Alex Albert

The UN Takes Some Tips from SHE

in Blog  by Alex Albert

The go! pads and banana fiber were front and center at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. SHE was honored to speak during the Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Conference, or G-STIC Forum, beside UN Women, VITO, and technology and innovation leaders from around the world. This year’s forum focused on showcasing market-ready, innovative integrated tech solutions that will help make the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) a reality worldwide. SHE Director of Strategy, Connie Lewin, spoke on the role of women behind the innovation process.

Connie shared SHE’s approach toward pursuing gender equity throughout its model and work:

  •  Be Inclusive. Apply a gender lens across the business that involves women in every aspect of your operations.
  • Collaborate. Partner with organizations and businesses that serve and support women to develop solutions to incorporate more women.
  • Advocate. Join a network with a strong gender lens agenda that supports women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Special thanks to Engineering for Change for inviting us to speak on the role of women in science, technology, and innovation.

SHE Stands Up for SRH

in Blog  by Alex Albert

Last November, SHE participated in the International Conference for Family Planning (ICFP) in Kigali to join the conversation about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns in Rwanda. Unlike in the U.S. where city and state-funded health clinics have an abundant supply of SRH information, services, and products free of charge to adolescents who need them, this is not the case in Rwanda. According to Article 7 of Rwandan reproductive health law, minors can only benefit from SRH information and services with a parent’s approval. Could you imagine not being able to access important reproductive health information without your mom’s permission?

 

SHE, along with other NGO’s, social enterprises, and the Rwandan youth have banded together to advocate for greater accessibility to SRH resources. The first order of business was to send a request letter to the Ministry of Health (MOH). To see the full request letter, click here: MOH Request Letter

 

SHE continued its advocacy efforts when we were invited to attend a high-level meeting with the MOH at the Rwandan Parliament. SHE’s Health and Hygiene Manager Ariane Dusenge spoke on how talking about menstruation could be the gateway to later discussions about SRH between a parent and child, which could also reduce the high teen pregnancy rate in the country. Other SRH experts spoke about the recent advocacy around removing barriers to SRH services for adolescents. At SHE, we strive to address overlooked and taboo issues and SRH is one area where we see the potential for large scale social change. This meeting at Parliament was a great opportunity to share SHE’s work at a national level. In line with our model, we’re advocating for social change, one policy at a time.

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2019!

in Blog  by Alex Albert

What’s a #SHEro anyway?

Click here for your blank #SHEro sign!
International Women’s Day is Friday, March 8th!

In honor of International Women’s Day (IWD) we’re celebrating phenomenal women worldwide! Giving to SHE this IWD means investing in the SHEroes we work with everyday. But we want to know who your #SHEro is! Follow these three steps to join the movement:

SHE’s Refugee Ambassador Program

in Blog / go! / rwanda  by Alex Albert

 At SHE, we believe that access to menstrual pads is a basic health necessity. So why are there communities that still lack access to them? Women and girls living in Rwanda’s refugee camps struggle to obtain affordable pads on a daily basis. Income opportunities are sparse within the camps and allocation of this basic necessity is inconsistent.

Donated pads haven’t proven to be sustainable for women and girls who need them most. So we’ve partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda to launch our Refugee Ambassador Program to provide a solution to this issue. Starting with the Nyabiheke Refugee Camp, we’ve trained 49 refugee women ambassadors who have educated 4,603 women, girls, and community members on healthy menstrual hygiene practices. Ambassadors have already started earning income from hosting community education sessions and can better provide for themselves and their families. In 2019, ambassadors will start selling go! pads within the camp community to expand access to affordable go! pads to more girls and women in need.

Women ambassadors of the Nyabiheke Refugee Camp in Rwanda.
Photos courtesy of Jonathan Wallen.

What’s the Big Deal with Menstrual Pads?

in Blog / go!  by Alex Albert

Did you know that drones are now delivering blood and medical supplies to hospitals in Rwanda? While we haven’t mastered aerial distribution of go! pads, we’ve got some accomplishments that we think are a big deal. We’ve reached over a million people to date through education and advocacy, our go! pads are currently featured in the latest Smithsonian exhibit at the Gates Foundation, and we’re working with refugee camps in Rwanda to improve girls’ and women’s menstrual hygiene. Our productivity this quarter is thanks to SHEroes like you who support our mission!

