connie lewin

Meet SHE Intern: Arianna Strome

in Blog  by connie lewin

nyu_vertstd_Arianna Strome-1

Hometown: I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland but currently I am attending New York University. I am a junior studying Media, Culture and Communications combined with Public Health.

What are you working on? I am helping the SHE team with marketing and social media.

What superpower would you have? If I could have any superpower it would be to have an incredible memory so that I could remember everything forever. Not only would this really help ace my midterms, I would be able to remember all the incredible people, experiences, conversations, and moments for the rest of my life.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? I am actually a vegan so I don’t eat ice cream. But, in New York there is an incredible place called Chloe’s, which serves soft-served fruit. The banana and mango flavors are amazing!

Why did you join SHE? I joined SHE for several reasons including their focus on girls and women, their commitment to sustainability, and their passion surrounding a very real issue. Firstly, as a female athlete I have always felt strongly about giving women the voice that they deserve. I admire how SHE fights to change the status quo and inspire women and their communities. Secondly, I have participated in several service trips and what I noticed is that giving money, food, supplies, etc. to a community only puts a Band-Aid over the issue at hand; to truly solve a problem the solution must be sustainable. SHE’s pads and pad production are a solution that eventually will be able to run without the middleman. Lastly, I passionately believe that girls should never be actually limited by their period. This is a very real issue and it is holding us girls back! With SHE’s pads, every girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential and actively participate in society.

Banana farmers with go! pads in Rwanda.

Changing the economy by investing in women farmers

in Blog  by connie lewin

In Rwanda, rural women farmers are key to the nation’s economy and are responsible for up to 80% of the food production. However, rural women farmers lack access to the education and skills-training needed to boost their incomes.

Our partnership with two women-led banana co-operatives is helping to change that – we trained 600+ farmers to extract banana fiber using our machines. We then buy that fiber, which is then used in our LaunchPads. These farmers are helping to boost girls’ futures, while our business helps to boost their income.

Many of the farmers are mothers too and need access to more affordable menstrual products plus the health education. We could not wait to return to the farmers and give them their own pack of pads, which we couldn’t have made without them!

We also invited them to take part in a menstrual hygiene awareness session, and had 30 farmers and mothers (with a few kids too!) join us. They are excited to learn more about menstruation and menstrual hygiene, and we look forward to sharing more of our health education with them and the other farmers.

Building to Learn

in Blog  by connie lewin

One of the most important things to do when designing a new product is to get as much consumer feedback as possible. That is why we are distributing our latest iteration of our LaunchPads to hundreds of girls and women this quarter. We are gathering product feedback that will inform future iterations of our LaunchPad.

We call this approach “build to learn” to ensure that we prove out the market viability of our product in real-time. Girls’ responses and insights inform our work daily, and it is critical that we establish trust at every step.

Hundreds of girls and women will each receive their own pack of our go! menstrual pads, along with education and guidance to properly manage their menstrual needs. We have already distributed our banana-fiber menstrual pads to teen students at our partner vocational school in Ngoma, and the women farmers that supply us our banana fiber.

Teen students at local vocational school each received their own pack of go! pads to try.

Teen students at local vocational school each received their own pack of go! pads to try.

Understanding girls’ needs and behaviors is also critical to prove out our market viability. Schools are an ideal location to roll-out our go-to-market strategy. We can reach a large population of girls before puberty so they are prepared to manage the changes.

Our work at the school level involves students, teachers, headmasters. Students take part in our menstrual hygiene management awareness sessions, while their teachers will be part of our inaugural training programs.

This fall fifty teachers will learn how to deliver menstrual hygiene and puberty education to girl and boy students.

We are weeks into our large-scale manufacturing and distribution. Stay tuned as we share the results and stories from our first months of operation!

High school senior will hike Mount Kilimanjaro for SHE

in Blog  by connie lewin

 

Bella Wiener is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to raise $50,000 for SHE. Watch her latest interview.

Bella Wiener is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to raise $50,000 for SHE. Watch her latest interview.

Bella Wiener, a high school senior at Bend High School in Bend, OR, is preparing to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to spark awareness for one of the most overlooked, but persistent taboos, that is holding back millions of girls across the world: menstruation.

Bella decided on doing a charity climb for SHE while participating in Brown University’s summer leadership program. I came across SHE and fell in love with the work and ideas. I appreciate how SHE isn’t just providing temporary aid, but rather creating entrepreneurs and creating a much more sustainable solution to the problems that women in sub-Saharan Africa face when trying to receive equal education opportunities.”

