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BUSINESS PROFILE
How Two Brooklyn Entrepreneurs Are Using Backpacks to Change the World THE GIVE BACK PACK
It’s a bold move, proving that STATE is about much more than $100 backpacks, though bags in fun colors, metallic fabrics, and bold tropical prints are still the company’s breadwinners. “As the needs of those we served evolved, STATE needed to evolve along with them,” co-founder Scot Tatelman explains in a company video. His wife and co-founder, Jacq, adds, “For every STATE product now sold, we’ll support American families and children in need in the ways they need it most.” Recently, that has meant pivoting away from the buy one, give one backpack program and instead funneling cash into partnership projects and #WhatDoWeTellTheKids initiatives. But as always, a portion of the money raised from every backpack sold goes into STATE’s fund for giving back. This summer, the company used proceeds from its Summer 2019 Collection to support Seeds of Peace, a Maine-based leadership camp for teens from the U.S. and other countries around the world. Through team-building projects and leadership exercises, the camp promotes open-mindedness, critical thinking, creativity, and community service, and many of its graduates go on to found companies and nonprofits that make positive changes across the globe. In an interview with PBS, Leslie Lewin, executive director of New York’s Seeds of Peace branch, said, “I’m in constant awe of the courage that our participants show and their willingness to engage and step outside their comfort zones.” This year, that courage is supported by backpacks covered with dinosaurs, rainbows, flowers, lions, airplanes, and glitter.
The seeds for STATE were planted back in 2009 when Brooklyn-based husband-wife team Scot and Jacq Tatelman founded Camp Power, a weeklong summer camp for kids from underfunded neighborhoods. When they realized the children they were working so hard to lift from poverty were bringing their belongings to camp in ripped plastic trash bags, the Tatelmans started STATE to solve the problem. In the beginning, the company gave away a backpack full of school supplies for every bag sold. Those giveaways, made possible by buyers who were nicknamed “The Give Back Pack,” happened at empowering rallies called Bag Drops that happened wherever the need was greatest, filling places as varied as Flint, Michigan; Harlem, New York; and the White Sox Ballpark in Chicago. STATE grew quickly, partnering with public figures — fellow charitable companies like The Giving Keys, Shopbop, and Rockets of Awesome, and nonprofits like Bottomless Closet — to provide more than just school supplies and backpacks for kids. Together, these partnerships offered interview clothes to disadvantaged women; entertainment and support to victims of Hurricane Harvey; and resources, encouragement, and some much-needed pampering to women transitioning out of homelessness. In 2016, STATE launched #WhatDoWeTellTheKids, a program “aiming to tackle the most challenging issues of our time” with an eye toward future generations. Its initiatives change focus every year and give children, teenagers, and experts the opportunity to share a dialogue about the sensitive topics that often make headline news. As part of its latest #WhatDoWeTellTheKids project, STATE is donating funds to Operation Conversation: Cops and Kids, a program that “brings together inner-city youth and police officers through performance and conversation in developing positive, empathetic relationships.”
Once upon a time, business owners and private companies kept their political views just that — private. But according to Vox, the trend toward silence that has held for decades has seen a major reversal since 2016. Some companies, like the environmentalist clothing brand Patagonia, have always aired their views, but in the last three years, dozens of others have stepped into the limelight. On both sides of the aisle, they’ve taken strong stances on a range of controversial issues, making consumers think twice about their buying decisions. The Brooklyn-based company STATE Bags makes backpacks, lunchboxes, duffel bags, and more. Since its inception, STATE has always had a charitable focus: giving backpacks full of school supplies to kids and providing role models and resources to low-income families in need. But when 2016 hit, the company kicked its activism up a notch, launching a campaign called #WhatDoWeTellTheKids. Before we dive into that, though, here’s a little background on STATE.
To shop STATE’s products and learn more about its programs, visit STATEBags.com.
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