Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement

AQNOVA MARKETPLACE

Global Legal Footer Framework

Comprehensive Compliance & Platform Governance Reference

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (DEI) STATEMENT

A Global Commitment to Belonging, Fairness & Human Dignity

Arivon Holding Corporation | AqNova Marketplace

Effective Date: April 7, 2026 | Version 1.0

This Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Statement represents AqNova's living commitment — as a global marketplace, as an employer, as a platform partner, and as a corporate citizen — to build an ecosystem where diversity is celebrated, equity is structurally embedded, and inclusion is experienced as a daily reality by every person who interacts with our platform.

This Statement is a standalone document and is distinct from AqNova's Anti-Discrimination Policy (published separately). While the Anti-Discrimination Policy establishes the legal framework governing prohibited conduct, this DEI Statement articulates AqNova's affirmative values, aspirational goals, accountability mechanisms, and the specific programmatic commitments that bring those values to life across our global footprint.

AqNova operates across North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Our commitment to DEI is therefore not monolithic — it is culturally informed, jurisdictionally aware, and rooted in genuine respect for the diversity of human experience that our platform serves.

6.1.1 Our Origin Story & DEI

AqNova was founded from a personal experience of navigating a health crisis and discovering how inaccessible safe, clean, and sustainable products were for people who did not live near specialty retailers, who shopped in languages other than English, or who came from communities historically excluded from "wellness" spaces. That founding experience is not incidental to our DEI commitment — it is the root of it.

We believe that a marketplace built for everyone must be built with everyone. AqNova's curation of sustainable, organic, and ethical products is meaningless if the Platform itself perpetuates the inequalities — of access, of representation, of economic opportunity — that make sustainable living a privilege rather than a universal right.

6.1.2 Our Three Pillars

6.1.3 DEI as Business Imperative

AqNova is a global platform. Our commercial success depends on serving the full diversity of the global consumer market. Diverse vendor communities bring product innovation, cultural authenticity, and regional market insight. Diverse teams make better decisions and build more resilient products. Inclusive platforms earn deeper trust, higher retention, and broader reach.

We reject the framing of DEI as a cost, a compliance exercise, or a reputational shield. For AqNova, DEI is a competitive advantage, a source of innovation, and a moral obligation — and we make no apology for treating it with the same strategic seriousness as any other dimension of our business.

6.2 Scope of This DEI Statement

This Statement applies to all dimensions of AqNova's global operations, including:

6.3 Global Legal & Regulatory Framework for DEI

AqNova's DEI commitments are informed by and consistent with applicable anti-discrimination, equality, and human rights law across all jurisdictions in which we operate. The following table maps key legal frameworks by region. AqNova treats compliance with these frameworks as a floor, not a ceiling — our DEI ambitions exceed legal minimums in every market.

6.3.1 United States

6.3.2 European Union

6.3.3 United Kingdom

6.3.4 Canada

6.3.5 Africa

6.3.6 Latin America

6.3.7 Asia-Pacific

6.4.1 Algorithmic Fairness

AqNova's search, discovery, and recommendation algorithms are among the most consequential tools on our Platform. A biased algorithm can systematically suppress the visibility of products from minority-owned vendors, reinforce stereotypes in product categorization, or create invisible barriers to market access for communities that are already marginalized.

AqNova commits to the following algorithmic fairness principles:

Conducting regular algorithmic bias audits — at minimum annually and upon any material change to ranking or recommendation systems — to detect and remediate disparate impact on vendors or buyers from protected groups.

Ensuring that vendor search ranking criteria are based solely on legitimate commercial factors (relevance, quality score, fulfillment performance, customer satisfaction) and do not incorporate or proxy for vendor demographic characteristics.

Proactively monitoring product discovery metrics across vendor demographic segments to identify unexplained gaps in visibility, conversion, or recommendation frequency.

Publishing an annual Algorithmic Transparency Summary describing the principal factors used in search and recommendation, and any bias findings and remediations identified during the reporting period.

Engaging external algorithmic auditors with demonstrated expertise in fairness and equity to conduct independent assessments of AqNova's recommendation systems.

6.4.2 Platform Accessibility

AqNova is committed to building and maintaining a Platform that is fully accessible to persons with disabilities, consistent with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, and applicable mandatory standards including the EU Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, the Accessible Canada Act, and the UK Equality Act 2010 (duty to make reasonable adjustments).

