March is Women's Month. This is a time to recognize the unique contributions women all over the world have made to their communities and to society. When a woman has access to social and economic opportunity, the world benefit.
A letter from Pauline
My personal life is a testimony to what happens when you invest in women. I come from a very humble background, similar to that of our bakers. I was born and raised in a slum in Nairobi called Kawangware. Opportunity and access to education has changed the course of both my life and the life of my child. This is the same impact that I see at The Women’s Bakery. The impact is not just for an individual, it is generational.
Whole Woman Programming
At The Women’s Bakery we take pride in the work that our teams do collectively to create lasting social impact. Crucial to these efforts is taking care of our team members through our Whole Woman Programming. While we are not the first to use this concept, we like to think that our unique programming redefines the workplace for women - by women - in a way that inspires others to follow suit.
The One Bread Project Update
We are proud to share that the One Bread Project (OBP) is growing! In our most recent round of data collection at the schools participating in the OBP we learned that we are serving over 6,000 students daily. This number is over triple the number of students we served this time last year. While the OBP has created a lot of buzz around the TWB community in recent years, how is it actually working? Hint: It’s increasing classroom attendance and attentiveness!
Welcome to our Newest Team Members
The Women’s Bakery is expanding our team! We are happy to announce that we are joined by three new team members who will help launch TWB towards even more success in 2022. Maureen Mutoni joins us as the Flagship Bakery Manager, Emmanuel Mbarushimana is our new Finance Assistant, and Joel Shyaka steps in as our Monitoring & Evaluation Associate. We are so excited to welcome them to the team!
Virtual Visit to Ruyenzi
We are excited to share that our bakery in Ruyenzi has moved to a new space. The new location offers a larger space and layout that is better equipped to serve our growing business. The bakery in Ruyenzi is currently open for pickup and delivery orders from the public and caters to schools in the area through The One Bread Project. Take a virtual tour with us to see our new bakery space in Ruyenzi!
Diving into Quarter 4
Though the calendar year is coming to an end, quarter four marks a new beginning for The Women’s Bakery. Between our new strategic sales partnerships and the new school year for the One Bread Project, we are now busier than ever! With these new experiences comes a new learning curve, but our team has maintained high spirits and we are up for the challenges that come our way! Learn more about how we are stepping up to our new sales demands.
Kigali Baby House Launch!
At The Women’s Bakery, we recognize and value that women wear different hats throughout their lives. We know the importance of being present in each of these roles and we never want to put a woman in the position of having to choose between these roles, especially when it comes to the workplace and being a mom. As a result, we are committed to changing the workplace for women, by women - namely through our Baby Houses.
Fall Tea Time Series, Revisited
Recently, TWB hosted our first Fall Tea Time series to connect supporters around the world with our team in Rwanda to learn more about TWB. While our series is now over, we recorded each of our presentations for those who want to watch, share, or learn more. Miss our Fall Tea Time series? Have no fear, we have them all on video!
“Failing Fearlessly at TWB” Part III: Taking Ownership
At The Women's Bakery, we pride ourselves in being resilient and learning from our challenges. While we have had many successes since our start, we have also had our share of failures. We believe that sharing these low points is just as important as sharing our victories with the TWB community. Check out what our founder and CEO, Markey Culver, has to say about failing fearlessly over the years.
Holistic Healing through 2021
At The Women’s Bakery we take pride in prioritizing the mental, emotional, and physical health of all of our team members. While we often talk about Whole Woman Programming and our holistic services for our team of strong women, our team often finds itself checking in with one another to make sure that we are actually staying true to our values and adjusting to the current climate. Read on to see the latest measures our team has taken to ensure that we are staying true to our mission.
Join us for our Fall Tea Time Series!
Our Tea Time Series is back this Fall! Throughout this Series, we will connect you with several of our Rwanda-based team leaders. Our Tea Time Series will consist of three 30-minute Zoom sessions, each on a different topic of interest. Join us to hear more about what growth, social impact, and operations have looked like at The Women’s Bakery over the last few months and what we envision as we prepare for the New Year!
“Failing Fearlessly at TWB” Part II: Social Impact
At The Women's Bakery, we pride ourselves in being resilient and learning from our challenges. While we have had many successes since our start, we have also had our share of failures. We believe that sharing these low points is just as important as sharing our victories with the TWB community. Check out what our founder and CEO, Markey Culver, has to say about failing fearlessly over the years.
Welcome to our Newest Team Members!
The Women’s Bakery is growing! We are happy to announce that we are joined by two new management team members. Pauline Kariuki, who comes to us with 15 years of bakery operations experience, will be serving as our new Director of Operations. Alice Kirera, who joins us with bakery management and administration experience, is our new Flagship Bakery Manager. We are so excited to welcome Pauline and Alice to the team.
TWB @ BEMA Convention 2021
Earlier this summer our CEO & Founder, Markey Culver, attended the annual Bakery Equipment Manufacturing Association (BEMA) Convention with our Development and Communications Director, Madeleine Binsfrahm. Markey and Madeleine were joined virtually by our South Regional Manager, Tessa Soni, for a special presentation updating BEMA members on what TWB has been up to over the past year. Read on to hear more about their takeaways from the meeting.
More Bread, More Participation!
Did you know that our school feeding program, the One Bread Project (OBP), serves over 3,000 children each day? Thanks to a generous grant from Abbott Fund, The Women's Bakery has partnered with five schools over the past year to bring our protein packed breads to school children in the Gicubmi District. Read on to find out about what impact the OBP has on students in the classroom.
Failing Fearlessly at TWB
At The Women's Bakery, we pride ourselves in being resilient and learning from our challenges. While we have had many successes since our start, we have also had our share of failures. We believe that sharing these low points is just as important as sharing our victories with the TWB community. Check out what our founder and CEO, Markey Culver, has to say about failing fearlessly over the years.
Tea Time Series
This spring, TWB hosted our first Tea Time series to connect supporters around the world with our team in Rwanda to learn more about TWB. While our series is now over, we recorded each of our presentations for those who want to watch, share, or learn more.
You will find the following presentation recordings given by our amazing team in Rwanda:
What life is like in Rwanda and our bakeries during COVID by Francoise Umutoniwase
What our bakery operations look like in Rwanda by Tessa Soni
The One Bread Project (School Feeding Program) by Charlotte Musengimana
We would like to thank all who attended this series and showed incredible support for The Women’s Bakery!
