These women saw a problem and didn’t just stand by. In fact, they made sure they did something about it. We meet the six winners of this year’s Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards – which recognises those who solve contemporary global challenges. They truly show us why women #runtheworld.
1. “I want breast cancer survivors to look and feel better”
WHO › Ciara Donlon, Founder and chief executive, Theya Healthcare
Ciara Donlon once ran her own lingerie shop in Dublin, but was dismayed to realise that she had nothing to offer breast cancer survivors who came into her store looking for suitable garments that would be comfortable to wear after their mastectomies. Most of the bras on the market for them were ugly, bulky and bland – designed to keep prostheses in place.
“Seeing their distress was the catalyst to setting up Theya Healthcare (Theya is one of the names of the Hindu goddess of power),” says Ciara. “I knew I could help these women by listening to them and designing a product that puts their needs first.”
She began designing lingerie that was both comfortable and functional, but still feminine-looking – with rose motifs and pastel colours. The lingerie is made from an environmentally friendly bamboo fabric that is antibacterial, thermal-regulating, and more absorbent than cotton.
Helping women feel better post-surgery is a cause close to Ciara’s heart. “When I was a child, my grandmother, Rose, underwent a double mastectomy. I can’t go back in time and make things easier for my grandmother, but I can help women like her today,” she says. It’s also why she incorporates the rose motif into her designs – as a tribute to her grandmother.
So popular are Ciara’s products that Theya has been selected as the official supplier to the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, selling directly to hospitals and also to retailers.
“You realise you are making a real difference in people’s lives, and that’s incredibly rewarding,” she adds.
2. “I want to make it easier to save water”
WHO › Katie Anderson, founder, Save Water Co
Water conservation is a major global concern, but for Katie Anderson, it literally hits close to home. The Dallas-based entrepreneur recognised the need to save water in the dry western states of the US, which were increasingly facing water shortages because of oil and gas-fracking activities.
Working with large commercial real estate and multi-family properties – which are among the largest consumers of water – Katie wanted to make sure Save Water
Co would take a sustainable approach to water conservation. The process has three steps – first, finding the root of the problem. That means reviewing water bills and conducting on-site inspections to uncover drips and gather water-usage data. Next, all leaks are plugged, and showerheads and toilets are fixed, if necessary. The last step is maintenance, where the buildings are monitored every month for leaks.
Katie’s strategy has proven simple but effective, and she’s managed to help the properties working with her company save 30 million gallons of water a month. That in turn has helped raise the property values while reducing expenses and the environmental footprint. The philosophy Katie lives by? “Always ask – how can everyone and everything win? Once you find a solution, the possibilities are endless,” she says.
3. "I WANT WOMEN TO HAVE THE POWER TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES"
WHO › Salma Abdulai, chief executive officer, Unique Quality Product Enterprise
Living in rural, drought-prone Northern Ghana, where close to 90 percent of households are dependent on agriculture to feed their families, Salma Abdulai desperately wanted to alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the region.
Salma, who has a degree in agriculture economics, realised that fonio, a largely overlooked indigenous grain, could be a solution. Packed with vitamins and minerals, it’s hardy – which means it can thrive even in droughts or floods, and has a short harvesting time. So she set up Unique Quality Product Enterprise in 2014 with the aim of processing and marketing fonio, and farmers registered to grow the crop.
But fonio’s benefits went beyond just filling bellies. Salma also noticed that many women did not have access to land to grow their own crops, and had to work as labourers instead, on farms owned by men. It struck her that fonio could change this. “Because fonio can grow on marginal soils (land that’s defined as arid and inhospitable) without fertiliser, women who don’t own lands can take the initiative to grow it on abandoned plots,” explains Salma. “They can now grow their own crops, and earn an income to support their families.”
4. “I want to give start-ups a chance”
WHO › Candice Pascoal, founder, Kickante
“I was in India, trying to help a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) professionalise its fund-raising efforts, when I saw this child sleeping on the floor, and a rat scurrying by,” Candice recounts. “All these kind people from the NGO were doing their best to make a difference, but I knew that it would not be sustainable.” At that time, her native Brazil was suffering from its worst recession in a century, and corporate and government funding for start-ups and small businesses had slowed down. Candice saw that the creativity and generosity of the Brazilian people were not being tapped, so in 2013, she founded Kickante – Brazil’s answer to crowdfunding platform Indiegogo.
Kickante makes the first donation to campaign creators, and only applies fees at the end of the campaign. It also offers free digital marketing support and targets large and even international NGOs. The company has played a big role in fostering a culture of fund raising across the country – allowing donations to be paid in instalments, sharing data analytics, as well as videos for the uninitiated on what crowdfunding is, and the benefits it can bring. Since then, Kickante has become the largest crowdfunding platform in Brazil, having raised more than $28 million reals (about S$12 million) so far.
5. “I want to elevate the status of Indian women”
WHO › Trupti Jain, founder and director, Naireeta Services
Women make up a large portion of India’s agricultural sector, but Trupti Jain felt that they were not getting the recognition they deserved. “I have been working with rural women over the last two decades, and despite how knowledgeable they are about their work, they have very little social status,” explains Trupti. “Even though most of the agricultural work is done by women in India, less than 2 percent have land in their own names.”
So together with a group of like-minded individuals, Trupti founded social enterprise Naireeta Services. Its most important invention to date is the Bhungroo (which means “straw” or “hollow pipe” in Hindi), that essentially empowers women farmers with a sense of control over the land they till, especially when battling unpredictable elements. Once installed, the Bhungroo filters, injects and stores excess water underground. This means it saves a farmer’s crops during monsoon season, while ensuring a steady water supply during the dry months. What this translates to is food security.
Naireeta Services offers a one-time transaction fee for a tailor-made Bhungroo to be constructed and maintained for two years.
The Bhungroo solution is twofold – not only is it meant to provide a more stable yield of crops and boost income, but also to empower these women and lift them out of poverty. Nearly 3,000 women labourers have benefited from the Bhungroo, and they’ve also been trained to spread the word to villages in disaster-affected areas.
6. “I want children to eat better”
WHO › Sara-Kristina Hannig Nour, founder, Sara and Lara’s Baskets
Six years ago, Switzerland-born Sara-Kristina Hannig Nour arrived in Cairo, Egypt to pursue her master’s degree in organic farming. She realised a lot of locally-grown food was exposed to chemicals and harmful pesticides. The problem became all too real when she got pregnant, and the search to find healthy organic produce was futile. “Being in touch with nature, caring about animals and our environment, and making informed choices about the food we consume are important principles I live by, and wish to pass on to my children,” she says.
So in 2014, Sara and Lara’s Baskets (named after her first daughter) was born. It is Egypt’s first farm-to-table delivery system, where weekly shipments of organic seasonal produce are sent to customers in locally-woven reusable baskets. Grown on Sara’s family-owned farm, the organic certified vegetables and fruits are not packaged in plastic or left to sit on the shelf, where they lose vital nutrients. Sara has also created a more cost-effective sister line called Lara’s Premium Produce, which features non-organic but quality produce sourced from neighbouring farms. The business now delivers to both Cairo and Alexandria, sending out around 100 baskets every week.
