Social Movements for Good: How Companies and Causes Create Viral Change

Chapter 11Creating a Movement…Addressing Inequality Differently

Mallory Brown

Founder World Clothes Line

When Mallory Brown returned from her study-abroad experience, she realized the travel bug had not really left her. She spent half of her senior year traveling the world again, backpacking through places such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. This was a different experience from what she had witnessed in countries in Europe. She saw firsthand the inequalities that existed in the world, like seeing children and families struggle to have food and clothes, the bare essentials we take for granted. She realized that the life she had was much more privileged than most, even though she would be considered by many in the United States as a broke student just getting started in her career.

When she was 24, she started a social enterprise called the World Clothes Line. Her inspiration came from one of her trips. Like so many of us, she brought with her a bag of clothes filled with typical items and necessities. When she encountered so many people on her trip, she realized they needed clothing. It was on that trip that she started to give her clothes away to those who needed it more than she. That was the beginning of what would ultimately become a movement for basic needs in the world.

The concept of World Clothes Line is fairly simple. An individual buys clothes from the website; the company then provides a similar item to someone in need in another country chosen by the ...