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is nothing new to this 17-year-old. When Bella was in the 5th grade, her mother organized a charity climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money to build an orphanage in Kenya. “I was fortunate enough to travel to Tanzania and climb part way up Mount Kilimanjaro before I had to return to the base because of my young age. Ever since this incredible experience, I have had the desire to return to Kilimanjaro and summit it,” shares Bella.

Bella reached out to SHE about her plans, and our Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf expressed immediate interest in helping Bella achieve her goals.

“Bella is a smart and passionate young person who is a great example of how one person can make a difference. I am so glad she took initiative to increase the awareness, reach, and impact of what we do. $50,000 will help us triple our pad production capacity from 500/pads a day to 1,500 pads/day in Rwanda. Bella’s climb will also allow us to expand and scale globally with our patented technology.”

The official kick-off of Bella’s charity climb took place on October 9th at the Patagonia store. SHE’s Founder and Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf joined Bella at the event.

The Kilimanjaro SHE Climb is a team effort and Bella invites anyone to support her fundraising effort. “The best ways you can support the Kilimanjaro SHE Climb are to join our climb team, donate to me or one of my climbers, or tell your friends about SHE and its mission.”

You can support Bella’s cause and follow Bella’s preparation for her climb on her blog: http://kilimanjarosheclimb.wordpress.com/

Elizabeth Scharpf and SHE are featured in Nicholas Kristof's book A Path Appears.

SHE Featured in A Path Appears

in A Path Appears / press  by connie lewin

Nicholas Kristof’s and Sheryl WuDunn’s latest book, A Path Appears, features SHE. In this book, they feature “innovators who are using research, evidence-based strategies, and brilliant ideas of their own to prevent violence, improve health, boost education, and spread opportunity at home and around the world,” and concludes “social entrepreneurship” and for-profit organizations as the most promising models for change. Among these social entrepreneurs featured is SHE’s Founder and Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf!

We’re grateful for a spotlight on our work and most importantly, on the too-long overlooked issue of lack of access to menstrual health education and affordable products such as our SHE go! pads.

You can join the SHE movement today. Become a SHE Trailblazer and invest today.

SHE LaunchPads for Change Profiled in Pulitzer Prize Winner Nicholas Kristof’s book, A Path Appears

in press  by connie lewin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Connie Lewin

Director of Strategic Partnerships & Marketing

supportshe@sheinnovates.com

SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises) LaunchPads for Change Profiled in Pulitzer Prize Winners Nicholas Kristof’s and Sheryl WuDunn’s latest book.

SHE founder Elizabeth Scharpf is profiled in Pulitzer Prize winning authors Nicholas Kristof’s and Sheryl WuDunn’s latest book; A Path Appears, a study on innovators and social change.

New York, NY – September 2014 – A Path Appears, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof, and Sheryl WuDunn includes a profile of SHE’s Founder and Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf, (Notre Dame, Fulbright Fellowship, Harvard MBA/MPID), on her journey from Harvard Business School to rural Rwanda in pursuit of a solution to a pressing social problem:

18% of women and girls in Rwanda SHE surveyed were regularly missing out on work or school because they could not afford to buy menstrual pads.

Quite apart from the personal injustice, and the larger issues of health and dignity, Scharpf calculated the potential GDP loss at $215 per women per year – a total of $115,000,000 in Rwanda alone.

Determined to pursue an innovation, not aid approach, Scharpf, through her organization SHE, Sustainable Health Enterprises, developed and patented a method to transform banana trunk fiber (typically thrown out) into 5-cent menstrual pads. These pads could be sold cheaply to women, and to schools who could give them to girls who need them.

500 pads a day.

3,000 girls a month.

A Path Appears weighs up the merits of the innovation, not aid approach, and finds it to be highly successful: “innovators who are using research, evidence-based strategies, and brilliant ideas of their own to prevent violence, improve health, boost education, and spread opportunity at home and around the world.”

The book concludes that “social entrepreneurship” and for-profit organizations are the most promising models for change.

“I believe what sets SHE apart, and merits being featured in A Path Appears, is our approach to disrupting traditional aid models,” said Scharpf. “Strange as it may seem, my goal is to be driven out of a job by actually solving problems by applying good business ideas and practices to global issues.”

“As a social venture, SHE is determined to seek out other solutions to unsexy or overlooked problems that can have a huge impact on people’s everyday lives. There’s a profound lack of toilets in the world. And transportation is a problem: developing countries make up 50% of the world’s traffic, but have 90% of its traffic fatalities.”

To learn more about Elizabeth Scharpf, SHE and SHE28, please go to www.sheinnovates.com.

