About Vava  Angwenyi

Vava was born and raised in Kenya. In 2009, she founded the social enterprise Vava Coffee. Vava saw smiles where others only saw poverty, corruption and fears. She noticed the voices of coffee farmers and their need to be heard.

Learn more about this episode on our website

To learn more on  how fair trade participates in building a fair and equitable society, listen to:

• Episode 13 "How AKS is Promoting Gender Equality in Pakistan with Drakshan Khan"
• Episode 10 "How Fair Trade Empowers Women To Be In Charge" with Karrie Pukstas"
• Episode 07 "What Is Fair Trade And How It Can Help End Poverty" with Elisha Chan"

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Read our full blog post. 

"These are incredible people, right? I mean these are people with college educations and professional experiences and hopes and dreams and talents. And, when we think about displacement, we think about these people as either kind of poor and helpless or as burdens on society. And I think five one labs wanted to flip that on its head, right? These are assets. This is human capital that has been displaced into a place. often entrepreneurship is an incredible way for people to overcome some of the challenges in accessing jobs at their level. You may not have  connections, you might not have kind the opportunities to break into the job space, but if you have these skills, then you're able to launch a business. And so we provide training and office space and mentorship and connections, to help these amazing people to launch, amazing businesses"

We just hosted an investor trip and an investor from Bahrain called us and he was like, you've gotta be kidding me. Right? Like Iraq. There's no entrepreneurship in Iraq. And so I think it's just, it's so challenging and, and no one believes it. And yet, despite all of that, like the evidence is that there are incredible young people that are doing this without any support. Right? And that's even, you know, here in the Bay area there are tons of entrepreneurs, but it's also a lot easier to be an entrepreneur and there are role models and there are people saying like, yeah, you can do this. And they're literally, everything is against you. And yet there are still successful people doing it. And so I think that that is pretty addictive. So part of it might be the adventure that it was just a fun place to go to at the beginning.

Women empowerment

So we now run something called the incubate women's initiative, which is not the most creative name in the world, but, um, where we bring in women leaders from the community every other week to talk to our women entrepreneurs and their very intimate conversations where they share, um, they share kind of tips and challenges and, and create this supportive community, which is really important because often their families are saying like, you are crazy.

Learn More

• Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, by opposition activist groups, vary between 384,000 and about 586,100 as of March 2020
• 51 Labs
• Be Your Change
• Instagram

Wingee Sampaio, Head of Cartier Women’s Initiative

"A lot of accelerators are mainly focused on the business, accelerating a business idea. And for us, we're just trying to support women who are creating social change via leveraging business as a force for good."

In this episode, we are discussing: 

• How Unique Is Cartier's Women Initiative's Program To Help Women Social Entrepreneurs? The Cartier Women Initiative is an international program with four main key pillars to support women's social entrepreneurs.
• The International Program's Four Pillars
• What makes Cartier Women Initiative different than an accelerator?

"I would call us more of an international program. And the reason why is how a lot of accelerators are mainly focused on the business, accelerating a business idea. And for us, we're just trying to support women social entrepreneurs who are creating social change via leveraging business as a force for good."

• How Is Cartier Looking Into Changing The Culture?

The United Nations created 17 sustainable goals to achieve by the year 2030, and goal number five is achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls with disabilities.

• How To Design An Ecosystem To Empower Women Social Entrepreneurs In Creating Social Change?
• How Can We Bring Men Into The Discussion?
• How Do You Support Women's Social Entrepreneurs With Mental Health?

I loved that you’ve pointed out the assumption of heroism in the male framework of entrepreneurialism. Earlier in my career, at least a century ago, that was the only model. If you wanted to figure out how to do it, you had to do as a hero. That was a solo journey, you go up, you climb the mountain. That’s really hard to begin with. Emily Green, All Raise

• Why Women Are More Inclined Or Interested In Making The World A Better Place?