Specific accessibility commitments include:

Screen reader compatibility across all key Platform pages and transaction flows.

Adequate color contrast ratios for all interface text and UI elements.

Keyboard navigation support as an alternative to mouse-based interaction.

Closed captions and audio descriptions for all video content published on the Platform.

Plain language product descriptions that do not assume high literacy levels or subject-matter expertise.

Annual third-party accessibility audits with public reporting on findings and remediation timelines.

A dedicated accessibility feedback channel (accessibility@aqnova.co) with a 5-Business-Day response commitment.

6.4.3 Language Inclusion & Multilingual Access

Language is a dimension of equity. A Platform that operates only in English excludes billions of potential participants. AqNova is committed to progressive multilingual expansion, prioritizing the languages of our highest-traffic non-English markets. Our language inclusion commitments include:

Publishing all core Platform interfaces, checkout flows, and legal disclosures in a minimum of 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, Yoruba, Hindi, Korean, and Japanese, with expansion planned in accordance with our market development roadmap.

Ensuring that legally mandatory language requirements are met in all jurisdictions — including French in Quebec (Office québécois de la langue française requirements), Portuguese in Brazil, and Spanish in applicable Latin American markets.

Providing multilingual customer support across all major operating markets.

Offering vendor onboarding documentation in the primary language of each major vendor sourcing market, including Yoruba, Pidgin, Twi, Swahili, French, and Spanish for African and Latin American markets.

Avoiding machine translation without human review for legally material content (terms, disclosures, support communications).

6.4.4 Digital Divide & Low-Bandwidth Access

In many markets where AqNova operates — including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and parts of Latin America and South Asia — internet access is primarily mobile, bandwidth-constrained, and expensive. Building an inclusive Platform means designing for this reality. AqNova commits to:

Optimizing Platform performance for low-bandwidth mobile environments, including progressive image loading, lightweight page design, and offline-capable features where technically feasible.

Supporting USSD and SMS-based order tracking and notifications for markets where smartphone data access is limited.

Partnering with local NGOs and digital literacy organizations to provide training and support for first-time vendors and buyers in underserved communities.

6.5.1 Equitable Vendor Onboarding

AqNova recognizes that the traditional barriers to entry in e-commerce — access to capital, professional photography, polished branding, technical literacy, and professional English language proficiency — disproportionately exclude small-scale producers, women entrepreneurs, artisan cooperatives, and vendors from the Global South. Our Platform was built to dismantle these barriers, not to replicate them.

Our equitable onboarding commitments include:

Providing multilingual onboarding guides, video tutorials, and live support in the primary languages of key sourcing markets.

Offering a simplified onboarding track for micro-vendors (fewer than 50 SKUs) that reduces documentation burden while maintaining compliance standards.

Subsidizing professional product photography training for vendors in low-income markets through the AqNova Vendor Development Fund.

Waiving listing fees for new vendors from designated underrepresented groups for their first 90 days on the Platform.

Partnering with local business development organizations, women's enterprise networks, and fair trade cooperatives in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia to provide structured onboarding cohorts.

6.5.2 Supplier Diversity Program

AqNova maintains a formal Supplier Diversity Program that sets measurable targets for vendor representation across the following dimensions:

These targets are aspirational commitments, not hiring quotas. AqNova will report annually on progress toward each target through its DEI Impact Report (see Section 6.9).

6.5.3 Economic Equity in Fee & Commission Structures

AqNova recognizes that uniform fee structures can perpetuate inequality when applied to vendors with vastly different capital bases. Our commitment to economic equity in fee design includes:

Maintaining a tiered commission structure that provides reduced rates for micro-vendors and Founding Vendors in new market launches.

Providing a Year-One commission waiver (0% commission) for vendors registered under AqNova's Founding Vendor Program in each new market launch.

Ensuring that payout timelines and minimum payout thresholds do not create disproportionate cash-flow burdens for small-scale vendors in markets where banking infrastructure is limited.

Offering mobile money payout options (M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money, and equivalents) in markets where traditional banking access is restricted.

Partnering with development finance institutions and impact investors to create a Vendor Micro-Finance facility providing working capital access to qualifying low-income vendors.

