About

The Matilda Flow Inclusion (MFI) Foundation is a non-profit community-based organization that is registered in Ghana as a charitable foundation with registration number CG057422021. Our upcycling studio is located in Amasaman Fise, Greater Accra, Ghana. Our organization was founded by Matilda Lartey, a fashion designer and community activist, and is governed by a Ghanaian board of directors comprised of activists, entrepreneurs, and artisans.

  • The Matilda Flow Inclusion (MFI) Foundation is a non-profit community-based organization in Greater Accra, Ghana. Our mission is to create inclusive work and job training positions with living wages for artisans who have been displaced by the secondhand clothing trade and the global fashion industry through our upcycling studio where we transform textile waste into upcycled clothes, bags, accessories, and other denim and tie-dye products. We primarily work with artisans who are women, persons with disabilities, and/or parents of children with disabilities.

  • Our vision is for our upcycled and sustainable products to be sold around the world, allowing our organization and upcycling studio to grow and become financially sustainable to meet the desire in our community for artisan work and training positions, especially among women, persons with disabilities, and parents of children with disabilities. Our waiting list for artisans interested in our positions greatly exceeds our current studio size and operating budget. Our hope is that in the future we will be able to grow our programs to better meet interest and demand.

  • Matilda Lartey is an artisan, fashion designer, and community activist, who founded the Matilda Flow Inclusion (MFI) Foundation in 2016 to create inclusive work and training for artisans living in or near her community in Greater Accra, Ghana. Like many artisans, Matilda has seen her livelihood affected by the rise of the global fast fashion industry and by the secondhand clothing trade from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

    Click here to learn more about our story.

  • The MFI Foundation is governed by a Ghanaian board of directors comprised of activists, entrepreneurs, and artisans from the community.

    Our board of directors includes as of September 2023:

    • Genevieve Amma Kujam

    • Adieu Kofi Wisdom

    • Richmond Bright Mensah Tumado

    • Grace Nyame, Staff Representative

    • James Mensah Tumado, Secretary

    • Matilda Lartey, Founder & Executive Director

  • We provide our 3 most recent years of audited annual reports below:

    • 2022 Annual Report (available January 31, 2024)

    • 2021 Annual Report (available January 31, 2024)

    • 2020 Annual Report (available January 31, 2024)

    Our 501c3 non-profit partner MFC Tie-Dye Inc. publishes additional information about our upcycling partnership on platforms such as Guidestar and through other public reporting requirements.

    Click here to go to our partner’s Impact & Transparency page.

  • MFC Tie-Dye Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit organization on a mission to reduce global textile pollution through reuse and upcycling. The organization works to create upcycled denim and tie-dye products out of textile waste sent to Ghana from the Global North and facilitate living wages for artisans within the creative economy in partnership with the MFI Foundation. MFC also collaborates on research, education, and art advocacy projects around issues of pollution and environmental injustice.

    We have worked closely with MFC Tie-Dye Inc. since the inception of our organization. Currently, MFC Tie-Dye Inc. remains the primary funder of our upcycling programs, and our products are presently available for sale in the United States via the MFC Tie-Dye Inc. Etsy Store. We also collaborate with MFC Tie-Dye Inc. in research, environmental education, and art advocacy projects.

    Click here to go to MFC Tie-Dye Inc.’s website.

  • The Aftermath Learning Lab is a research lab at Boston College that works in partnership with MFC Tie-Dye Inc. and the MFI Foundation. Its mission is to reduce global textile waste and other types of environmental pollution through research at the intersection of art, practice, policy, public health, and environmental justice.

    We collaborate with the Aftermath Learning Lab on a number of projects, including the LEAPS Conference, art advocacy, and policy research.

    Click here to visit the Aftermath Learning Lab website.

  • The content on this website is controlled by the MFI Foundation executive director and board of directors. The MFI Foundation website was re-designed in 2023 collaboratively with the MFC Tie-Dye Inc. website in an attempt to more clearly explain our partnership and how stakeholders in different locations can contribute to our work.

  • Click here to find out how to contact and connect with the MFI Foundation.

Photos of Our Leadership Team:

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Photos of the MFI Foundation Studio:

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