Women social entrepreneurs want to make a difference. They go into their ventures with the intention to do more than just fill the bottom line. At Babson College, we’re educating the next generation of founders to think of economic and social impact simultaneously, so that any business you build already build in this ability to go beyond profits and think about planet, people and everything. So it’s really the way the founders of the future will approach business, we can hope. Susan Duffy Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership

Key Takeaways

Stop Trying To Fix Women

A lot of what we are experiencing today in the world, from the COVID-19; to climate change is a result of an old paradigm of entrepreneurship that has created unprecedented inequality. We have the rare opportunity to not go back to business as usual and design a new society that is led by women inclusive of everyone.

Please stop trying to fix women, please stop trying to telling us to be more bullish about our projections, defending more our business against critics, I’m sorry but the best way to grow is to hear the critics and discard what is shit and input what’s good. So we have to fix the system. I think it’s time for investors to make smarter business decisions Hala Hanna, managing director MIT SOLVE

Hala Hanna took part in the panel organized by Cartier Women's Initiative. She credited Michelle King for the phrase stop trying to fix women.

Women Are Figuring Out

Despite the fact, women don't have much access to capital; they are figuring out.

Women are figuring it out. They are saying that, OK, if that slice of funding isn’t for me, I’m gonna find other ways to go. And from SheEO to Pipeline Angels to Golden Seeds to Victorius capital to Portfolia to whatever it might be across the continuum of funding opportunities, women are finding their way and they are also growing organically, very strategically, very smart, and they are using all the resources they can. Susan Duffy, executive director of CWEL

Go Deeper

• Mit Solve Global
• All Raise
• Babson College
• Cartier Women's initiative website
• Resources for Women Social Entrepreneurs
• Read The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work

“We…give voice and give the microphone to people who are coming out of the prison system. Men and women who share with us and gift us with their stories of re-entry and the challenges they face, the stigma they face.”

We talk about

1. The US Criminal Justice: A money making machine
2. The Incarceration of Women in the U.S has increased by 700%
3. One In Four Podcast: A voice for people coming out of prison
4. An unfair and inhuman system
5. The Story of Khadija Clifton, a woman in jail

"To give an idea of what we are dealing with, 1 in 3 black men and 1 in 6 Latino men are incarcerated in the U.S…compared to 1 in 17 white men."

"The Number Of Women In The Incarcerated Population Has Increased By More Than 700% Over The Last 25 Years"

Since 1980, the rate of growth for females has been twice as high. 60% of women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18. Most of them are primary caretakers.

What Does The U.S. Incarceration System Reveal About American Society?

Bea Spadacini lives in Washington D.C. and the first season of One in Four Podcast covers Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia. In the District of Columbia, there used to be a federal prison called Lorton.

There’s no more federal prison. There’s only jail. But that means that people who are sentenced to periods longer than 18 months are sent all over the United States to federal prisons. That could be as far as 500 miles away, could be Kentucky, Oklahoma, all the way to Oregon, California, which makes it extremely hard for them to stay in touch with their families, not to mention extremely expensive.

What is clear is that we are reaching the end of a system; the health system is broken; our criminal justice system is broken; education system is broken so what’s next?

Being aware of these issues is key; because it is going to help to implement new solutions; we can not fix what we don’t know. And with awareness, we can assist our previously incarcerated population better.

Go Deeper

• One In Four Podcast
• Incarceration rates worldwide and in the U.S.
• Following the Money of Mass Incarceration
• https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/united-states
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, talks about mass incarceration as a new form of slavery.

One of the most secrets of Parisian neighborhoods, Montreuil is well-known for its left-wing politics and its diverse immigrants population.The city has been led by a succession of Mayors affiliated with the French communist but also the Green party.

We talked to Rebecca Dry about:

• Montreuil: One Of The Most Diverse Parisian Neighborhoods: An Incredible Melting Pot Right At The Door Of Paris.

“So it's almost like a hidden jewel and lots more people from Paris are coming to live here now, which is good. They wouldn't have touched it 10 years ago and now it's kind of trendy to live here, you know, so they call it the Brooklyn of Paris…and it tends to be where people maybe dare to be a bit different.

• Rebecca’s Parisian’s Neighborhoods Life

It is an amazing place there's nowhere like it in France. There's nowhere like it here. 1,500 artists live here. There's something like eight to 900 artists workshops. There's tens of fab labs. There is a punk and rock music culture but also a gypsy culture.