6.5.4 Anti-Bias in Vendor Review & Curation

AqNova uses human curators and automated systems to review and categorize vendor products. We are aware that these systems can embed cultural bias — privileging aesthetic norms, product formats, or language styles that are more familiar to North American or European reviewers. Our commitments to counter this include:

Training all product curators on cultural competency, unconscious bias, and the diversity of product traditions across AqNova's operating markets.

Ensuring curation teams for each regional market include reviewers with cultural proximity to that market.

Establishing a Vendor Appeals Panel — with diverse membership including external community representatives — to review and rule on disputed curation decisions.

Maintaining a transparent public record of curation criteria so that vendors understand how decisions are made.

6.6.1 Hiring & Recruitment Equity

AqNova is committed to building a workforce that reflects the full diversity of the communities it serves. Our equitable hiring commitments include:

Structured, competency-based interviewing with standardized scoring rubrics applied consistently across all candidates for the same role.

Blind resume screening (removing name, address, and educational institution information before initial screening) for all roles where technically feasible.

Actively sourcing candidates through channels that reach underrepresented communities, including HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), HSIs (Hispanic-Serving Institutions), Indigenous university networks, disability employment organizations, LGBTQ+ professional networks, and African, Latin American, and Asian diaspora professional associations.

Requiring diverse interview panels — a minimum of one panelist from an underrepresented group for all final-round interviews.

Publishing job descriptions in inclusive language reviewed for bias using approved language auditing tools.

Setting and publishing annual diversity targets for new hires by level and function, with quarterly internal tracking against these targets.

6.6.2 Pay Equity

AqNova is committed to equal pay for equal work across all dimensions of diversity. Our pay equity program includes:

Conducting annual pay equity analyses across gender, race/ethnicity, and disability status for all global workforce segments where data is legally collectible.

Publishing gender pay gap reports for qualifying jurisdictions as required by applicable law (EU Pay Transparency Directive, UK Gender Pay Gap Regulations, Canada Pay Equity Act, Australia WGEA) and voluntarily for other major markets.

Maintaining a job leveling and salary banding framework with transparent pay ranges communicated to all employees and candidates.

Prohibiting the use of prior salary history in compensation decisions in all jurisdictions, consistent with best practice and applicable law (including California Labor Code § 432.3 and equivalent statutes).

Providing remediation funding to address any unexplained pay gaps identified through equity analyses, with a 12-month remediation timeline for significant gaps.

6.6.3 Promotion & Leadership Equity

Diversity at entry level is not equity if promotional pathways are blocked for underrepresented employees. AqNova's promotion equity commitments include:

Conducting annual promotion equity analyses to identify whether promotion rates differ significantly across demographic groups.

Establishing a formal mentorship and sponsorship program specifically designed to support employees from underrepresented groups in accessing senior roles and leadership development opportunities.

Setting public targets for representation of women and underrepresented minorities in senior leadership (Director level and above) and reporting annually on progress.

Requiring that all open leadership roles consider a diverse slate of candidates before selection, with documentation of the process.

6.6.4 Inclusive Workplace Culture

AqNova is committed to maintaining a workplace culture where every employee feels safe, valued, and able to bring their whole self to work. Our inclusive culture commitments include:

Providing all employees, managers, and contractors with comprehensive DEI training at onboarding and annually thereafter, covering unconscious bias, inclusive communication, allyship, intersectionality, and cultural competency.

Establishing and supporting Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for underrepresented communities, including groups for women, LGBTQ+ employees, employees of color, employees with disabilities, and employees from specific regional or cultural communities.

Observing and creating space for significant cultural, religious, and national observances across all operating markets, in addition to official public holidays.

Implementing inclusive meeting and collaboration practices — including multiple channels for contribution, asynchronous participation options for globally distributed teams, and active steps to ensure all voices are heard.

Conducting annual anonymous employee engagement and inclusion surveys, with results disaggregated by demographic group and made available to employees with action plans published within 60 days.

6.6.5 Gender Identity, Expression & LGBTQ+ Inclusion

AqNova affirms the dignity and full humanity of all employees, vendors, and users regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Our LGBTQ+ inclusion commitments include:

Maintaining gender-neutral bathroom and facility options in all AqNova offices globally, where feasible and legally permitted.

Respecting all employees' self-identified names and pronouns in all internal and external communications and documents, including HR systems, email platforms, and public-facing profiles.

Providing health benefits that include gender-affirming care for employees and dependents in jurisdictions where such benefits are legally permissible.

