The Pulsera Project

“Christopher j. Crane, susan l. Patterson, and colin p. Crane have a family relationship.”

“Each officer reviews the form 990 individually, then comments or asks questions prior to filing.”

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“Students co-lead sustainable agriculture and energy projects that make their community a destination for alternative energy researchers and visitors from nicaragua and abroad. Economic prosperity can be achieved in many ways. Jobs provide artisans with income and opportunity, but increasing artisans' income is only one path to prosperity. Reducing artisans' expenses helps achieve the same goal. When artisans own their own homes, their earnings are not consumed by rent, but instead are retained for investment in family, education, and other fundamentals of well-being. The pulsera project invested a little over $29,000 in our land and housing program in 2016, following up on prior investments of nearly $90,000. Twenty-eight artists bought land or improved properties previously purchased through the program. Artisans who have been part of the pulsera project family for at least five years received grants funded by pulsera project earnings. Importantly, housing program benefits, like all artisan project benefits, are not gifts or donations, but result from years of dedicated work and artisan contributions to the project. Housing benefits are one of the threads of mutual benefit woven through the pulsera project. Impact investing employment and artisan benefit programs receive most pulsera project funding but the project also invests in other organizations achieving positive social impact. In 2016, we invested $30,000 in thriive (two iis), an innovative non-profit entrepreneurship program that promotes job creation. We support and fund grupo fenix, which collaborates with a sustainable energy community in totogalpa. We fund la esperanza granada, which provides university scholarships, and si a la vida, which runs youth programs in managua. One of the project's most exciting investments is with universidad americana in managua, one of nicaragua's top universities, known for its entrepreneurship program. Our collaboration began in 2016 to define social impact within uam's business program, but has now blossomed into efforts to reconfigure the business program to include social entrepreneurship as a distinct area of study. Students for years to come will understand that the first order of a business can be to serve employees and their communities. Siempre adelante thank you for your interest in the pulsera project. We are deeply grateful for all who support our mission to create a more just and colorful world.”