 

go! Got a New Look

We make go! pads for girls so they should be designed by girls, right? Earlier this year we started a new go! pad packaging pilot supported by Johnson & Johnson’s Sustainability team to get girls’ feedback on the pad’s size, educational brochures, sales appeal, and overall look. Girls shared that they like the discrete brown paper backing of the go! pads, how easily they fit inside of pockets, and being able to purchase a 3-pack of pads if they can’t afford a whole pack. We’re wrapping up our pilot program to finalize any changes and making sure that girls have a say in the design of their menstrual pads. Stay tuned!

 

 

What’s the Real Price of Periods?

In 2009, we calculated the cost of periods to be a GDP loss of $115 million in Rwanda from women missing work. SHE28 is our solution to the global period poverty issue and we’ve already tested the waters on expansion in Zimbabwe. CNN’s latest article, When pads are a luxury, getting your period means missing out on life, reports on period poverty’s impact on school girls and working women in Tanzania. Read what SHE CEO and Founder Elizabeth Scharpf had to say about the issue in the article. If you’ve never thought about missing out on daily activities due to your period, use CNN’s period poverty calculator to find out.

Our Impact To Date

 

SHE’s Seeking a Marketing and Sales Associate!

in careers / join the she team / rwanda  by Alex Albert
SHE is an award-winning social enterprise, with our first business operating in Rwanda. Our goal for SHE Rwanda is to increase access for at least 250,000 girls to affordable sanitary pads. We’re doing that by using an innovative manufacturing process that sources banana fiber from local banana-fiber co-operatives. We then use that banana fiber to make and produce affordable disposable sanitary pads (they are at least 30% more affordable than comparable imported brands). Our pads, branded as go!, are sold to schools ,Kiosk and NGOs, and also directly to undeserved consumers across Rwanda, primarily in the Eastern Province. 
SHE in Rwanda is rapidly scaling, and our revenue is incrementally growing as we meet customer demand for affordable sanitary pads. SHE in Rwanda is a for-profit business with a social mission of local sourcing of banana fiber, job creation, affordable products, and access to essential menstrual health education at the school level, camps and the community.Our social venture has been recognized by Miss Rwanda 2018, New Times Rwanda and Rwanda TV. We are proud to have received global recognition for our work from Echoing Green, The Tech Museum, Curry Stone Design Prize, among others. Learn more about our work here: YouTube and sheinnovates.com

 

Job Background
The Marketing and Sales Associate will manage SHE’s growing sales network and oversee our large-scale national expansion. The ideal candidate will have a track record in sales in the private sector in East Africa, ideally in consumer goods. The position will be based in Kigali, with extensive travel (50% of the time) across the country. This is your chance to join and shape a successful, fast-growing, national organization at a time of huge opportunity for professional growth. Reporting to the Managing Director, the Marketing and Sales Associate will be a key contributor to meet SHE’s 2018 sales targets and beyond.                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Job Summary and Key Priorities
We’re seeking an experienced and entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales Associate to work directly with our school and NGO customers, kiosk owners, and individual consumers. The Marketing and Sales Associate will build a sales team to drive growth in our sales and corresponding social impact. The right candidate will have experience designing tools and systems to build an efficient and high-performance sales team(s). This person will be an exceptional implementer & will drive sales and marketing through identifying successful pilots and innovations and integrating them into existing operations.As we are expanding most of our projects are still in pilot. That means there is not yet where to look for guidance. You need to be ok with that to be successful in this job. You also need to be a very strong project manager. You need to be good at launching new projects and developing and managing teams. You need to be comfortable with uncertainty, agile and a problem-solver. You need to be independent, solution-oriented and very comfortable with making decisions.You will also be working with a variety of customers (schools, NGOs, etc.) and stakeholders (government officials, kiosk owners, etc.) and you will need to do that without compromising the customer experience.                                                   
                                                                                                                                                               
The Marketing and Sales Associate’s responsibilities will be to:
Sales responsibilities

  • Build and manage SHE’s sales strategy and performance across Rwanda, including developing and implementing direct sales strategy to girls and women.
  • Identify new opportunities and build existing partnerships with distribution partners (schools, NGOs, kiosks, etc) – to meet ambitious sales and financial targets and convert new distribution partners.
  • Recruit, develop, incentivize and oversee a sales team across Rwanda.
  • Achieve growth and hit sales targets by successfully managing the sales team
  • Present sales, revenue and expenses reports and realistic forecasts to the Managing Director on the quarterly basis.
  • Design and implement a strategic business plan that expands the company’s customer base and ensures it’s strong presence.
  • Collaborate closely with District and sector officials to drive sales in new districts and sectors.
  • Develop the pricing strategy per customer and incorporate the element of training and awareness programs for school, kiosks and NGO bulk buyers.
  • Develop an annual estimated budget for SHE marketing and sales activities.

