20 Years of JoyCorps
As 2019 closes, we are celebrating 20 years as an organization! We wanted to share our journey of growth and learning with you.
Developing our Model
In 1999, First Asia Development (as we were then called) filed paperwork with the IRS “to resource and endeavor to develop…under-established local economies in East Asian communities.” The early founders established a strong foundation for the organization.
The first project was in the Tibetan autonomous region, where we supported a textile community with a number of development initiatives. At the time, few people were talking about this type of model, where a nonprofit would partner with for-profit business to provide a holistic plan for vulnerable communities. In our circles, it was a brand-new idea. It was pioneering and challenging work.
It was around 2005 that may of our current leadership, board members, and supporters became involved. We joined our original founders' vision to develop businesses that could be tools for economic, social and physical good in the world, and also to develop a model that would be replicable.
We moved into India in 2010 to establish JoyCorps-supported businesses and develop initiatives promoting holistic community health.
Developing a replicable model was challenging, because we chose to work in regions with very few initiatives available, especially among vulnerable people groups. We rarely encountered other nonprofits partnering with for-profits to create sustainable good for their communities, so we started all of our initiatives from scratch. In the process, we learned much about what worked and what didn’t.
Being forced to leave India in 2015, as hard as it was, gave our founders the chance to pause and reflect on 15 years of work, accomplishments, learnings, and vision for the future. They believed we had a provable model in line with our original vision and were eager to replicate.
Replicating our Model
In 2017 JoyCorps expanded in Asia, establishing a central location in the Golden Triangle and building tools to grow our ideas. We're developing content resources and curricula. We're using online resources for redemptive entrepreneurship. We're acquiring tools for assessing growth and impact in our communities. We're engaging team members, consultants, advisors, and country leaders to help us. We're actively building and supporting redemptive venture development in different regions of India, Myanmar and Thailand, with plans to expand our work in Nepal in 2020.
We are calling this a “long pilot process,” because we want to stay in a posture of constant learning as we go into new regions, new culture and new languages. We've already learned so much: we’ve learned that establishing a network of redemptive entrepreneurs in these regions to encourage and network with one another has been one of the most successful ways we’ve found to grow our impact. We’ve also learned that finding funding mechanisms, markets, and buyers for our partner entrepreneurs is one of the most strategic ways we can benefit them.
Currently we’re working with many different types of ventures, mostly in the agrarian or handicraft sectors:
coffee and tea
milling
gourmet beverage and food
plant-based leather alternatives
bamboo product
tonewood and instruments
handbags and fashion
textiles, and more
Our current staff and entrepreneurial partners are based across Asia.
We have been so encouraged by early results of our pilot process and would love your continued partnership! We’re always looking for individuals who have a heart for redemptive entrepreneurship, access to healthy markets, an interest in helping fund start-ups in this region, or a desire to help us raise the funding needed to grow our programs (such as venture funding, start-up funding, leadership development, business training, business accelerator, business incubator, maker space, community development, Asia-based staffing/consulting/coaching, and more).
We believe our model is working, and our hearts continue to be pulled toward regions where there is great need. We desire to have a group of people around us who are willing to devote their time, energy, resources, and talents toward this effort. Contact us if you’d like to get involved.