On the Accelerate mainstage for the second consecutive year, the Force for Good program honored three remarkable Amazon sellers who are harnessing the power of entrepreneurship to drive meaningful, lasting change in their communities.
Amazon recognized Women’s Bean Project, bloom daily planners, and Papa Rozier Farms as purpose-driven sellers who have built successful businesses while keeping community impact at the heart of their missions. The honorees were each surprised with a $50,000 grant and a strategic suite of amplification opportunities, tools, and programs to help them drive even more positive change.
“These sellers have gone above and beyond to be a Force for Good in their communities,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Services. “Their stories of resilience, innovation, and community-mindedness are truly inspiring, and we’re honored to play a role in helping them achieve even greater impact.”
Women’s Bean Project: empowering women, transforming lives
In the heart of Denver, Colorado, a social enterprise movement called Women’s Bean Project is igniting hope and change, one employee at a time. Founded in 1989 by Tamra Ryan, this non-profit’s mission is to empower women who face chronic unemployment due to daunting challenges such as homelessness, abuse, and incarceration. The non-profit funds its mission through the global sales of its bean-based products, available in Amazon’s store.
Four times a year, Women’s Bean Project hires for its comprehensive six- to nine-month program that equips more than a dozen women with the skills, confidence, and support they need to thrive. Each participant embarks on a journey of personal and professional growth, from learning the ins and outs of packing and selling Women’s Bean Project’s signature bean-based products to acquiring financial literacy and computer training.
With shelf presence in more than 1,000 stores across 35 states, the organization continues to expand, creating new job opportunities and driving meaningful change in the lives of women and their communities.
“It’s super exciting to be recognized by Amazon as a Force for Good,” said Tamra Ryan. “When you change a woman’s life, you change her family’s life. Every woman who comes to the Bean Project and changes her life creates a ripple that extends far beyond herself to her family, her friends, and the entire community.”
Igniting global good: bloom daily planners
In Newark, Delaware, the team at bloom daily planners has woven charitable giving into the very fabric of its business.
Co-founders Kaylyn DiNardo and Michelle Askin have dedicated themselves to extensive charitable initiatives, starting right in their own community with donations to Exceptional Care for Children, which provides long-term nursing care for children with support for their families. Nationally, they champion causes like Girls Inc., the Kids in Need Foundation, and the Wounded Warrior Project, and they have provided more than 70,000 planners through Amazon’s give-back program and millions more worldwide.
Since day one, Askin said Amazon has been part of bloom’s story. Askin credits their partnership with Amazon for helping to grow their product line, scale orders and in turn, scale their mission and giveback elements.
“To us, it’s not really a balance of doing business and doing good. We believe that we are a good business because we’re doing good,” said Askin. “I really think that when you work on something bigger than yourselves, your products are better, your people are better, and your customers are more excited. And being a ‘Force for Good’ has made us a better business.”
Papa Rozier Farms: cultivating education and opportunity in Haiti
In Brooklyn, New York, the sibling founders of Papa Rozier Farms, Rubens and Freddie Amedee, are using the power of agriculture to drive positive change in their local community of Brooklyn and homeland of Haiti.
The founders explained that as immigrants and children of immigrants, they were taught their parents made sacrifices to come to the United States for a better life. Their duty once they arrived, they said, was to educate themselves and improve their circumstances. Rubens became a VP at Goldman Sachs, and Freddie became a chiropractor. “The people in Haiti do not have the same opportunities even though they may desire them,” said Freddie Amedee.
Understanding the importance of education in their own lives, the founders started the BATI School in Haiti, dedicated to providing transformative educational opportunities, especially for young women. They developed the school to be self-sustaining by starting Papa Rozier Farms, which grows and sells high-quality oils, like castor and moringa, on the family-owned land the school was built on. Profits from the business fund the BATI School, which educates 130 students annually and creates vital jobs for teachers, administrators, custodians, and more.
“I’m extremely proud of the impact that we’re having locally in Haiti and here in Brooklyn. We’re able to provide education. We’re able to provide jobs. We’re able to provide all of these opportunities that were not available before Papa Rozier Farms and the BATI School,” said Rubens Amedee.