• Montreuil’s Commitment To Nature: The ‘Mur De Pêches’

Culture in Montreuil is everywhere and along with culture, there is the environment with many public vegetable gardens and the famous ‘Mur de pêche’, which means the wall of peach.

People from Montreuil are different. They are rebellious.

• The Inspiration Behind Love Montreuil

I thought to myself, there isn't a website about this town that I myself would love to read and fall upon. You know, I would love to know about what's going on in this town. So there was nothing. I thought, why don't I create one? So I decided to do it and I decided to create it myself from scratch, like the website, everything, the photos, everything, the content, with a view to valorizing and valorizing my town and also the people who make it move and shake.

• The Paradoxe Of Diversity And Gentrification 

If we loose diversity, that wouldn't be Montreuil anymore.

• The Need To Give Back

Poverty is one of the leading causes to mental health issues.

The United Nations number 3 goals of the 17 goals for a more sustainable world, is about well-being and health. To understand what it means in action to tackle the goal number 3, we are traveling to Sante Fe, New Mexico, to meet with Meryl Lieberman. She is the co-founder of the non-profit Casa Milagro or House of Miracles. We are talking to Meryl today about her commitment and innovative approach to end homelessness and address mental health for homeless people in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I had a grandma who was a Holocaust survivor who spent some time in mental hospitals. And when I used to act out, my mom would sometimes threaten to send me to one of those places. And so early on I made a decision that that's my life's work is to keep people out of those places. Meryl Lieberman

In this episode, you’ll learn about

• Mental Health And Homeless People
• The story of Casa Milagro: A therapeutic community for formerly homeless people
• Stigma and homeless people
• A unique collaboration with other organizations

"And I do have a bias. I believe that we all are on the spectrum somewhere and that our culture's pretty ill right now in terms of divisiveness. And so, you know, I think we were kind of needing each other more than ever right now has been my experience. So most of the people who come on, I don't think they'd have so much fear. Meryl Lieberman"

Even though we have a woman to thank for making the podcast a true mainstream media – Sarah Keonig, with Serial – and even though the gender gap is closing when it comes to looking at the listeners (44% of whom are female, according to a 2018 study), the dominant voice on the hosting side is still male. The reason behind this is that more often then none, women feel that podcasts just aren’t for them. A way of saying they don’t feel represented in the podcasting landscape. Or, more to the point, they weren’t. Because now, we women have tools to better engage our audience, thanks to Simplecast, and its very active COO, Jeanine Wright. Throughout all her impressive career, Jeanine has always been very interested in the different ways men and women approach the working culture. And now that she works with podcasters, she is very straightforward: “Here we have this blank slate for us to make sure that we have the voices that we hear in podcasting, reflective of the listeners who are listening to podcasts”  I couldn’t have put it better myself! Come and join me in this enlightening conversation with a very passionate professional.

Why You Should Listen

In this episode, you’ll learn how women tend to approach podcasting monetization differently. We discuss some of the patterns Jeanine Wright has observed in women and what you need to know to ask for your fans to support your show.

What You’ll Learn

• Although podcasting is experiencing a female boom! it is still a male-dominated world in particular at the top of the tech podcasting industry but hopefully not for long
• Women and men tend to make their ask for support to their audience in a different way and women should be aware of it
• Podcasting has now powered a full set of data and you can now have access to some great analytics to get better insights on your content engagement and audience

The Best Quotes Of The Show

This is, is really kind of a brand new medium and we have this beautiful opportunity with this brand new medium not to have the same thing happen that has happened in every other medium where the voice of that medium is dominated by basically white men. Right? And so here we have this, this blank slate for us to make sure that we have the voices that we hear in podcasting, reflective of the listeners who are listening to podcasts.

I don’t know how we ended up here. I definitely feel like the overwhelming majority of the time I’m the only woman in the room. I think in tech in particular, tech tends to be more male.

I think some people get overwhelmed by the prospect of needing to do something big and grandiose. Like, I need to make a difference and I need to feel like I make this difference. And I would just say like, um, slow and steady wins the race, you know, like just find your things, something that resonates with you, find some of these small and do it on a regular basis and make it part of your life. And it’s hard at first. And then you get used to the cadence and then you’ll find that you’re driving so much more energy and joy from it than the effort that it takes to put into it.