Marketing responsibilities

  • You will be responsible for creating innovative strategies and the associated project roadmaps for improving relevant business processes and developing effective tools, which will help SHE Rwanda to achieve its marketing goals and sales targets.
  • Working closely with design agencies and assisting with new product launches.
  • Develop, pilot and help plan the implementation of marketing communications activities

 

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

  • 3-5 years’ experience with exceptional track record of exceeding sales targets and building partnerships
  • Private sector retail experience in Rwanda and East Africa – understands both peri-urban and rural customer bases
  • Experience managing a sales team or field force.
  • Entrepreneurial spirit and drive for results.
  • Exceptional natural teacher, strong interpersonal skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communications skills in English and Kinyarwanda.
  • A bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Administration or a related field.
  • Rwandan nationals and EAC nationals authorized to work in Rwanda only. Willingness to travel across the country as needed.
  • A passion for the mission, vision, and values of SHE.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

  • Superior customer focus and relationship management
  • Experience in early-stage organizations, establishing teams, and processes
  • Action-oriented – resourceful, able to take the initiative and manage multi-priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Excellent attention to detail and project management skills.
  • Confident working independently as well as collaborating with a wider team.
  • Proficient using Microsoft Office –especially Excel
  • A desire to make a positive impact through your work, and interest in social enterprise
  • Experience in pitching, presenting and negotiating – such as presenting to large groups of consumers, preparing and running product training sessions, negotiating partnership terms and handling objections.

 

Criteria for Selection

The following matrix will be used to evaluate candidates for this position:

  • Experience: 40% Candidate must be of mature character with minimum 3 years designing and executing sales and growth operations strategy.
  • Skills: 40% Strong analytical, presentation, and communication skills. Skills in recruitment, training and team building.
  • Education: 20% Bachelor’s degree required, business degree preferred, must be fluent in English and Kinyarwanda

Preferred Start Date

ASAP

Compensation

Competitive with similar social enterprises. This is a role with performance-based raises and the ability to increase in responsibilities over time.

Benefits

Health insurance, the stipend for airtime and travel, 18 days of vacation as well as national holidays

Mode of Submission

Interested applicants are requested to read and complete very carefully the following application form not later than 26th September 2018.

 

SHE Goes to Zimbabwe

in Blog / go! / travel blog  by Alex Albert

We’ve made 520,698 go! pads to date and we’re not stopping there!

To keep the momentum going, we traveled to Zimbabwe in May to explore how we could turn what’s typically seen as plant waste into go! pads. We conducted initial fiber testing led by our very own engineer and Technical Director, Leah!

 

To kick off day one, we met with twenty-nine eager women farmers at the beautiful Magadzire Centre site to test out some new fibers. The farmers made sure to wear goggles to prepare for the messy extraction process ahead. We realized that unlike banana plants in Rwanda, Zimbabwean banana plants are full of water. This means that these varieties can be left out for up to two weeks before extraction. Immediately after extracting the fibers from the banana stems, they were placed in water to prevent discoloration. We then hung them out on a line and later stored them in dry place called a hozi, the word for storage room in the Shona language.

 

 

On the second day, our group of farmers grew by ten. They even brought with them five different banana plant varieties that we successful extracted fibers from.

Stay tuned to find out if these new fibers will be suitable for go! pads!

 

 

 

 

There is still work to be done to make SHE28 possible in Zimbabwe. Repairing the road to the site and building a centrally located banana fiber collection depot are top priorities. Our training could not have been possible without our partners in Zimbabwe. Siyabonga! Maita Basa! (Thank you!)

 

Menstrual Hygiene Day 2018

in Blog  by Alex Albert

SHE celebrates Menstrual Hygiene Day every May 28th, and this year we held our biggest celebration yet.

Boys, girls, and their parents took a spot on the field to learn and break the silence around menstruation. Schools competed to put on the best menstrual hygiene drama skit in the hopes of winning money to improve their school’s girls room.

 

 

Miss Rwanda 2018 graced the stage to announce the winners of the competition and encourage girls to not shy away from asking questions about their periods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over 11,000 people participated in SHE educational events for Menstrual Hygiene Day, with 4,000 gathering to celebrate on the day itself.  The Ministry of Education was present to support SHE Rwanda’s work in improving girls’ education. Thanks to coverage from Radio Rwanda, our message traveled across the country, reaching 90% of the population of Rwanda.