Australian tech startup i=Change will join the VAMFF Idea’s Program 2018 to showcase how fashion and e-commerce can empower women and girls.
i=Change makes it simple for online retailers to give back $1 from every online sale, and track in real-time its impact on the lives of women and girls around the world.
Participating retailers commit a donation with every sale, while customers get to choose where funds go.
i=Change has won the support of over 40 retailers, including brands like Pandora jewellery, Romance was Born and Camilla.
The company has so far raised over $580,000 for causes ranging from ending sex trafficking in South East Asia, preventing underage marriage in Bangladesh, keeping girls in school in Uganda, and providing housing for refugee women in Australia.
These funds have already impacted the lives of over 130,000 women and girls.
i=Change founder Jeremy Meltzer said he began developing the organisation four years ago in response to the enormous challenges he saw facing women and girls across the globe.
“Now more than ever consumers - especially millennials - want to support brands that have a purpose beyond profit.
“Our goal is to turn retail into a force for good, and make giving back the ‘new normal’. We plan to impact the lives of one million women and girls by end 2018."