DeGolia says the help she received, including her initial Yale scholarship and subsequent financial support for the project from President Levin’s office, was a critically important part of Mercado’s success.

The company was launched in 2004 with a catalog that included products from 14 different community cooperatives in Guatemala representing 178 members. The members of the cooperatives not only received fair wages for their work, they were able to send about 100 children to school for one year. They made $75,000 in sales last year and project they soon will be bringing in $600,000 annually.

In this interview, DeGolia talks about her experience at Yale, why she and Singh decided to start up the company, and their future plans.

Why did you decide to come to Yale?

While I was a high school student (from Cleveland, Ohio), I received the Yale Book Award. That made me start thinking about Yale. I applied, got in, came to Bulldog Days, and was totally blown away. I got into all the colleges I applied to and then came to Yale.

What did you like about Yale?

I loved the residential college system. I loved Dwight Hall and was totally excited about being in a place where there are so many social service and community projects. I was really excited about being in a real city. Also, I got a very decent financial aid package from Yale. That was important. I could not have come if not for financial aid. I am very grateful for that. One of the great things about our organization is that it was started by two people from very different backgrounds. Yale is not just about students who come from families of wealth.  

Did you know you wanted to do international work when you first came here?

No, I had no idea being at Yale would take me there.

At what point did you go to Guatemala and what prompted that trip?

Well, I went to Guatemala the summer after my sophomore year. I was interested in learning more about the country, and had become interested in international development. The trip was an extension of my studies, and the work I did in the summer of my freshman year as part of AYA’s (the Association of Yale Alumni) community service fellowship. The summer before my senior year I received a Yale fellowship to do research in Guatemala. I was working on a thesis about the impact of globalization on political and economic development in Guatemala since the signing of the 1996 peace accords.  The conclusion of my thesis was that globalization was neither good nor bad, it was what you made of it. I saw there was a need for projects that could help communities in rural isolated areas, so that they could experience globalization in a positive way.

What did you learn about the women when you first met them and how did you try to help them?

We realized that these women wanted to live in their traditional communities and raise their kids, but that they needed income. And they needed a way to educate their daughters. So we set up a domestic marketing project, trying to find stores in Guatemala to sell the products. It just didn’t work. There were not enough tourists and too many people making the same kind of products. It was very discouraging. So we came back to the U.S. with two suitcases of handicrafts and we sold out in two days at four to five times the cost of making them. That’s when we realized we were on to something. They were selling, and with a huge markup. When we asked them what they wanted to do with the profits, the women said they wanted to set up a scholarship program for the girls.

How did your education and experiences at Yale play a role in your decision to initiate this project?

I came to Yale thinking of myself as a political activist. I knew I wanted to create social change and I thought the way to do that was through politics. While at Yale, I realized that was important, but I also learned that markets can, potentially, be a much more powerful tool. Without my studies at Yale, I never would have thought of that. That was a gift Yale gave me. Markets have the power to change lives. It was just a matter of figuring out a way to harness that power in a positive way.

In addition to your scholarships and fellowships, what other kinds of support did you receive from Yale?

There were so many members of the faculty who helped me think this through. And then when we had a finished proposal for the project, we met with Nina Glickson (assistant to President Levin). She said we should present our proposal right to President Levin. He said it sounded like a great idea and he made it happen so that we got funded. They were totally open to new ideas and student involvement. We are currently based in New Haven because Yale provided us with subsidized office space for the first year. We received funding from the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. And, Benita and I won a Gordon Grand Fellowship.

Yale grads have been key to our success. Erin Ruck is our Marketing Director.  She graduated this May. She had been working at Cole Haan.   She has been working with us on a volunteer basis for quite a while, and we're so excited to have her full time now.  She has worked with Macy's, Daily Candy, and other major companies in the fashion industry. Sarah Moros is our Mexico Field Director.  She graduated from Yale this May and has a Gordon Grand Fellowship to set up our operations in Mexico. 

Other Yale grads are working with us as well. David Barthwell ('04) is our Creative Director. Adam Robinson ('06) is one of our financial advisors. Jeremy Kahan ('04) is a major donor and one of our financial advisors. Laura Esnaola ('06), through a Yale International Service and Social Justice Summer Fellowship, helped us set up our operations in the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala. Denise Bertholine ('05) is our fundraising consultant.  Dariush Nothaft ('06) is our cinematographer.

You and Benita Singh were featured in the July 2006 issue of Newsweek (“Fifteen people who make America great; The Giving Back Awards"). Did you gain any momentum from that exposure?

It was pretty funny. We were overwhelmed with phone calls. And my sister thought it was pretty impressive that I got to meet Brad Pitt [who also received an award and  was featured in the same photo in the same issue]. What was really great was that we received about $15,000 in sales in one week. We also were featured on Good Morning America and we are going to be in the gift section of Seventeen magazine this Christmas.

What’s next?

We have plans to grow the organization. And Benita and I want to go back to grad school someday. We are both interested in business school.