Rise

Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time in the middle of College Station, Texas with a whole lot of mid-Spring Texas heat.

I was down South to join The Women’s Bakery Chapter Group at A&M – TWB A&M – for a campus-wide awareness event called “Rise.” The concept was dreamed up over a year ago by Alayna Davis, the Chair & President of the Chapter, and intern for TWB. Alayna is helping us to build a national network of chapter groups – the first one being at Texas A&M.

The event was designed to bolster awareness of the chapter group, and the work of TWB. Additionally, the beautifully-made and powerful documentary “Girl Rising” was screened as a way to inform attendees about the plights for girls and education around the world, a cause very near and dear to my heart.

Following the screening, we hosted a TWB informational, where I explained the Bakery in the Box Model and the impact of our work in East Africa. I fielded lots of questions from curious students, teachers, and community members. Perhaps more profoundly, we also engaged in conversations about the importance of locally-driven work, and why sustainability depends on it.

After I spoke about TWB, the chapter group hosted two other speakers, Dr. Janet Marcantonio, and Dr. Henry Musoma, both professors and connections to A&M’s business and international programs. Dr. Marcantonio shared pictures from her Peace Corps Service in Gabon, and Dr. Musoma shared stories about growing up in Southern Africa, emphasizing the power that storytelling holds for all of us. He left the audience with this thought, “stories can liberate us…they can also oppress us. Be the one to tell you story.”

Following the event, humbled and amazed at the energy for TWB at the school, I received an email from an A&M student who had come to learn about The Women’s Bakery.

She wrote in her email,

“...the women involved in with TWB remind me a lot of my mother, who's main goal was to provide for her family. I love to see empowered women doing good, not only for their families, but for the good of their communities. I feel that TWB has given these women a network, a personal community of their own where they can rely on each other and feel powerful being women, I am all for that…I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to feel empowered, and that is why I love what TWB stands for.”

Now, that, my friends, is bread power.

TWB's Pilot Campus Chapter

Written by Alayna Davis, TWB A&M's Chapter President

Last spring, The Women’s Bakery launched our pilot campus chapter at Texas A&M University. We started off as a small group of officers, brainstorming what a TWB campus chapter would look like. We are now a thriving organization with over 40 members who love and believe in The Women’s Bakery’s mission and vision!

As a campus chapter, our goals are to raise awareness and funds for The Women’s Bakery as well as to educate Texas A&M students and our community about topics such as women’s empowerment and social enterprise.

Our Finance Officer, Kelyn, gave an update on our chapter’s work so far, “To date, we have put on internal group events and completed two separate fundraisers, as well as begun working to plan a large scale program for the spring.”

Our internal events consist of socials, put on by our Social Officer, Natalie, as well as our meetings planned and run by our Education Officer, Colton. At these meetings we have discussed topics such as Rwandan and Tanzanian Culture and Women’s Empowerment.

At another one of our meetings, Colton conducted an interview via Skype with Heather Newell. Colton described his experience: “I had the privilege of interviewing Heather... It was so fascinating and informative getting to hear from someone that has been with TWB from its early stages and has watched it progress over the years.”

Our Vice Chair, CJ, has done a great job facilitating our biweekly officer meeting and says that, “The officers have done an incredible job at creating a welcoming environment for our members and a tangible spirit of unity throughout the organization.” After just a few months as a campus organization, we are already making an impact on campus.

We have had two articles published on campus about our work and have generated a lot of support via social media. We have also made a personal impact on our members. Our Marketing Officer, Madi, describes the effect that The Women’s Bakery has had on her, “The Women’s Bakery has been so much more than something to throw onto my resume. I have learned about other cultures around the world, other people at my own university, about what feminism means to others, and I’ve even learned a bit about myself… The Women’s Bakery has been very eye-opening for me.”

Our Campus Engagement Officers Samira and Ashlie “anticipate an upcoming semester filled with even more events that are informative, meaningful, and fun! All of our members are very excited to be working on programs that will educate the Bryan/College Station area on women's empowerment and the work of The Women's Bakery.”

We also foresee our already large membership growing even bigger as many students have contacted us in hopes of joining us next semester. TWB A&M is off to a fantastic start and all of our officers and members feel so fortunate to have the chance to play a role in this exciting new development for TWB.