About
Beauty. Sovereignty. Joy.
A global movement where the beauty of heritage craft is highly valued; the sovereignty and self-authorized lives of our artisan partners are elevated through a connection to capacity-building resources; and joy is woven into the spirit with which we work alongside them.
Founder Story
A Movement
Made
by
Women's Hands.
Our founder, Susan Hull Walker, spent eighteen years as a minister, searching for women's voices in the stories she told from the pulpit. Instead, she found them woven in cloth and textiles.
After leaving the ministry and returning to school at SCAD to study Fiber Arts, she realized that textiles are the repository of women's stories, values, and the record of their lives. And as she dove into the world of spinning, dyeing, weaving, and embellishing hand-crafted cloth, Susan once again found her calling—this time, a different Woman of the Cloth.
In 2013, she founded Ibu Movement to offer a marketplace for women artisans in developing economies with two goals: to facilitate their lasting economic sovereignty and preserve the near-extinct cultural languages carried in heritage craft. Since then, Ibu has partnered with over 100,000 talented women artisans across 50+ countries, to help them achieve economic self-sufficiency through their artistry.
How Ibu Works
4 Core Strategies for Change
Ibu connects thousands of women artisans across 50+ countries to the growing global market for ethical luxury goods—building sustainable marketplaces, funding capacity-building grants, and forging the long-term partnerships that turn craft into lasting economic sovereignty.
STRATEGY 01
Marketplace
Our most effective tool, providing a platform for artisanal goods to promote women artisans’ financial independence and long-term economic mobility. We collaborate with artisan groups to both design unique pieces and buy directly for our e-commerce site.
STRATEGY 02
Capacity Building
Strengthening the internal structure of our artisan partner groups to help fulfill needs such as training, supplies, updated equipment, new and renovated workspaces, and emergency relief via capacity-building investments.
STRATEGY 03
Education
One of Ibu’s most valuable contributions, disrupting mindsets around the value of heritage crafts from the Global South. And sharing the stories of our artisan partners engenders an appreciation for the often-overlooked skills handed down by women for generations.
STRATEGY 04
Artisan Engagement
Building connection and respect between artisans and Ibu allies through design collaborations, interactive trips, and events.
The Movement
Since 2013, Ibu has provided a marketplace for ethical luxury goods handcrafted by highly skilled women at the height of their craft. Every purchase creates a path to prosperity for thousands of women artisans in 50+ countries.
Through Ibu's marketplace and our core programs, we're proving that fashion can be a force for good. We're not correcting poverty. We're correcting a market failure: the systematic undervaluing of women's work. When women earn, everyone rises. That's not a slogan—it's what a decade of relationships proves.
Ibu Atelier
A curated incubator for the most exceptional women artisans in our network, providing training, design support and a marketplace for buyers.
The Fringe Road
Our travel program with direct access to Ibu’s artisan partners in their home settings. Intimate, unscripted, and made possible only by a decade of earned trust.
Ibu Foundation
The funding engine of Ibu Movement that makes long-term artisan partnerships possible, we raise and distribute capacity-building grants.
Meet the Team
The Board
Susan Hull Walker
Founder & President
Sandra Smith
Treasurer
Jacquelyn Mayfield
Secretary
Amanda Flynn
Board Member
Dayanne Danier
Board Member
Christy Durbin
Board Member
Yasmin Sabet
Board Member
Cece Fowler
Board Member
Team
Austin Walker
Chief Executive Officer
Anna Helm
Retail Manager
Deniz Roth
Director of Design and Production
Lasley Steever
Director of Grants & Artisan Projects
Annie Sisk
Artisan Grant Manager
Jillian Hagerman
Associate
Tennessee Jane
Marketing Lead
Abbie Kline
Manager of Development