ECHOsi Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization focused on enabling community eco-systems to address sustainability issues that impact the environment, sustainable livelihood, and the empowerment of women’s groups, marginalized groups and cultural communities.
The acronym “ECHOsi” stands for Empowering Communities with Hope and Opportunities through Sustainable Initiatives.
The market-driven approach is through collaborations that support supply chain integration of COFFEE, TEXTILES, and SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY TOURS through social enterprise brands ECHOstore and GREAT WOMEN.
The Foundation is led by the ECHOtrio (Pacita “Chit” Juan, Jeannie Javelosa and Reena Francisco).
ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle
ECHOstore is a pioneering social enterprise and retail store centered on fair trade products made by small communities as well as environment-friendly green products. ECHOstore carries three concepts: ECHOstore, ECHOcafe and ECHOmarket allowing market access for products by small community producers, fisherfolk, and farmers in the following branches:
Metro Manila (ECHOstore Salcedo Village, ECHOstore Podium in Ortigas Center, Centris Mall in Quezon City)
ECHOstore Davao
ECHOstore Cagayan de Oro
Online (www.echostore.ph)
ECHOstore is part of the Slow Food International Movement.
GREAT Women
GREAT Women is an advocacy-driven marketing platform and brand that drives the commercialization of output from the national development platform called GREAT Women Project in the Philippines; and through www.greatwomenasean.com for the region. GREAT Women textiles are developed by revitalizing cultural/traditional/ethnic handloom weaves. Textiles and corporate gift products under a business-to-business (B2B) format are created through collaborations between small women weavers and artisans with designers and lifestyle specialists. Driven by innovation and design that revitalizes cultural traditions, the retail fashion and apparel collection is under GW by GREAT Women Collection brand.
GREAT Women's advocacy is hinged on cultural preservation through revitalization of Modern Heritage Textile and Heritage Slow Fashion.
www.greatwomenasean.com An expanded impact market space under an inclusive business model that bringing together small women producers to the niche and global market under standardized and harmonized . supply-value chains.
PRODUCTS: TEXTILES and COFFEE
SERVICES: SUSTAINABLE IMPACT TOURS
GREAT Women ASEAN is part of the International Women in Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and the Slow Food International Movement.
G-Stuff
G-Stuff is the green brand of environmentalist Gina Lopez which ECHOstore operates.
In 2018, Gina Lopez launched "The Quest for Love", a national search competition that aimed to transform marginalized communities into successful and sustainable agro-forestry, fisheries or through ecotourism sites. Through special segment on "G Diaries" on ABS-CBN, she featured social enterprises, cooperatives, people's associations, foundations, NGOs, and other socially-oriented organizations in the country to establish sustainable community-based businesses.
She invited three women known as the ECHOtrio to be national mentors to these communities. Chit Juan, Jeannie Javelosa and Reena Francisco have been involved with community livelihood upliftment and product development since 2008. It was a shared passion, lifestyle and advocacy. Connecting the dots of community support, training and media alignment with G-Diaries and the ABS-CBN Foundation, the passing of Gina Lopez in 2019 offered the ECHOtrio an opportunity to manage the G-Stuff stores in Rockwell and Alabang Town Center, as well as allowed the ECHOtrio to continue helping both their communities alongside the ILOVE communities. The synergy includes the GOOD (ECHOsi Foundation non-profit work) and two retail brands market access of GREEN products (ECHOstore), and eco-tours and GENDER (GREAT Women) work, specifically working with women producers plus textile and crafts artisans from indigenous communities. This synergistic partnership will mean more sucess and sustainability for the many communities and partnerships involved.