Firew Konjo is the founder of a local handicraft enterprise in Ethiopia, Jano Handicraft Cooperative. His focus is to preserve the culture of traditional weaving using locally grown cotton in the region which has come under attack from cheap imports. They make the Traditional BULOOKO ( thick hands-on cotton Blanket ) and GABI besides other hand woven cotton towels and home products for export. He is training the local community youth to earn income by working within the production chain from hand spun cotton to finishing of the product received from the local weavers thus getting them involved and excited about handloom weaving. Firew holds a bachelor degree in Hotel Management from Hawassa University in Ethiopia and completed training in community tourism enterprise development, in handicraft product development and related trainings from USAID project. He has been trained in bamboo craft in India as well. He has received Entrepreneurship certificate from UNDP. Firew ‘s aim is to gain more knowledge and expand their market by increasing exports as he wants to make this a sustainable option for the next generation. Firew was selected as a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship for young African leaders initiative and attended Academic and leadership training at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Upon the completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Firew plans to continue his community work with a focus on promoting women entrepreneurship through training and help women to send their children to school to get a higher education.

TEXTO 2020 was our first global gathering honouring 45 heritage textile artists and creatives from 23 countries during February 2020 in Casa Pedregal, México City.
For more information about TEXTO 2020 and the subsequent global gatherings please visit www.xtant.io and or follow us on @_xtant.io

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