The Fair Trade Jewellery Company will be unveiling the Cabbagetown atelier on August 1st  2009.

The 950 square feet atelier on Parliament Street in Toronto, under construction since January, has been a labour of love.  FTJCo founder Ryan Taylor with a talented team of designers worked to create an inviting, modern space for guests and to showcase the company’s sophisticated jewellery collection. As part of the design, there was an environmental responsibility to build the atelier with as much recovered material from the existing property as possible. From wood to piping to nails, every component was considered for reuse. You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the atelier, however, as the old elements complement new elements like the stunning tile wall shown above.

The construction of the atelier was truly a community effort. Ryan has been an active member in the tech community in Toronto and has been sharing the FTJCo’s journey through his Twitter account. To his surprise, upon hearing about his hands-on efforts working on the atelier, friends from the community offered to lend a hand, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes over a weekend. (You can catch the atelier in progress at reno.ftjco.com.) Grateful for everyone who helped haul in material, sanded, scrubbed, or painted, Ryan likens the communal effort as a throwback to "an old-fashioned barn-raising." What’s amazing is that, in this day and age, how often do you hear of people voluntary pitching in to help someone literally build their passion and livelihood? (And wouldn’t it be great to hear more of it?)

We’ll be posting pictures from the renovation and the atelier in the near future. The wait is nearly over for your chance to check it out for yourself. Make sure to sign-up for our launch party and to stay updated on the latest news.

Fair Trade Jewellery Company CEO Ryan Taylor participated in Net Change Week in Toronto, where he spoke on creating social change and worked with nonprofits to harness new online technologies. Ryan drew on his experiences working on holiday fundraiser hohoTO for the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank and SpinTO fundraiser that benefited the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation with the FTJCo as the top sponsor.

Ryan was part of an experienced panel sharing "Real Social Media Success Stories" alongside Meghan Warby of public relations firm Hill & Knowlton and James Topham of charity War Child Canada at the My Charity Connects conference, held by CharityHelps.org, one of the largest online philanthropic organizations in Canada. Ryan spoke on fostering community and his involvement with nonprofits and charities, including the unprecedented success of hohoTO. Promoted mostly through social media, Ryan acted not only as one of the organizers but also as an active, vocal promoter generating excitement within the technology community, which helped to attract a sell-out crowd of 600+. In addition, Ryan worked with nonprofits as part of Social Mastermind // Social Media for Social Change, a full day workshop designed to team up knowledgeable members of the technology community like Ryan with nonprofits to help use social media to create change.

Ryan and the FTJCo would like to thank MaRS for organizing Net Change Week, CharityHelps.org for inviting him to speak,  Meghan Warby and James Topham for being incredible co-presenters, and Sarah Prevette of RedWire for the Social Mastermind invite. Ryan is excited to have connected with organizations such as the Toronto Arts Council, Joelle Woodruff and Unicef, the Stephen Lewis Foundation among others and looks forward to collaborations that will help optimize the opportunities available through social media to create community, expand fundraising, and usher in a new era of volunteerism.

Update: James Topham of War Child Canada has written a follow-up post <here> about shifting to a new  collaboration model for non-profits rather than the current competitive one. Planning begins June 22 on what we hope will become an extremely useful resource.