Go Deeper

• Advertising:
  • Lipstick and Vynils
  • Glow
  • Ossa Collective
• Production
  • Pineapple Street Media
  • Wondermedianetwork
• Hosting Platforms
  • Libsyn
  • Simplecast
• Conferences
  • Podcast Movement
  • She Podcasts

Keep In Touch

• Subscribe to our show!
• Follow our Facebook page here
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• Join our Facebook group here
• Subscribe to our newsletter here

What You'll Learn

We are looking at the impact of our purchase on people's life. Did you know that 85% of the household budget is spent by women? It tells you how much power we hold ladies to change the world.

In this episode, we are talking to Elisha Chan, the executive director of Fair Trade a Los Angeles, a non-profit that helps to spread the word about the impact of buying fair trade products. Companies and non-profits who are certified Fair Trade have to follow strict guidelines like no child labor. Many of our day to day products like coffee and chocolate use child labor.

More than 700 million people—half of them children—live on less than $1.90 a day.

What is Fair Trade?

In this fascinating interview, you'll learn about Elisha's journey to becoming an advocate to end poverty through job creation and how fair trade crossed her path. For a girl who came from China to the United States at the age of 8 years-old because her mom decided she would have a better education overseas, her dedication inspires many of her peers. This year, Elisha has big goals..to achieve

• Make Los Angeles The Biggest Fair Trade City In The U.S
• Elisha C Foundation. In 2011, she decided to create Elisha C foundation to support Haitians because she found her call to alleviate poverty and bring economic stability to nations in need.
• 80% of the population live under the poverty line (<$2/Day)
• 50% of the kids do not attend school
• 40.6% of the population is unemployed

"I really see that with what I'm doing is raising up these Haitian people to ultimately, you know change the future of Haiti"

Over the years, Elisha C foundation has contributed to sending more than 75 kids to school.

The Best Quotes From The Show

"You can actually bring out social justice by the way, you spend your money and that is what fair trade is about"

Elisha Chan

Interested in joining the Fair Trade movement, find a fair trade organization near you and get involved. Fair trade community is welcoming and fun. 

• Fair Trade USA
• Elisha C Store

Interested in Supporting Fair Trade Companies? here is our selection of companies created by women.

• Elishac.com: Beautiful products made in Haiti and now Syria
• Thousand Villages: It all started with Edna Ruth Byler who was selling textiles from the trunk of her car. "I'm just a woman trying to help other women"
• Serrv: Serrv International is a nonprofit dedicated to fighting global poverty through fair and ethical trade.
• Tonlé: At tonlé, we see fashion differently – from the way it’s made to the way it’s worn.
• Kishe Coffee: Woman-Grown Medium Roast Coffee from Guatemala.
• Global Girlfriend:
• The Tote Project: Fay Grant and Michelle Chavez founded The Tote Project because they believe that there is hope for the millions of victims of modern-day slavery worldwide, and they want to do their part to support recovering survivors pursuing their dreams.
• Plus Fair Trade Products Supporting Women

What is Fair Trade? Go Deeper

Learn more about becoming a fair trade advocate and happy consumer and vote with your wallet.

• Listen To These Podcast Episodes
• Watch Documentaries
  • Invisible Hands
• Read Books 
  • Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made It Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide
  • Sustainable Impact: How Women Are Key To Ending Poverty
  • Buy The Change You Want To See: _Jane Mosbacher and Wendy Paris The money we routinely spend on food, clothes, gifts, and even indulgences is an untapped superpower. What would happen if we slowed down to make more thoughtful decisions about what we buy? _
• Speak Up
  • Ask your local coffee store or supermarket if they carry fair trade products.
  • Pay attention to Fair Trade logo on products you buy e.g coffee, sugar, tea, chocolate

 Executive Producer & Producer Juliette Roy

Producer Barbara Gorrand

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Fair trade and changing the world starts by looking at how we spend money, from daily purchases to long term pension funds. Today on Be Your Change, we explore impact investing. The term has different meanings for different people, but ideally, we must ensure our investment has a good impact on the world. We get insights on impact investing from Rosa Lee Harden, a leader in the social impact movement and co-founder of Social Capital Markets (SOCAP). SOCAP is a large network of investors and entrepreneurs who want money to flow towards the greater good.

