Why and How We Prioritize Women
Why does Missoula Makers Markets prioritize women/trans/nonbinary makers?
Missoula Makers Colletive recognizes that a majority of makers are women or trans/nonbinary people and that creating a handmade business existing mostly online is an accessible avenue to starting a business in the face of gender-based barriers. More information on the barriers that women face when starting traditional businesses, check out our blog “The State of Women-Owned Businesses”. For this reason, we prioritize allocating resources and opportunities to women/trans/nonbinary makers when making decisions about who to include in the Missoula Makers Markets.
What does prioritization look like in a variety of cases?
Prioritizing women/trans/nonbinary makers happens in two ways when we are planning a market and choosing vendors. First, we consider how many makers applied to the market and how many spots we have available. Next, we break down handmade products into categories (jewelry, clothing, home decor, prints, etc.) and begin the process of sorting makers into these categories. In most cases we have significantly more makers applying that we have spots available, meaning that we prioritize women/trans/nonbinary makers in every category. If there is a category that isn’t filled by any women/trans/nonbinary makers that apply, we will not necessarily seek out a maker to fill this category. We are most often working off the categories that exist within the pool of applications.
If there is a case in which there are less applicants than there are spaces available, then prioritizing women/trans/nonbinary makers becomes less urgent than filling market space. However, if both a woman and man apply and make products in the same category, we will still prioritize the woman. If there are no other women/trans/nonbinary makers in the category that a man applies for, then they will fill that spot.
Besides the obvious, what counts as a women/trans/nonbinary owned business?
Any business that includes at least one women/trans/nonbinary person that is integral to making products or operating the business at the scale it currently operates at. The women/trans/nonbinary person should be at minimum part-owner in the business.
How do we prioritize BIPOC makers?
Missoula Makers Collective recognizes that in conjunction with the gender-based barriers that makers face, BIPOC makers face additional barriers to starting traditional businesses. Being aware of this intersection, we prioritize women/trans/nonbinary BIPOC makers whenever possible. For more information on BIPOC women-owned businesses, visit our blog “The State of Women-Owned Businesses”.
