Kathleen Wright

Kathleen Wright is the co-founder of Nest Collaborative and currently serves as Sales and Marketing Director for Nest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the lives of women in developing countries.

Expanding upon the proven tool of microfinance lending, Nest gives small loans to women to build or maintain art or craft-based businesses. But unlike traditional banks, Nest allows loan recipients to repay their loans in crafts they make, which are then incorporated into Nest's own line of merchandise, created exclusively for them by some of the country's top designers and artisans. Additionally, Nest partners with other domestic designers who dedicate a percentage of their sales to Nest's microlending program and many advise loan recipients on building their businesses.

In 2008 Kathleen co-founded the Nest Collaborative, an ethical sourcing business that connects large corporations in the United States to artisans and Nest clients in developing countries. Through this collaboration artisans from all over the world create products that are sold domestically through retailers such as Lord and Taylor, American Eagle, REEF footwear, and Trina Turk. These partnerships provide the corporations with unique, artisan made product while also providing artisans in need stable employment and opportunity to provide for their families.

Nest has received global attention, including appearances on CNN and Fox News and in publications as diverse as the Turkish Daily News, Cosmopolitan, Country Living and Martha Stewart's Body & Soul.