.webp)
After 16 years of working to professionalize and increase the income of female artisans and seamstresses, Rede Asta is entering a new chapter in its history.
“In 2019, we were facing a massive financial crisis. In 2020, the pandemic hit, and we had to reinvent ourselves. That’s when we put all our expertise into action to coordinate with companies—with Vale as our main partner—to carry out the Máscara Mais Renda program. It was our first large-scale initiative. We produced over 7.7 million masks and pieces of protective equipment, which were donated to the public and healthcare professionals. We raised R$ 11 million in funds, which were distributed to more than 3,000 seamstresses in vulnerable social situations across the country,” says Alice Freitas, co-founder of Rede Asta.
The pandemic also brought other lessons, such as the importance of nano and small businesses within their communities and their contributions to the local economy.
Rede Asta felt called to create strategies to support this demographic, so it participated in the Ashoka Globalizer initiative and developed a pitch outlining a strategy to serve them. This was the first step toward joining the global localization movement and, in partnership with Accenture, implementing Pertinho de Casa, a geolocation marketplace that connects local sellers with local buyers.
In 2022, Rede Asta refreshed its brand and announced an expansion of its scope. Moving forward, its projects will focus on training and income generation for nano-entrepreneurs across Brazil—especially women in vulnerable social situations—through initiatives with broad social impact.
To kick off this new phase, the organization launched the Mulheres Mais Renda program in May 2022. By the end of this year, it aims to secure corporate partnerships to raise R$ 10 million to manufacture and distribute cloth menstrual pads to 161,000 people who lack access to dignified menstrual hygiene, while generating R$ 2.6 million in income for 1,300 seamstresses.
“In this new stage of our history, we are joining forces with companies and institutions that believe in and invest in small businesses as a systemic strategy for socioeconomic transformation, starting with the strengthening of local territories. We believe that great evolutions are born from nano-revolutions; in other words, by boosting the local economy, we can recover from the losses caused by successive economic crises—exacerbated by the pandemic—to tackle the challenges that drive social inequality,” Alice emphasizes.
Get in touch with us and join our network: contato@redeasta.com.br