Amaryllis Fox
Beautiful People 2012
By Abby Schreiber
Photographed by Douglas Adesko
Amaryllis Fox credits two epiphanies, 13 years apart, with having led to the creation of Mulu.me, a site equal parts social networking, e-commerce, curation and fund-raising. The first took place back in 1998, at the Bangkok airport, as Fox was about to fly home after teaching English along the Thai-Burmese border. It dawned on the then-17-year-old that she wanted to play "a more deeply-integrated" role in the region. She missed the plane.
Fox spent two more years there, working at health clinics and fund-raising on their be- half. Through this, Fox became interested in creating a more sustainable donation model, one that tapped into a grassroots economy and avoided solicitations from fatigued donors.
It was several years later (and a law degree from Oxford, a Master's from Georgetown and stints in the Crimea and Shanghai working on wind farms) before Fox had her second epiph- any. At a Philip Glass concert in 2011, "there was a moment of clarity where I went back to the hotel and literally stayed up all night and wrote a manifesto," Fox recalls. This manifesto became the framework for Mulu (which just launched at South by Southwest), and laid out a plan for a site that allows members to curate an online profile with things they love, all on behalf of a charity they support. "When some- one snags one of your picks, a percentage of the purchase goes straight to your cause," Fox explains. "We're trying to use peoples' good taste in gadgets, books or shoes to help build health clinics in Sudan."
Amaryllis wears a top and jeans by J Brand and necklace by Energy Muse.
MEET THE REST OF OUR 2012 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
Fox spent two more years there, working at health clinics and fund-raising on their be- half. Through this, Fox became interested in creating a more sustainable donation model, one that tapped into a grassroots economy and avoided solicitations from fatigued donors.
It was several years later (and a law degree from Oxford, a Master's from Georgetown and stints in the Crimea and Shanghai working on wind farms) before Fox had her second epiph- any. At a Philip Glass concert in 2011, "there was a moment of clarity where I went back to the hotel and literally stayed up all night and wrote a manifesto," Fox recalls. This manifesto became the framework for Mulu (which just launched at South by Southwest), and laid out a plan for a site that allows members to curate an online profile with things they love, all on behalf of a charity they support. "When some- one snags one of your picks, a percentage of the purchase goes straight to your cause," Fox explains. "We're trying to use peoples' good taste in gadgets, books or shoes to help build health clinics in Sudan."
Amaryllis wears a top and jeans by J Brand and necklace by Energy Muse.
MEET THE REST OF OUR 2012 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
Your Comment