Courtesy World Trade Association

The World Trade Association of Utah named Melissa Sevy, founder and CEO of Ethik, their International Businesswoman of the Year.

Sevy, of Provo, was recognized at the WTA Women in International Business Conference. Ethik is a Provo-based corporate gift supplier utilizing artisans from around the world

Through Sevy’s leadership, the company helps thousands of people escape poverty — including human trafficking survivors, single mothers, and widows — through fair wages and dignified employment in creating ethical handcrafts.

The WTA of Utah annually honors a woman who has contributed significantly to international business, acts as a cultural ambassador and promotes international relations.

“Their team has been able to accomplish some remarkable and extremely worthwhile accomplishments for women and girls in the state of Utah and across the globe. It was an honor to present Melissa with the award this year, and we applaud her success in Ethik,” said Scott Bell, WTA of Utah president.

Courtesy World Trade Association

Since its inception in 2020, Ethik has employed over 2,800 artisans worldwide including groups in the U.S., Guatemala, Palestine, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Rwanda and Uganda. These artisans support over 10,500 family members and worked nearly 1 million fair-pay work hours to create hundreds of thousands of handcrafted items.

“Melissa was selected by the board of the WTA of Utah because of her extraordinary global and humanitarian relations,” said WTA of Utah secretary MacKenzie Leavitt. “She has shown that you can have a compassionate and successful business. At her core, she has shown every example of a leader in business and for women everywhere.”

Sevy graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in public health. After graduation, she went to Uganda to work with a nonprofit teaching people about health care and sanitation. While teaching public classes about health, she learned a valuable lesson.

“Many people we were teaching couldn’t afford soap,” Sevy said.

So, Sevy and two other college friends started a nonprofit in Uganda where artisans would make necklaces to be sold to help get out of poverty.

“The handcraft sector is the second largest in the world with agriculture being number one,” Sevy said. “This is a great lever to get out of poverty.”

Ethik purchases the crafts from artists and sells it to companies in the U.S.

“The two biggest issues are that they (artisans) can’t access the global market and they are under paid. The markup is with the middle man,” Sevy said.

While Ethik’s office is located in The Startup Building in Provo, they also have a warehouse.

“In accepting this award, I am here as a proxy for hundreds of women worldwide. These women are incredibly bright, talented, and capable,” Sevy said. “However, due to the coordinates of their birthplace, they have previously lacked one thing that I was just born into – opportunity. So from all of us, we express gratitude for receiving this award from The World Trade Association of Utah – a leader in our state for championing women. They have gone beyond mere rhetoric and have been one of the first organizations to create spaces that support, connect, and bring women in international business together.”

Sevy and her husband, Devin Mattson, have a 1-year-old daughter who has already made her first trips to Uganda.

Ethik boasts that they identify and empower handicraft artisans by paying an above-average wage that allows them to look beyond basic survival needs and invest in education, healthcare, and long-term assets — creating a brighter future for themselves and their families.

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