L.E.A.D. Fellowship Project
Bella’s project focuses on low income for bamboo artisans in Lubao, Philippines. Her plan: increase artisans’ hourly earnings by teaching them to produce modern bamboo jewelry and sell it directly to global customers online — instead of through the traditional domestic handicraft model, where a raw bamboo pole worth about ₱150 stays close to that value.
“The implementation of a Digital-Global Micro-Enterprise Model — utilizing standardized ‘Export-Grade’ treatment, minimalist product design, and direct-to-consumer global platforms — will result in a statistically significant increase in the Value-Added Multiplier of raw bamboo and the Hourly Labor Rate of local artisans.”
Her model projects artisan wages rising well above the local benchmark of roughly ₱65–75 per hour, by moving each pole up the value chain: a finished piece can retail for $100–200 or more in global markets.
Bella is raising $5,000 to launch the enterprise with Lubao’s artisans.
Bella Luo is a student at Cary Christian School (Class of 2028) in the Fellowship’s Business track. Her project, “Bamboo to Gold,” designs a direct-to-consumer bamboo jewelry enterprise with Lubao’s artisans — complete unit economics, an export-ready production workflow, and a simulation-based study design ready to run as live artisan data comes in.
Open the presentation in Google Drive → · Watch her final presentation video →
This project is part of Eat The Elephant’s work in Lubao, Pampanga — explore the Lubao project hub →
L.E.A.D. Fellows raise the funding for their own projects as a core part of the Fellowship. Gifts to Eat The Elephant support fellows' research, scholarships, and the Lubao partnership.
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