To learn more about A Path Appears, go to: A Path Appears

SHE is Hiring! Business Operations Manager for SHE Rwanda

in careers / join the she team / rwanda  by connie lewin

We are in an exciting time of growth and are looking to hire a Business Operations Manager to lead our Rwanda-based entity to profitability and scale. We are seeking a self–starter who sees things as opportunities (not challenges), and inspires and manages a team to scale our short, but proven track record. We are seeking someone who can do the following things:

  • Drive profitability and scale. This position will be responsible for the P&L by reducing supply chain costs, working with the technical team to increase productivity, and driving sales.
  • Develop evidence-driven implementation plan
  • Manage implementation plan roll-out while working with a diverse set of actors
  • Hire and develop staff in Rwanda
  • Advocate for SHE externally in Rwanda and globally
  • Lead with integrity

Qualifications

We are looking for outstanding candidates who fit the following criteria:

  • Track record: 6-10+ years of work experience, must have some operations experience.
  • Business savvy: Have been responsible for a P&L and built and managed teams that successfully executed on a strategic plan for impact and scale. Must be experienced in building financial models that will drive key parts of the strategy.
  • Can-do positive attitude (we did figure out how to make sanitary pads out of banana trees—not easy!)
  • Language: English required. + Kinyarwanda preferred.

Job Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Duration
 minimum: 2+ years commitment, full-time job.

Preferred Start Date:
 Oct 2014

Compensation: Competitive with performance-driven bonuses and raises

To Apply:

Please send cover letter and CV to hresources@SHEinnovates.com by SEPTEMBER 30th and let us know why you would be the best person for the job today!

It’s go time!

in Blog / large-scale pilot production / manufacturing / Ngoma / rwanda  by connie lewin

Guest post by Tyson Huffman, Acting Chief of Production

I’m proud to introduce to you go! pads, our pilot product.  We just distributed them to 43 girls and women at our partner institution, IPRC in Kibungo, Rwanda.  Our production lead, Marie Louise, led a discussion about menstruation, hygiene, and how to use our product.  I was blown away!  Marie Louise is destined for great things within our organization.  She is one of the best public speakers I have ever seen.  We then gave the students 2 months worth of go! Pads.  We are anxiously awaiting their feedback so that we can improve our product.

What a ride!  To get here we had to take a substandard facility and make it not only useable but hygienic.  We installed electricity and water to the building.  Electricity was not easy.  We installed fuses and breakers.  Even with those safety mechanisms in place we burned 2 motors and a pump.  We installed a direct ground.  In the US the ground goes directly back to the source of power.  We improvised a copper rod buried in salt.

For water we installed a large tank that we elevated so that we had good pressure.  Water service is sporadic here so we needed a tank to ensure we were always supplied.  Because we don’t use any harmful chemicals we use a lot of water.  We added a second tank so that we could recycle our process water.  We only use about 2 gallons of water a day.

IRPC students with go pads. These students will test our pads before they officially roll out in the market.
Our Ngoma production site is near the campus of the local technical school.
Thanks to our water recycling system, we only use 2 gallons of water per day!

A sealed room was necessary for final pad assembly.  We knocked down some walls and created a sealed sliding door.  We are installing a blower that will create positive pressure within the room.  This will ensure that nothing like dust or bacteria can enter our assembly room.

There’s more to share – stay tuned for part two!

Being a Part of a Global Community

in 2014 / Blog / Meet the SHE Team  by connie lewin

Post by Sylvere Mwizerwa, Business Development Officer, SHE Rwanda

I would like to first express my words of thanks to Barry and Dolly Segal and their family for their support of SHE and sub-Saharan Africa initiatives.

The Segal Family Foundation’s annual conference was wonderful and unique. I learned the best and polite ways to ask professional questions in front of a crowd of people with different backgrounds.  The conference helped me to grow as a person!

I met many like-minded people that do similar work that we do.  Michael Wilkerson, the CEO of Tugende, a moto transportation company in Uganda, shared helpful advice on how to approach governments when it comes to reducing taxes and forming public-private partnerships.

For example, Dr. Laura Stachel from We Care Solar, a social enterprise that distribute solar boxes to countries in Africa and Asia, personally taught me how she was able to form successful partnerships with government institutions. We Care Solar has partnerships with Ministries of Health and Ministries of Education which has helped them to distribute their products to hospitals and clinics at a lower price. Her model is amazing and is very similar to ours.

As the Business Development Officer, I am focused on reducing our supply chain and production costs. It was great to therefore meet Robina Sarah Naluwooza from Set Her Free from Uganda who recommended to potential new suppliers. This will help SHE Rwanda to drive down our costs during our operations.

The speeches, plenary sessions and lunch table discussions were really good opportunities to share our thoughts and discuss in large the challenges that we are facing and the way to solve these. I have formed a strong network among all types of social entrepreneurs.