With decades of experience working in Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, Sophia Swire founded Future Brilliance to empower Afghan women and encourage them to achieve self-sufficiency. Despite her comfortable upbringing in England, Swire faced her own challenges in the business world and proved to many people what women can accomplish when she became a successful stockbroker. Seeking to give this same sense of independence to Afghan women, she identified a unique niche market where they could succeed: jewelry making.
Afghanistan has a rich tradition of crafting jewelry from precious stones such as emeralds, rubies, lapis lazuli, and tourmalines, which are abundant in the country. This tradition has developed into a booming trade, but foreign dealers tend to benefit more from the country’s gemstones than the Afghan people do. Future Brilliance seeks to empower women to make jewelry using these natural resources and realize a fair profit in the process. Swire previously worked with the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, a Kabul-based program started by Prince Charles to support traditional arts in Afghanistan. These experiences guided her as she established Future Brilliance.
Swire’s work in Afghanistan involved the creation of a school for jewelers and gem cutters through Turquoise Mountain. The school teaches individuals the skills they need to produce top-quality jewelry for export. In addition, Future Brilliance brings in designers to teach participants about Western tastes and design. For example, jewelry designer Paul Spurgeon taught about global standards of quality control, manufacturing, and pricing to help the women establish online stores.
The focus of Future Brilliance is economic development more than charity, and the organization holds its jewelry-makers to high standards that are consistent with the larger industry. Ultimately, Future Brilliance aims to jumpstart the Afghan jewelry industry as a whole and empower women for years to come.