By JARED MILLER
Jane Mutesi is a 34 year old Rwandan entrepreneur and humanitarian. She’s married to Pastor Peter Rwagasori, one of the wisest, most humble men I’ve had the opportunity to meet. Together they have four beautiful children, and a few they have “adopted” along the way. Their home is nestled into the hillside on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.
Jane’s father left when she was eight, leaving her mother to care for her and her eleven siblings. Despite being an uneducated peasant woman, her mother put all twelve children through school and taught them the importance of a strong work ethic. During the 1994 genocide, the family took refuge in neighboring Uganda. Jane and her elder sister returned to Rwanda in 1997 in hopes of starting a new life.
Not wanting to be a burden to her relatives, she started cooking food for construction workers near her home. She borrowed a table, made some hearty food and started her first business with an investment of a mere 1000 RWF (about $2 USD). This sustained her family for over a year.
Jane Mutesi, jewelry business owner
Despite the lack of a college degree, she managed to land a job at the Ministry of Finance which lasted about two years until she was hired by a private finance company where she worked for another six years.
In March of 2006 I began developing a business that would create fashion careers for impoverished and oppressed women in Africa. When I interviewed Jane, she said, “the only thing people know about Rwanda is the genocide, but we also have many beautiful things. When people think of Africa, they only think of poverty and people relying on Western support. I believe we change that image through making high quality products for export.” She was exactly who I was looking for. We called the business “KEZA”, meaning “beautiful” in the native tongue of Rwanda.
In January 2008, Jane took over the Rwandan side of the business and I started the couture fashion label in the US. She provides lucrative work for local women’s cooperatives by creating paper based jewelry collections for KEZA. Her business is equipped with production manuals, assembly lines and quality control systems.
When asked about the women working for her, Jane is quick to cite their determination, passion and capability. “They can do anything they wish. They are not poor in spirit, only in funds.” Jane is a proponent for following one’s dreams, despite oppression and the lack of education and opportunities. “We make opportunities”, says Mutesi.
Jane wants to change what people think about her country. Now she’s providing the media a new muse for entertainment; one of beauty and excellence, not corruption and poverty. She exemplifies the term “social entrepreneur”.
Aid workers in Africa speak incessantly of sustainability. But we’ve got to do better than that. We have to move towards profitability as the new expectation. Jane doesn’t expect her business to merely get by; she expects it to thrive.
Jared Miller is President/CEO of KEZA, a socially driven couture fashion label and business development firm (www.keza.com).
Jane Mutesi is a 34 year old Rwandan entrepreneur and humanitarian. She’s married to Pastor Peter Rwagasori, one of the wisest, most humble men I’ve had the opportunity to meet. Together they have four beautiful children, and a few they have “adopted” along the way. Their home is nestled into the hillside on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.
Jane’s father left when she was eight, leaving her mother to care for her and her eleven siblings. Despite being an uneducated peasant woman, her mother put all twelve children through school and taught them the importance of a strong work ethic. During the 1994 genocide, the family took refuge in neighboring Uganda. Jane and her elder sister returned to Rwanda in 1997 in hopes of starting a new life.
Not wanting to be a burden to her relatives, she started cooking food for construction workers near her home. She borrowed a table, made some hearty food and started her first business with an investment of a mere 1000 RWF (about $2 USD). This sustained her family for over a year.
Despite the lack of a college degree, she managed to land a job at the Ministry of Finance which lasted about two years until she was hired by a private finance company where she worked for another six years.
In March of 2006 I began developing a business that would create fashion careers for impoverished and oppressed women in Africa. When I interviewed Jane, she said, “the only thing people know about Rwanda is the genocide, but we also have many beautiful things. When people think of Africa, they only think of poverty and people relying on Western support. I believe we change that image through making high quality products for export.” She was exactly who I was looking for. We called the business “KEZA”, meaning “beautiful” in the native tongue of Rwanda.
In January 2008, Jane took over the Rwandan side of the business and I started the couture fashion label in the US. She provides lucrative work for local women’s cooperatives by creating paper based jewelry collections for KEZA. Her business is equipped with production manuals, assembly lines and quality control systems.
When asked about the women working for her, Jane is quick to cite their determination, passion and capability. “They can do anything they wish. They are not poor in spirit, only in funds.” Jane is a proponent for following one’s dreams, despite oppression and the lack of education and opportunities. “We make opportunities”, says Mutesi.
Jane wants to change what people think about her country. Now she’s providing the media a new muse for entertainment; one of beauty and excellence, not corruption and poverty. She exemplifies the term “social entrepreneur”.
Aid workers in Africa speak incessantly of sustainability. But we’ve got to do better than that. We have to move towards profitability as the new expectation. Jane doesn’t expect her business to merely get by; she expects it to thrive.
Jared Miller is President/CEO of KEZA, a socially driven couture fashion label and business development firm (www.keza.com).
