A Dialogue for the Future: Aveda and its Partners Discuss the Opportunities and Challenges of Indigenous Entrepreneurship

In keeping with its long-standing commitment to environmental and socially responsible business practices, the Aveda(TM) Corporation (www.aveda.com) partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Equator Initiative, Tribal Link Foundation, the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme, and the World Intellectual Property Organization this week to discuss options and opportunities of indigenous entrepreneurship.

NEW YORK (BusinessWire EON) May 31, 2007 -- In keeping with its long-standing commitment to environmental and socially responsible business practices, the Aveda™ Corporation (www.aveda.com) partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Equator Initiative, Tribal Link Foundation, the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme, and the World Intellectual Property Organization this week to discuss options and opportunities of indigenous entrepreneurship.

As stewards of the Earth, Aveda's indigenous partners help ensure that our ingredients and products are both high quality and high integrity.

Events on May 22^nd and 23^rd presented opportunities for business leaders to embrace indigenous wisdom—inspiring new ideas and support for conducting business in a socially and environmentally conscious manner.

This year’s dialogue at the United Nations, Indigenous Entrepreneurship: Opportunities and Challenges, shed light on diverse issues currently facing indigenous entrepreneurs. Indigenous leaders discussed opportunities and challenges in partnering with donors, lending institutions, business development agencies, and private corporations.

“At Aveda, we can change the world by changing the way the world does business,” says Aveda President Dominique Conseil. “As stewards of the Earth, Aveda’s indigenous partners help ensure that our ingredients and products are both high quality and high integrity.”

Added Conseil, at the United Nations forum: “Community-based initiatives are the key to sustainable business development, which grows from the harmony of community, business and culture.”

“UNDP and the Equator Initiative are pleased to have joined Aveda and the Tribal Link Foundation in supporting the efforts of indigenous people to develop innovative, sustainable enterprises,” says Sean Southey, Manager of UNDP’s Equator Initiative. “Around the world, communities are finding creative ways to lift themselves out of poverty while preserving the diverse environments in which they live.”

RECEPTION IN CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Aveda hosted an evening reception for business and indigenous leaders on May 22^nd at its corporate office in New York. The focus of the event was “Biodiversity and Climate Change,” and winners of the Equator Prize were announced. The prestigious international award, given by the Equator Initiative bi-annually, recognizes outstanding local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

One of the winners, the Shampole Community Trust in Kenya, was represented at the reception by Ole Petenya Yusuf Shani, Secretary of the trust. Shani accepted the award on behalf of his community, noting the positive changes that have come about for the Maasai as they continue to participate in the decision-making processes leading to the establishment of successful community-based businesses.

FORUM: “A DIALOGUE FOR THE FUTURE: INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEURSHIP – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES”

The open forum held at the United Nations Headquarters shed light on the development of five indigenous business projects, focusing on land rights and natural resources in partnership with international businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s). Speakers presented challenges and opportunities in these partnerships, exploring new paths to sustainable development that respect land rights and natural resources as the key to the survival of indigenous peoples.

Panelists included: Dominique Conseil, president of Aveda, Veneranda Xochitl Juarez-Varela from Café La Selva, Mexico, Manuel Quezada IX from Community Tours Sian Ka’an, Mexico, Ole Petenya Y. Shani from the Shompole Community Trust in Kenya, Dr. Richard Walley of the Nyoongar people in Australia and Tashka Yawanawá, Chief of the Yawanawa tribe in Brazil.

The event celebrated the accomplishments of three communities recognized by the Equator Prize: Café La Selva, Community Tours Sian Ka’an from Mexico, and the Shompole Community Trust from Kenya.

Building on the Equator Prize finalists’ accomplishments, Aveda presented two of its strategic business developments that demonstrate how the Company places environmental leadership and responsibility at the forefront: Its partnerships with the Yawanawá tribe in Brazil, and Australia’s Indigenous Communities of aboriginal peoples of Kuktabubba—from whom the Company sources uruku and sandalwood, respectively.

YAWANAWÁ TRIBE SEEKING TO PRESERVE 125,000 ACRES OF LAND

Aveda first met the Yawanawá tribe in the early 1990s, when the Company traveled to the Brazilian rainforest to explore partnership possibilities with an uruku plantation. In 1993, Aveda’s first indigenous partnership was born—beginning with a project to cultivate 13,000 seedlings of uruku—a red dye used in Aveda makeup. With the Company’s support, the Yawanawá built a village, called Nova Esperança (New Hope), and planted the uruku on their land.

During the week of April 2, 2006, the Yawanawá tribe began efforts to protect 125,000 acres of rainforest land from loggers. With the support of Aveda and the Brazilian government, the Yawanawá are nearing completion of a successful demarcation of their community’s rich, biodiverse land. The UN forum on May 23^rd served as a platform for Aveda and the Yawanawá to discuss how corporations can work together with indigenous peoples to impact their land rights.

ABORIGINAL PEOPLES INCREASE EARNINGS SEVEN-FOLD

The UN forum also celebrated the sustainable economic success recently achieved by aboriginal peoples in Western Australia. In 2004, Aveda helped establish the Songman’s Circle of Wisdom, a sustainable business protocol between the Kuktabubba Aboriginal community, Mt. Romance (a sandalwood supplier) and Aveda—designed to protect the fair trade of natural resources. More recently, the Company has helped the aboriginal peoples gain land rights and access to natural sandalwood resources. As a result, the aboriginal community is now receiving equitable return—seven times more than prior to the new agreement—for the extraction and production of their Australian sandalwood. The UN forum considered how this story can inspire similar business models for others and help establish sustainable business paths for future generations.

Aveda™, The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences™, was founded in 1978 with the goal of providing beauty industry professionals with high performance, botanically based products that would be better for service providers and their guests, as well as for the planet. Aveda manufactures professional plant-based hair care, skin care, makeup, Pure-Fume™ and lifestyle products. Headquartered in Blaine, Minnesota, Aveda is available in Aveda stores, on www.aveda.com, and in nearly 7,000 professional hair salons and spas in 24 countries worldwide.