Publicly marking AqNova as an LGBTQ+-inclusive employer across all recruitment channels in all markets.

In markets where LGBTQ+ rights are legally restricted, AqNova will work with local counsel and international human rights organizations to protect the safety and dignity of affected employees to the maximum extent possible, while being transparent about local limitations.

6.6.6 Disability Inclusion

AqNova is committed to genuine inclusion of persons with disabilities — not merely legal compliance, but a culture that actively values and accommodates the full range of human ability. Our disability inclusion commitments include:

Providing reasonable workplace accommodations to all employees with disabilities upon request, including assistive technology, flexible scheduling, modified duties, and remote work arrangements.

Ensuring all AqNova facilities meet applicable accessibility standards (ADA, UK Equality Act, EU Accessibility Act, Accessible Canada Act, and equivalents).

Training hiring managers to conduct accessible interviews and to avoid disability-based assumptions in candidate evaluation.

Partnering with disability employment organizations in key markets to actively recruit candidates with disabilities.

Setting a target of 5% of the global workforce identifying as persons with disabilities by 2028, with voluntary, confidential disclosure mechanisms.

6.7.1 Authentic Representation in Marketing

AqNova's marketing and advertising must reflect the full diversity of our global community — not a curated subset that privileges Western, white, able-bodied, heteronormative aesthetics. Our representation commitments include:

Ensuring that all major marketing campaigns — including seasonal, launch, and evergreen campaigns — feature models, subjects, and narratives that reflect meaningful diversity of race, ethnicity, age, body type, disability, gender expression, and family configuration.

Prohibiting the use of stereotyped, tokenistic, or exoticizing representations of any cultural, ethnic, or national community in AqNova's marketing.

Requiring diversity review for all marketing materials before publication, with sign-off by AqNova's DEI Lead or designee.

Prioritizing partnerships with creators, influencers, and agencies from underrepresented communities, with a target of 40% of influencer marketing partnerships with creators from such communities.

6.7.2 Culturally Competent Global Communications

A global brand must communicate with cultural fluency, not cultural condescension. AqNova's global communications commitments include:

Adapting marketing content for each major regional market in collaboration with in-market cultural consultants and community advisors.

Avoiding cultural appropriation — the commercialization of cultural symbols, traditional knowledge, or sacred practices without community consent — in all product curation and marketing.

Ensuring that Indigenous cultural products listed on the Platform are authentic, appropriately attributed, and sold with the consent and benefit of the originating community.

Using culturally appropriate imagery, examples, and references in all regional marketing content, avoiding the imposition of North American or European cultural frameworks on non-Western audiences.

6.7.3 Inclusive Language Standards

Language shapes culture. AqNova commits to maintaining an Inclusive Language Guide — published at [aqnova.co/inclusive-language] and updated annually — that:

Provides guidance on preferred terminology for gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, age, and religion across major operating markets.

Incorporates input from community advisors and ERG members with lived experience in each relevant identity domain.

Applies across all public-facing communications including website copy, email marketing, social media, product descriptions, and vendor and buyer support communications.

6.8.1 The AqNova Community Impact Fund

AqNova will allocate a minimum of 1% of annual net Platform revenue to the AqNova Community Impact Fund, dedicated to programs that advance economic equity and inclusion in underserved communities across our operating markets. Priority investment areas include:

Digital literacy and e-commerce skills training for women entrepreneurs, youth, and communities with limited technology access.

Grants and interest-free working capital for micro-vendors and artisan producers in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

Partnerships with fair trade certification bodies to subsidize certification costs for qualifying small-scale producers.

Support for Indigenous-led sustainable enterprise initiatives in Canada, Australia, and Latin America.

Funding for community-led environmental sustainability projects in regions most affected by climate change.

6.8.2 Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing Commitment

AqNova's curated marketplace is founded on a commitment to fair trade and ethical sourcing. Our supply chain equity commitments include:

Requiring all vendors selling products with sustainability or ethical sourcing claims to hold valid third-party certifications (Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, B Corp, Fair Trade USA, or equivalent) and to make these certifications verifiable on the Platform.

Refusing to list products known to be produced using forced labor, child labor, or labor conditions that violate ILO core labor standards.

