It wasn’t long before they were doing just that. The following summer, during a service trip to the Dominican Republic, Rose spoke with some local artisans who planted an idea: “They said, ‘You should take some of our stuff and go try to sell it to your friends. You should take more of this back to America with you,’” Rose said.

Thus was born Radiate Market, their web-based business that sells the artisans’ jewelry, art, and personal accessories to customers across the United States, providing the artisans with more consistent customers and sustainable incomes.

Running a business while carrying a full course load is hard work, but they love what they’re doing. “It has been an incredible learning experience and life experience so far,” said Maloney, who along with Rose is a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior.

They launched Radiate Market by using Indiegogo, the crowdfunding site, to raise funds for their initial wholesale orders of jewelry and other items. Rose and Maloney are majoring in anthropology and economics, respectively, but they picked up entrepreneurial skills with the help of the Fordham Foundry, a business incubator run by Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business in collaboration with the New York City Department of Small Business Services.

They worked with nongovernmental organizations to find out which artisans would be most receptive to working with them. They’ve both taken part in Fordham’s worldwide Global Outreach service program, and their approach was informed by its emphasis on cross-cultural understanding and solidarity.

They’ve found a ready market for the distinctive handcrafted items, which evoke the stories of artisans who invest time in making them and benefit greatly from the sale. All four of the wholesale orders they’ve placed within the past year have sold out.

The business reflects their belief in changing current consumption patterns to benefit the developing world—in this case, by helping the artisans find a wider market for their culturally distinct creations. Their Dominican partners include a fair trade cooperative that produces seed bead jewelry and splits the work and profits equally among the artists; a Haitian immigrant who produces metal art; and a mother of three who makes rugs out of rice sacks and recycled fabrics.

“If we’re able to give someone the feeling that they can be creative and work hard at something that they actually get satisfaction out of, and provide for their family, that’s the most satisfying thing,” Maloney said.

Shown below are some of Radiate Market’s goods: bracelets, a necklace, and a platter: 

“The name means New Hope in Latin,” said Erick Rengifo Minaya, PhD, associate professor of economics. “We’re a 501c3 based out of Fordham but independent of Fordham.”

Rose Hill students may be familiar with the company as it sells its products—such as jewelry, knick-knacks, and sweaters—from a cart outside of the McGinley Center on Wednesdays and Thursdays. But this month the company, which initially grew out of the Fair Trade Club, will take its products online at SpesNova.org.

The products are purchased from around the world by issuing microcredit loans to artisans who might not otherwise qualify for normal bank loans. But while some microfinance organizations charge as much as 30 to 40 percent interest on loans, Spes Nova charges just 2 to 3 percent.

“In Nicaragua we have seen some companies charge up to 100 percent interest,” said Rengifo. “Microfinance has grown incredibly around the world, and some of these institutions are really profitable. But we basically charge the cost of sending the money.”

Rengifo said that a scandal involving Mexican drug cartels funneling money through microloan institutions led to a crash of the industry in 2013. New laws dictated that banks identify the people who were receiving the money—not just those sending the money.

“It’s not worth it for big banks that are sending the money, especially if people are only sending $100,” said Rengifo. “So we are prefinancing the production by giving the artisans the money up front, and then they produce and send the products. When we sell the merchandise, we recover the money.”

Spes Nova connects artisans they know with lenders they trust. Often, they also know the circumstances that many of the borrowers are in—such as women in Bolivia who have escaped abusive relationships and are now making sweaters bearing the Fordham name.

The growing business has also been incorporated into a marketing research class at the Gabelli School.

“Every single business school in the United States has a marketing research class, but this one uses real-world experience,” said Rengifo, who foresees the creation of a fair trade entrepreneur class as well as a product evaluation class.

He said that the marketing class wraps up by examining Spes Nova’s impact on the communities. The examination will determine if the business is helping produce more labor, improve nutrition, and improve the schools in the communities.

“And if it looks like it’s not working, that’s fine because we need to learn,” he said. “We’re not biased here. This is not a for-profit business; we can immediately correct things to find a way that works.”

They’d both done service trips throughout high school, and in that first year at Fordham they talked a lot about sustainability and ethical consumerism. Then, during a summer service trip to the Dominican Republic, Rose spoke to local merchants who planted an idea: “They said, ‘You should take some of our stuff and go try to sell it to your friends.’”

Today they’re doing that and more, selling the merchants’ locally produced jewelry all over the country through Radiate Market, a web-based business that reflects their belief in changing current consumption patterns to benefit the developing world.

And they’re running the business in the midst of junior-year coursework, maintaining an inventory and handling all the bookkeeping and shipping themselves.

