Why I Give to SHE: Meet Lara Cely

Lara Cely shares why she gives to SHE.How did you first get involved with SHE?

One of my colleagues at work invited me to a SHE cocktail party! I had read the Nicholas Kristof article, and wanted to learn more about this social enterprise with the fascinating back story (blending banana leaves!). My friends and I like to support women’s health organizations, and when my colleague received the party invitation to hear more about SHE, we were totally on board.

What is unique about SHE?

SHE is that perfect balance of being a revolutionary organization with a simple concept: affordable sanitary pads to help girls stay in school.

What impact have you seen from your donation?

It’s clear there is definite progress with strategic plans:

– Over 7,000 affordable sanitary pads (called go!) introduced for the Rwanda schools and market.

– Almost 300 people have attended SHE health and hygiene awareness workshops for schools and the communities in 2014 alone; 5,000+ have participated since 2010.

– 600+ farmers from 2 women-led banana cooperatives trained to help produce more products for school girls and boost local business income at the same time!

What makes you excited about SHE’s future direction?

I’m most excited about SHE’s scalable, blueprint approach to building a local model that handles a global problem – the lack of affordable sanitary products for women and girls. This model is going to change the rules when it comes to equal opportunity for women in many developing countries.