The Spotlight Is on Women-Owned Businesses This Month

March 2, 2021: In 2015, Kate Davis took a trip to Cambodia that would change her life.

She had just decided to leave corporate America and was backpacking through Southeast Asia. In Siem Reap, Cambodia, she came across a 6-year-old girl carrying her baby sister and begging for money. The experience was so heartbreaking that Kate felt compelled to return home and find a way to help provide education and opportunities to girls and women in Cambodia.

Just one year later, Kate launched Collective Humanity, a company that sources products from Cambodian women artisans and supports economic empowerment programs for young girls and artisan co-ops. Today, Collective Humanity works with over 60 artisans in Cambodia, helping to generate sustainable, dignified, and empowering sources of income to care for themselves and uplift their communities.

Collective Humanity is one of the 10 women-owned businesses being featured this month in Qurate Retail Group’s Small Business Spotlight, a collaboration with the National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation to offer diverse small businesses increased exposure through QVC’s, HSN’s, and Zulily’s platforms. This month, in celebration of Women’s History Month, our featured businesses are part of Nest, a woman-founded non-profit that focuses on empowering women’s entrepreneurship and providing small business support.

Five of the businesses, including Collective Humanity, will tell their stories live on air at QVC and HSN, with repackaged video also shared on QVC’s and HSN’s social pages, streaming service and our YouTube channels. In addition, these businesses will be featured on QVC’s and HSN’s digital platforms, including a profile on QVC.com and HSN.com landing pages, and have an opportunity to participate in a virtual mentorship program with Qurate Retail Group team members. The other 5 businesses will be promoted on QVC’s, HSN’s, and Zulily’s digital platforms and receive social tools and resources to share their participation.

“I am so excited for the opportunity to have Collective Humanity featured in the Small Business Spotlight program to help share our beautiful and impactful products with the world,” said Kate Davis, Founder of Collective Humanity.“Our whole team, both here and abroad, are looking forward to the opportunity to connect with this community of passionate customers and sharing our mission with them. We hope to inspire people to make purchases with a purpose and fill their home with unique beautiful pieces in the process.”

In addition, during Women’s History Month, QVC.com and HSN.com will promote our current women-owned vendors, highlighting their pages on our websites where customers can learn more about each business and shop its products.

Qurate Retail Group has collaborated with Nest since 2016 to create more opportunities for women and women-led businesses. Our brands, customers, and vendors collectively have donated more than $1.5 million to Nest over the years, and our team members provided skills-based volunteering – valued at nearly $500,000 – through our 2020 Fellowship program. Our support has helped Nest expand its reach from 60,000 artisans and makers in 2016 to more than 245,000 today.

“We are delighted to continue our work with Qurate Retail Group to spotlight women-owned businesses this Women’s History Month,” said Rebecca van Bergen, Founder and Executive Director, Nest. “Our ongoing work ensures that thousands of creative entrepreneurs have the tools to both grow their businesses and support their communities and families .”

For 2021, Qurate Retail Group and the NRF Foundation have expanded the Small Business Spotlight initiative to support 100 entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds this year. The program builds on Qurate Retail Group’s longstanding foundation of supporting small businesses and reflects our and NRF Foundation’s commitment to increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups.

To see the businesses in this month’s Small Business Spotlight and hear their stories, visit the Small Business Spotlight pages on QVC.com and HSN.com.