by Rachel Rose Nelson

This is the rallying cry of Tom Phillips, a faith-driven investor, entrepreneur, and long-time advocate in the global anti-trafficking space. Phillips first became aware of human trafficking nearly twenty years ago after purchasing a building on a Memphis city street where prostitutes walked up and down soliciting business. Worry for his business soon turned to concern for the women themselves. His first action step was a call to a couple local ministries, one in law enforcement and the other in rescue and recovery. Both partnered to help women safely exit the sex trafficking industry, part of what Phillips later learned was just one manifestation of the global crisis of human trafficking.

At its root, sex trafficking is an industry – one that takes different forms in different regions around the world. According to the International Labor Office, forced labor in the private economy generates US$150 billion in illegal profits per year. Of that US$ 99 billion comes from commercial sexual exploitation. It is an industry animated by a dark and complex web of factors no single organization can address on its own. But it took Phillips a while to see that business, his own area of expertise, was a vital part of the solution.

“It was when I started to travel internationally about 15 years ago that I saw how truly global this crisis was. Human trafficking began to get press around 2015 through the work of many ministries endeavoring to end it.”

But a frustration began to take shape as Phillips engaged more deeply. “Only one side of this was being addressed: Rescue. Everyone loves the stories of rescue. But this was not a comprehensive solution. And without a job these women were going right back into trafficking. It’s all they know.”

Once Phillips realized the  problem, he began to put the pieces together. “I call it a cradle to grave solution. We need to provide jobs so vulnerable women don’t get trafficked. And what’s better is once they get out, they’re staying out and they come back and help in the anti-trafficking space. They help create even more jobs and the passion is there to make it so no one else has to experience the same things they did. It’s incredible. Talk about an outsized return on investment!”

Tom envisions an innovative model that bypasses the normal grant cycles driven by varying agendas and timelines, to create a truly coordinated, collaborative model that he and his collaborators have titled Justice, Hope & Liberty (JHL).

“I’m tired of reading grant requests that piece together parts but not all of what’s needed. So my aspiration is to bring together a group of funders to provide the resources needed to design and test a multi-year, comprehensive model from regional research, to policy revisions, to law enforcement training, to rescue, aftercare and job creation. Our aim is to test the model in one region and replicate what works in other regions around the world.”

The model Phillips’ envisions is one in which businesspeople play a critical role – not just as funders of the work to be done – but as active participants. “We’ve got Freedom Businesses that provide jobs. But many are started by people who lack business expertise. I’d love to see the Faith-Driven business community rally to invest, mentor, and support these folks. Go out and visit them a couple times a year. It’s time to get your hands dirty!”

Not only does Phillips see an opportunity for the faith-driven investor community to help individual businesses, but to help create strategy for the industry as a whole.

“We need to identify business models capable of being scaled. We need bold strategy to see this industry grow to the place where there’s a job for every survivor. And more. We need job creation to help prevent trafficking in the first place.”

by Amanda Lawson

I have a friend who bought a nice car that gets 50mpg. But it takes premium gasoline. If he decides to use the cheap stuff, he saves at the pump, but it costs him a couple hundred dollars at the auto shop. His car was made for a specific type of fuel. But it’s not just cars that function best in a specific context. Anyone who counts macros or is on Keto, Whole30, or any other kind of diet will tell you, you have to know your machine and what you put in it in order for it to function properly.

The same is true in the world of investing, especially when it comes to investing in emerging markets and economies. You have to know the context. All too often, well-intentioned businesspeople try to expand into or begin operating in underdeveloped economies both nationally and internationally. But when they do not understand the context into which they venture, and they try to implement solutions that work in another space, they flounder and can even cause more damage.

Humanitarian organizations that have on-the-ground understanding of cultures and contexts often lack the resources to implement sustainable solutions, leading to an abundance of under-funded, prolifically good-hearted NGOs with little recourse to solve the problems they understand.

Businesses attempting to break into CSR and SRI practices have the financial resources and human capital to make a difference, but oftentimes lack sufficient contextual understanding of issues or feasibility of their imagined solutions. The steps to understanding context bridge gaps that exist between these worlds and enables ethical business practices in emerging economies.

