South African entrepreneur Rayana Edwards secures Goldman Sachs and Fortune 2020 Women Leaders Award.
Championing a sacred economy sees social entrepreneur, visionary and advocate passionate about transforming economies and tipping the scale for the unskilled through mentoring and job creation behind the Sari For Change movement, Rayana Edwards recognized by global giants for her transformation entrepreneurial business model.
Edwards was announced a joint winner of the 4th Annual Goldman Sachs Fortune Global Women Leaders 2020 award. The prestigious award was presented virtually online from Washington DC at the Fortune Most Powerful Summit held on 30 September 2020
This annual award, is made possible through a partnership between the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program and Fortune’s Most Powerful Women franchise, and is given each year to outstanding women from around the world who are working to empower others in their communities and countries.
Edwards through the award receives a $25,000 grant towards amplifying her already established Sari For Change brand this time for her ‘Pay it Forward Schools programme’, linked to low income underserved communities to establish training and mentoring incubations. This scalable programme is already fast tracking and pivoting and through the grant will enable the pipeline of ‘Made in South Africa’ garments
This grant will enable Edwards to start more creative hubs/incubations at schools or safe spaces. The idea is to incubate the unemployed, unskilled women for a 6-9 month period, whilst training them in a needlecraft or garment making skill that they can utilize afterwards.
Through her vision the incubation empowers the women with a skill and also provides a grant while they are in training. In addition the under resourced schools where the training incubation hubs are set up will receive a stipend for the rentals of the schools demonstrating how possible it is to create a flowing sacred economy, a passion Edwards actively promotes.
“This award from the 10,000 Women and Fortune Mentoring Programme comes at a time when the world needs to create impactful solutions to create sustainable job creation opportunities. This award empowers us to pay forward a job creation model that is functional, scalable with immediate results, especially now as Covid 19 demands we re-think how we position and build forward humanly in our new normal” says Edwards.
Once the women are trained they become independent suppliers to Sari For Change who already have access to local and international markets. As sustainable fashion has gained momentum globally, this model demonstrates profitability within sustainability. The working from home scenario is an important component in this process as Edwards’s feels mothers need to be present to protect their children in communities whilst creating an entrepreneurial environment. The incubation will serve as a skills-based intervention with a niche in creating high quality garments and products
Nads Pillay of GEP (Gauteng Economic Propeller) saw the impact of the training incubation and committed to their first training incubation which was rolled out in 2015 and comprised of 8 women. To date 67 women have been trained, mainly self funded by Harem Clothing and Consult and the sari donations.
Donors of saris are paying it forward through their sari donation, and Sari for Change is paying it forward in skills to provide an income to previously unskilled women, creating a circular economy. The saris are sold online, and a huge % profits are returned to the project.
The impact of this mentoring incubation outlines according to Edwards enables:
Role modeling: The success of the mothers being able to earn in a dignified manner means they are creating role models within their community which spills over to the youth reducing the rate of unemployment.
Safety: African women are for too long victims of domestic crimes but also of poor economic policies enduring cycles of poverty. If woman manage to survive, manage and some even thrive despite their poverty and dire circumstances, imagine their capability to manage their own wealth and sustainability through feasible projects such as Sari for Change.
Women becoming self-sufficient: Success can be measured directly by the products produced, but more importantly by the number of women gaining new skills with a fast track in earning potential.
“Sari For Change would like to see more entrepreneurs or home industry businesses operated by women. As Covid-19 has come to show us, the idea of traveling far to get to one’s workplace is no longer necessary. As women, we could be happier and safer working remotely or converting our homes into office or workshop spaces” says Edwards
The project can easily be replicable to every community growing a local manufacturing work force and allows communities to promote entrepreneurship through skills transfer, mentoring and supporting the fashion industries lucrative financial pipeline.