Conducting due diligence on new vendors in high-risk supply chain categories (textiles, agriculture, artisanal mining, electronics components) consistent with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Publishing an annual Ethical Sourcing Report detailing AqNova's supply chain due diligence activities, any violations identified, and remediation actions taken.

6.8.3 Environmental Justice

Diversity, equity, and inclusion extend to environmental justice — the recognition that the burdens of environmental degradation fall disproportionately on low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous peoples. AqNova's environmental justice commitments include:

Prioritizing vendors whose production processes demonstrably benefit, rather than harm, the environmental health of their home communities.

Refusing to list products whose production has been credibly linked to deforestation, water contamination, or displacement of indigenous or low-income communities.

Committing to carbon-neutral platform operations by 2030, with interim targets and annual public reporting.

Using AqNova's marketplace influence to support a just transition to sustainable production, with particular attention to the livelihoods of workers and communities whose current employment depends on unsustainable industries.

6.9.1 DEI Governance Structure

AqNova's DEI commitments are not the responsibility of a single department or individual — they require accountability at every level of the organization. Our governance structure includes:

Board-Level Oversight: AqNova's Board of Directors (or equivalent governance body) exercises oversight of DEI strategy and outcomes. At least one board member with demonstrated DEI expertise will be identified or appointed within 18 months of Platform launch.

Executive Accountability: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has primary executive accountability for DEI outcomes, reflected in performance objectives and, where applicable, executive compensation. DEI metrics are standing agenda items at all executive leadership team meetings.

DEI Lead: AqNova will appoint a dedicated DEI Lead or equivalent function within 12 months of Platform launch, responsible for program development, implementation, monitoring, and reporting.

DEI Advisory Council: An external DEI Advisory Council — comprising community leaders, academics, civil society representatives, and vendors from underrepresented communities — will be established within 18 months of Platform launch to provide independent guidance, challenge, and accountability.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): ERGs are recognized as official governance participants, with representatives invited to contribute to DEI strategy development, review proposed policy changes for equity impact, and provide input into the annual DEI Impact Report.

6.9.2 Annual DEI Impact Report

AqNova will publish an Annual DEI Impact Report by June 30 of each year, covering the preceding calendar year. The Report will include:

Workforce diversity data disaggregated by gender, race/ethnicity (where legally collectible), disability status, and seniority level, compared against stated targets.

Gender pay gap data for qualifying jurisdictions, with year-over-year trend analysis.

Vendor diversity data: breakdown of active vendor base by geography, gender, business size, and self-identified diversity category.

Algorithmic fairness audit findings and remediation actions completed.

Platform accessibility audit findings and remediation timeline.

Community Impact Fund disbursements and program outcomes.

Ethical sourcing and supply chain due diligence summary.

Progress against each commitment and target set out in this DEI Statement.

Prioritized DEI commitments for the following year.

6.9.3 Grievance & Accountability Mechanisms

AqNova maintains the following channels for raising DEI-related concerns, complaints, or accountability claims:

6.9.4 DEI Policy Review Cycle

This DEI Statement will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis, or more frequently in response to: material changes in applicable law; significant events affecting the communities AqNova serves; findings from the Annual DEI Impact Report; or recommendations from the DEI Advisory Council. All updates will be published on AqNova's DEI portal at [aqnova.co/dei] with a clear change log.

6.10 Relationship to Other AqNova Policies

This DEI Statement operates in conjunction with the following AqNova policies, each of which contains more specific provisions on its subject matter:

6.11 Our Closing Commitment

AqNova acknowledges that the commitments in this Statement are demanding, that they will require sustained investment, difficult decisions, and genuine accountability, and that words on paper are not the same as lived experience. We accept that accountability publicly.

We invite vendors, buyers, employees, partners, and community members to hold us to these commitments — by reading our Annual DEI Impact Report, by engaging with our DEI Advisory Council's public sessions, by contacting us at DEI@aqnova.co, and by telling us, honestly and directly, where we fall short.

The world AqNova aspires to build — where sustainable, ethical commerce is accessible to everyone and creates opportunity for everyone — is only possible if we build the Platform with the same equity we want to see in the world.

AqNova Marketplace | Global Legal Footer Framework | Section 6: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement

© 2026 Arivon Holding Corporation. All rights reserved. Effective April 7, 2026. Version 1.0.

This DEI Statement is a living document and will be reviewed and updated annually. It is distinct from and supplements the AqNova Anti-Discrimination Policy.