“We spend a lot of time at the Fordham post office,” Rose said.

The two have sold dozens of items since launching the business in August, driven by a belief in helping developing-world artisans earn sustainable incomes in ways that preserve and celebrate their cultures. With startup funds raised through Indiegogo, the crowdfunding site, they’ve bought three wholesale orders of jewelry and have a fourth in the works.

They’re finding a ready market for the handcrafted items—bracelets, necklaces, Haitian metal art—that evoke the personal story of a merchant whose life was tangibly improved by the purchase.

“The ultimate goal would be to have people feeling fulfilled by the work that they’re doing,” Maloney said. “If we’re able to give someone the feeling that they can be creative and work hard at something that they actually get satisfaction out of, and provide for their family, that’s the most satisfying thing.”

Neither student is a business major; Maloney studies economics and Rose, anthropology. But they’ve picked up business savvy with help from the Fordham Foundry, which connected them with a business coach and a student who provided accounting help.

And their business approach was informed by their service trips with Global Outreach, Fordham’s cultural immersion and service program. Last summer they made an extended trip to the Dominican Republic to build connections and show their commitment; they also worked through a few nongovernmental organizations to find out which artisans would be most receptive.

“A huge part of our model is definitely being aware of what’s going on in the communities that we’re working with,” Maloney said. “We don’t just want to come in with a set structure and say, ‘This is going to work for you.’”

Maloney and Rose both love the feeling of providing opportunity to Dominican artisans, one of whom used the income to hire neighborhood boys to help fulfill the orders. The two students plan to return this summer to learn more about how the artisans’ communities have benefited from the business.

They might expand the business to artisans in Guatemala or even in the immigrant communities of New York City, and they hope to work at it full time after they graduate.

The company name comes from a conversation they had on the 4 train as freshmen, Rose said: “We were talking about people that radiate these qualities that we really admired, and we really enjoyed meeting people who we had felt lived in a way that radiated things that they love.”

Launching the business has changed their lives. “(Because) we’re doing this thing that we love, people want to share the thing that they love with us too,” Maloney said.

The enterprise, Goods of Conscience, provides livelihoods in Guatemala while also supporting environmentally sound cotton farming and giving work to the underemployed in the Bronx.

It was begun in 2005 by the Reverend Andrew O’Connor, vicar of Holy Family Church in the Bronx. In a lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at the Rose Hill campus, he described the project and stoked students’ interest in either taking part or setting up similar international collaborations.

“Father O’Connor gave an inspiring lecture,” said assistant professor of chemistry Jon Friedrich, Ph.D., who arranged the event. Students in the Environmental Science and Environmental Policy programs attended, along with members of Students for Fair Trade and Students for Environmental Awareness and Justice.

“He has the ability to combine artistry, spirituality, and environmental justice into his projects in a unique way,” according to Friedrich. “Our students … were able to hear how relatively simple actions can legitimately affect other people’s lives for the better.”

Goods of Conscience uses “Social Fabric” that is produced in cooperation with Textiles Proteje, a foundation serving the needs of Guatemalan Mayan weavers. O’Connor provides a synthetic, reflective yarn that the weavers combine with rare organic cotton, and the finished fabric is shipped to the Bronx, where it is fashioned into clothing by local garment workers.

The cotton is a heritage strain that naturally resists pests. It is produced through environmentally sound methods on the last commercial cotton farm left in Guatemala, and grows in vibrant colors because of the humid climate.

The distinctive reflective yarn used in the clothing ensures that it can’t be counterfeited, so workers can earn a living wage, O’Connor said. The clothing has gained visibility; some of it was modeled by Cameron Diaz in a 2009 issue of Vogue.

O’Connor got the idea for the project during a retreat in rural Guatemala. He wanted to help preserve the tradition off back-strap weaving and help the weavers earn a living wage.

The project has brought electricity to homes in one Guatemalan village and enabled residents to start building a church and community center, he said. Goods of Conscience has gotten involved in other projects, like helping to raise funds to construct a granary in the Ecuadorean village of Cotopaxi.

In the Bronx, the organization also offers courses in home arts, recycling, and conserving resources. Goods of Conscience also promotes local gardening, and will establish a yard this spring this spring to grow hops for use by the Bronx Brewery.

“It’s been growing pretty organically,” O’Connor said, referring to Goods of Conscience. “I just really want to enable people to be able to come up with ideas that are very generative, that help to promote Catholic social teaching.”

He said students could help in many ways—by working with children in the church’s grammar school, for instance, or by helping with gardening projects or helping to market Social Fabric clothing. “There are opportunities to come and help,” he said.

—Chris Gosier