The Women's Bakery 2.0

2019 will be our fifth official year. I can hardly believe it as I write this. Five years!

For me, our fifth year marks the beginning of a new chapter for us: The Women’s Bakery 2.0. When I said this to Hilary, our Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) last week, she laughed and said, “I think it’s more like TWB 7.0.” And really, in many ways she is correct. Our journey up to this point has been a series of iterations – design, implement, tweak, repeat. These iterations, while tiring and often discouraging, have gotten us closer to where we are today, and closer to a tried and true model that works.

We started in 2014 with a dream – to build women-powered bakeries in East Africa. In many ways our dream has become a reality, and 2019 will serve to be the year of shoring up the stability of this dream.

To start, we have clearer direction in our mission – to build a women-centric social enterprise that gainfully employs women and provides access to quality breads in East Africa – which will aide better role designations, expectations and task execution. We have more tangible (and, frankly, attainable) goals – to enhance company culture, to socially and economically empower women, and to achieve profitability at our existing bakeries – which will aide in streamlining our operations and celebrating our successes.

We are recommitting ourselves to social enterprise, meaning we continue to place equal weight on social impact and financial return. Social enterprise is a balancing act and we are constantly re-calibrating. Often the for-profit and non-profit threads pull against each other, creating an ever-shifting landscape to equilibrate. But we’re inching closer and closer, harmonizing both sectors in small but powerful ways. That is why social enterprise is so important today – in a world that is seemingly increasingly polarized between profit and philanthropy, we are proving that business can and should be used as a tool for social good.

We have such a strong team – women at our bakeries, staff in our offices, interns, donors, and volunteers – and I am excited to watch them soar this year. I'm very proud to be part of something so much greater than myself. To be a part of a team that believes in the power of women and is committed to women’s autonomy.  

So, here’s to 2019, may this be a year of hope and strength, learning and success, commitment and celebration. We couldn’t have made it this far without you. Thank you for being part of our team and helping us build our dream of women-powered bakeries throughout East Africa – bread power!

The Next Chapter of The Women's Bakery

In times of change we reflect on the past and plan for the future. Making sense of what we have been through is important in growing the business.  

I’ve spent the past three and a half years helping to build operations for The Women’s Bakery in Rwanda. It was more than just a job to me. Little pieces of me are intertwined in the fabric of the business such as obscure interview questions, my old books for sale in the Flagship café, and professional development courses on knitting. I feel lucky to have been a part of building a business that has had such a positive impact on the lives of women. And, I am even more excited that there are fabulous groups of women running all our bakeries and corporate operations.   

While I am sad to leave, I am confident and excited for what lies ahead for The Women’s Bakery. Change is the cornerstone of growth. And, I expect, impactful changes for the company moving forward. 

In the past three months we have been able to install Bakery Operations Managers and Program Managers at our Gicumbi, Kagina, and Kigali bakeries. We have successfully transitioned a Program Manager to Deputy Director of Operations. And, five out of seven Bakery Operations Managers, Program Managers, and operations staff have been working at The Women’s Bakery for more than a year. They are well equipped to lead The Women’s Bakery into its next chapter of growth. 

Some things our supporters in the U.S. and customers in Rwanda can look forward to in our next chapter include advanced inventory tracking systems, creative marketing tactics, enhanced skills development for Bakery Operations Managers, and improved ovens and mixers to cut production time.  

What will make all these things possible is The Women’s Bakery team. And, I couldn’t be more excited for the hardworking and passionate team we have in place and for the contributions they will make. Let the business rise #breadpower.

Education & Nutrition are the Keys to Life

The Women’s Bakery (TWB) is a social enterprise that empowers women through education and business. A key component of our work is providing opportunities for knowledge gain, especially around core topics like health and nutrition. However, advocating for nutrition opportunities within the home and the community is a process.

TWB first promotes nutrition by teaching women in Rwanda about the value of the using natural ingredients, such as carrot, pumpkin, and banana. Ultimately, these ingredients are sourced in our bread products so that the community-at-large can access them.

TWB also aims to address malnutrition through our Nutrition Extension Program, where women can receive additional trainings on specialty health topics, like breastfeeding or child development. TWB assesses the need for health education by conducting surveys and data follow-ups in the sites where we have worked. If there are gaps in knowledge, topics, or nutrition-specific issues, we can work to integrate those ideas into the curriculum.

Through reception of feedback we have been able to understand that whenever a woman is educated, then the whole family has the potential to receive this education, too.

The idea of a country without high rates of malnutrition is desirable for us and this is what we are constantly striving for.

We will keep on educating women so that families can be educated.  We will keep nutrition at the core of what we do so that through education and nutrition, healthy opportunities can abound.

That’s bread power.

A Proud Walk

As the women from TWB's Remera Bakery walked up the hill from our old location, I could not help but to notice the sense of pride among them. Walking together, I heard small whispering voices “we did it, way to go.”

We all experience change in our lives and every time something positive happens in our lives we feel optimistic and hopeful. Small changes could be a pair of new shoes, a nice meal, a new make up set, or even a new batch of bread! However, when it comes to a start-up business, ALL positive change makes a difference - no matter how small it seems.

The Women's Bakery has been experiencing a number of positive changes, and this feels the biggest right now. Shifting the former bakery space to our new, beautiful flagship location has been a much anticipated solution, not only to the management of TWB, but also to the women that work at the TWB Bakery in Remera.

TWB has secured a new bakery space to expand production and capacity for our new flagship, The Women's Bakery Kigali. This is a big step for growth and one of great excitement as we consider the new possibilities for operational growth as the way to bakery profitability.

The walk from the former bakery space (up the hill) to the new flagship space took about 30 minutes. The metaphor of walking up was not lost on us, as it signaled where we have come from - and where we are going. 

The women arrived to the gate of the new flagship, curious to see what was inside, and where they would continue to bake, sell, and provide nutritious, affordable breads for the community. Once the gate was opened, they had the opportunity to look around, to check out the new space, and to envision the new future of The Women's Bakery. 

“ Then… now we are just getting started,” one of the women said as she reflected on how far TWB has come. Indeed, we are just getting started. 

This is #breadpower.