Understanding how to wield contextual knowledge is important. As faith-driven investors, a high degree of due diligence is a necessity. Without it, you’re walking blind into a social context you can’t fully understand. And even with it, you run the risk of opening yourself up to the opportunity to operate in a less-than-ethical manner that might increase your returns but stands in direct contrast to biblical principles of faith-driven investing.

For example, there was a skin-care company that wanted to branch into the market in the Egyptian economy. In this particular region, lighter skin was considered to be better; a sign of wealth and propriety, because those who could afford to either not work or work indoors (typically in a position that required a higher education level) would not be exposed to the sun as consistently and therefore maintained a lighter complexion than their compatriots of the same ethnicity who could not afford the same lifestyle. Armed with this knowledge, the company—desiring to maximize profits—began selling a skin cream called “Fair and Lovely,” which was marketed as a skin-lightening product. The cream itself had no effect on skin tone, yet because of context-specific marketing, did well for several years. But there was a clear ethical tension in the marketing campaign.

So how can understanding context be done right? According to Reuben Coulter, it’s a tricky line to walk—where investors come alongside local entrepreneurs as partners rather than saviors. He described the necessity of working with local, indigenous entrepreneurs who had the cultural and contextual knowledge of a community in order to successfully and sustainably implement solutions.

Acknowledging that there is no one-size-fits-all model for economic growth, Coulter explained that you cannot put rocket fuel in an ordinary car; what works in one context may not work for the next. He demonstrated the need for more partnerships with locals who have first-hand awareness of the problems and feasible solutions in a given context, and that by doing so, those local communities are given a powerful voice and opportunity to lead.

Bridging the gaps between local knowledge and business resources—tangible and intangible—leads to optimal and sustainable solutions. As investors begin to understand the contexts of their target recipient, they can more easily come alongside those implementing solutions. A gospel-driven desire to love people well (as commanded in the Great Commandment) is at the heart of this process. It demonstrates a level of understanding that comes from truly knowing and leads to compassion, reflecting the heart of the Lord through how we steward our finances intentionally.

If I attempt to use NASA’s rocket fuel in my little 10-year-old sedan, all I end up with is a catastrophically damaged vehicle. That isn’t to say that there is anything wrong with my car. Rather, it demonstrates my lack of understanding and awareness of the situation. The same logic applies to investing in emerging economies: everyone starts somewhere slightly different, and investors must understand the starting point—with all of its needs and resources—before they can attempt to move the car forward.

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“We have a financial and Biblical responsibility to steward the money that has been entrusted to us.”

Mike Silvestri taught us a lot about social impact bonds on this episode, and if you haven’t heard of these—or maybe you’re already familiar—it’s something you simply have to hear about it. The way he describes them, it’s a chance for everyone to win.

At the very least, Mike got our wheels spinning and helped us to think about a conversation that we may not have previously been involved in. We hope you can join us in this conversation moving forward.

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How do you remove corruption from a society? How do you create lasting, sustainable prosperity in developing nations? 

Neither of these questions has an easy or obvious answer, but today’s guest is a leading thinker in how we can make positive investments in developing countries. Efosa Ojomo is co-author of Prosperity Paradox, and he’s here to help us think about how to create prosperity. 

He was such a great podcast guest that we asked him to speak at the FDI event in a few weeks, so you’ll want to tune in today and then at the conference to hear everything he has to share.

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Today, we’re talking coffee, co-working, and Chick-fil-a cows. That’s right. 

You’ve heard a lot about the ups and downs of WeWork, but now we’re going to look at a panel of faith-driven experts who are leading the way in co-working and how it can provide economically and spiritually for those participating in it. 

Tune in to hear Trevor Hightower, Peyton Day, and David Salyers share their stories and what the intersection of their Christian faith and co-working looks like.

Useful Links:

Craftwork Coffee and Co-Working

The Roam Story

People Provide the Ultimate Competitive Framework