Abell, Hilary

Abell is Executive Director of WAGES (Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security), a non-profit organization that has created three successful eco-friendly housecleaning cooperatives in the San Francisco Bay Area that provide good incomes, leadership opportunities, and healthy working conditions for the Latina immigrant women who own them, while protecting the environment and the health of their clients: Natural Home Cleaning in the East Bay, Emma’s Eco-Clean on the Peninsula, and Eco-Care Professional Housecleaning, serving San Jose and the South Bay. WAGES has plans to expand its unique model of social enterprise throughout the Bay Area. Before coming to WAGES in 2003, Hilary worked on a range of social justice issues including Fair Trade, environmental health, and immigrant rights. She was an early leader of the Fair Trade movement in the US, both as Farmer Representative for Equal Exchange and as Development Director of TransFair USA. Hilary’s visits during the 1990s to farmer coops in El Salvador, Peru, and Colombia inspired her commitment to cooperative development and taught her the tremendous value of sustainable agriculture, alternative trade, and projects that give us space to dream. She considers it an honor to bring these lessons home to the Bay Area and work with local women who are transforming their lives through WAGES cooperatives. Inspiring Stories from Bay Area Entrepreneurs How is green business being applied? Listen to inspiring stories of conscious entrepreneurship from the founders of three diverse Bay Area green businesses. A raw foods restaurant guides its diners down a path of awakening. A green dentistry practice protects patients and the environment. A network of housecleaning cooperatives provides healthy, dignified jobs for immigrant women. All are examples of green business practices in action.