In this interview, we talk to Rosa Lee Harden about the meaning of impact investing, and how we can join this movement even though we don’t have a large amount of money to invest.

• The story behind SOCAP
• What is Impact Investing?
• 3 Tips to become a more conscious investor and consumer

We have to start investing in a way that protects the planet, that protects its people. And I'm really hopeful that this movement is going to have a lot to do with that. The challenge to us is getting the word out to mainstream that there is this different way of investing, that is impact investing.

What Is Impact Investing?

Impact investing is when you take your investment portfolio and instead of just thinking about how much money you're going to make with your investment, you consider more important things. Think about what your money's doing, and how it is behaving out in the world. You should also consider the values that the investment company holds compared to yours. You may discover that you are investing in an ammunition plant or in a company that makes products with slave laborers or things that you ideally would really object to.

Ideally, you should employ investment strategies that ensure your investment will go towards things that you approve of first. And beyond that, your investment must have an impact in that it will change the world for good. This concept was developed about 10 to 15 years ago but it is rapidly influencing people’s investment decisions. People are understanding that their money can make a difference. That is the whole essence of impact investing.

The Inequality gap. According to Oxfam, the inequality gap has widened so much that the ‘world’s richest 1% gets 82% of the wealth’. (SOURCE: OXFAM/ oxfamblogs.org)

3 bits of Advice For Anyone who might not consider themselves investors because they can’t afford $50,000 dollars to invest?

1. It is not only about investment: With impact investing, the focus shouldn’t be on the size of your investment but on placing your money among people who share your values. Well, it’s not just about the size of the investment. It could be the $100 that you put in a credit union. You should investigate your bank. Do you appreciate its values? If you don’t, then look for a credit union or a smaller local bank that supports your local community. Figure out what your values are and find a banking institution that supports them. Don’t worry if sometimes you never have any money to invest, instead, you should find solace in knowing that at least you allowed your money to be co-mingled with the money of other like-minded people.

2. Be Mindful On How You Spend Your Money

More than just what you do with investments what do you do with your money in general matters even more. Maybe you start looking more carefully at food labels about is it organically grown? Is it locally grown? Is it grown in a way that is good for the planet? Or you look at some of your clothing options and make sure that at least a few things that you buy that you know that it came from a factory that didn't use slave labor in any way. I think the key is to build products that don’t have a negative impact on the environment.

Find something in your life is OK in this area of my life, this is where I'm going to work to do a better job of being a conscious consumer.

As Beyourchange, we appreciate your obvious dedication to making a difference in the world. We see you are in the trench every day working at creating a better world for the future generation – towards impact investing. What are the most exciting trends you are witnessing in your community that give you hope for the future?

I am very hopeful we will not be able to turn the other way and say, “Well you know I just you know I live my life”. You can't live your life in a society that is so blatantly disrespectful of humanity. And one of the tenets I try to live my life by is to respect the dignity of every human being. And I'm hopeful that will become a mantra in this country that we respect the dignity of every human being.

3. Educate Yourself

Remember, the best thing that we can do as consumers is to educate ourselves about where our money is spent. Know about your bank, know their values. Think twice when you buy a product. Are you perpetuating a bad system? Or are you supporting companies with a social impact mission? And, if you are thinking of investing, ensure you understand what is being done with your money and the impact your investment has on the world. How we spend money is a form of activism and can be a direct route to a more equal society.

To Learn More

• Read about the history of impact investing
• Socap: socap capital market
• Listen to the interview with Kate Byrne, president of Intentional Group, the media group of which Socap is part of.
• Read the interview of our founder, Juliette Roy, on Socap Capital Market website
• Discover Angels of Impact, an impact investing fund focusing on women

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I am talking with Stephanie Regni, a French entrepreneur based in San Francisco who decided she needed a change and wanted to be part of the solution to living on a more sustainable planet. 

From a training workshop at Recology center in San Francisco to one of the leaders of the zero waste movement in the Bay area, Stephanie's entrepreneurial journey into the social impact space is an inspiring and exciting one.