Joshe Ordoñez is an entrepreneur committed to sustainable social and economic development. Originally from Ecuador, she is currently based in Brooklyn. As CEO of Airpals, she leads a B2B platform that streamlines office logistics and project-based shipping. Ordoñez founded Airpals after experiencing the challenges of internal logistics in the fashion industry and other operationally-intensive fields.
Before founding Airpals she founded Loop Fairtrade, a digital platform connecting Ecuadorian artisans with global designers to collaborate on the creation of ethical products. This tool has empowered low-income artisans to generate additional income while preserving their ancestral techniques.
In 2017 she was a panel speaker at the United Nations, discussing sustainable and social development. She has also delivered talks and presentations at Google, Pratt Institute, and The New York Public Library.
In 2022, Ordoñez was selected as one of the 50 awardees for the inaugural cohort of the Google Latino Founders Fund, which provided her with valuable resources, tactical support, and an equity-free cash award of $100,000.
The Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator invited her to join the “tek-tiles” initiative. Here she collaborated with engineers and experts from institutions such as MIT and NYU pioneering the invention of products that seamlessly integrate technologies like virtual reality and nano-pressure sensors into smart garments and functional textiles.
Word of Wisdom: Feeling fear is a sign that you’re on the right track. Embrace failure instead of fearing it. The quicker you fail, the sooner you’ll find the right answer.
