Gianna Driver, one of Inc. Magazine’s 30 under 30 for 2011, is the daughter of a Filipino mail-order bride and a Texas cattle-rancher. She spent a big part of her childhood living in a women’s shelter when her mother left her abusive father. It was there that she witnessed the pain and suffering several women go through on a daily basis. Gianna knew that education was her ticket out of the situation she and her mother were in and so she worked hard in school and was able to get a full scholarship at the Wharton School where she graduated. After working for a big insurance company for a couple of years, she felt that she needed to do something else with her life, something that would help others, especially women, break the cycle of poverty which pushed women like her mother into doing things they wouldn’t normally do if they had the money to support themselves. She went to visit developing countries in search of artisans who could provide her with home and design products she can sell and in turn, she would give the women crafting the products a percentage of the profits. This is how Gianna Fair Trade came to be.
Since she began selling these products online, the company has earned a modest profit, but still continues to thrive. To date, Gianna has helped over 200 women in countries like the Philippines, Laos, India, and Thailand by giving them a source of income and paying them more than twice the minimum wage in their respective countries.