STLtoday - Life & Style - Fashion

Rebecca Kousky graduated with a master's degree in social work from Washington University in May 2006. Two weeks later, she founded a program to fund modest loans for women artisans in developing countries. She solicited female artists, fashion and graphic designers to sell their goods on her website and donate a portion of the proceeds to her loan program. The recipients of the loans can either make monetary repayments or pay with the goods they produce, which are then sold on buildanest.com. The proceeds are then recycled into more loans.