POWER SPENDING
SOCIAL GOODS MARRIES FASHION AND CHARITY
A joint expertise on politics, tech, and fashion has been the breeding ground for Social Goods, Lisa and Kate Sokolov’s newly launched website that revolves around their motto: “With Every Transaction, Comes Real Action.” The New York-based, Ohio-bred sisters are activists, protesters and like many in their generation, they want to live in a more just, equal and engaged world. Armed with the knowledge that our wallets and wardrobes can also be used as political activism they set out to create an online hub that offers a myriad of products that give back directly to a variety of pro-social causes and nonprofit organizations. The shop facilitates the direct connection between the customer and the beneficiary, permitting people to stay as involved with the charities as they like. “We curate products that speak to us; ones with an elevated aesthetic and deeper meaning. What we wear and what we buy has the power to raise awareness for issues close to our hearts or speak out on injustices,” says Lisa, who with a 15-year extensive knowledge in fashion working at the buying office of Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, curates the fashion selection of Social Goods.
Kate, having worked for seven years at Google, where she helped launch their largest social responsibility initiative to date, Grow with Google, and led global programs for Google Politics & Elections in over 50 countries says: “We believe that simply starting a conversation is one crucial way to spark that change. We provide a curated collection of goods that help people feel proud and emboldened to start conversations on pressing social issues.”
Social Goods currently supports Everytown for Gun Safety, Planned Parenthood of New York City, The Adventure Project, the ACLU, and Global Citizen. They are working on a larger impact project with new items to raise awareness of Planned Parenthood of New York City’s merger with four other Planned Parenthood affiliates across New York to become Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which combined into one organization, will operate 28 health centers providing approximately 200,000 patient visits annually and cover 65% of the state’s population.