About The Or Foundation: Since 2011 The Or Foundation has worked at the intersection of education, environmental Justice and fashion innovation to identify and manifest alternatives to the dominant model of fashion, alternatives that bring forth ecological prosperity as opposed to destruction to allow citizens to form relationships beyond their role as consumers. Today, this work is centered primarily in Accra, Ghana, where we operate in solidarity with the world’s largest secondhand clothing market to catalyze a Justice-led circular textiles economy.

Our team of more than 50 people works across three different levels of programming. We offer critical relief to members of the secondhand market ecosystem in Accra, from direct grants to help rebuild after fire outbreaks to wrap-around job training and immersive support for young women to transition out of conditions of modern day slavery.

We develop and bring to life new pathways to transform waste material into economically and ecologically useful products and systems, from business incubation for upcyclers to experimental design with bioreactors. And we conduct extensive environmental and socio-economic research to inform strategy, policy and action at both the local and global level, bringing awareness of waste colonialism into classrooms, boardrooms and legislative sessions through media, scientific publication, coalition and delegation trips that build bridges beyond single stories and across perspectives.