Fighting poverty through sustainable employment & fairtrade in East Africa, with Megan Kitt
In this weeks episode I speak to Megan Kitt, Founder of Tuli a Fairtrade jewellery business that creates employment in East Africa. We talk about the power of sustainable employment and economic independence in tackling poverty.
Megan has a really interesting back-story of how she came to become a social entrepreneur, starting out as a journalist and part-time model which both ultimately helped inspire and create the opportunity for her to create a jewellery business.
What I found really powerful talking to Megan was the fact that scaling impact isn’t always about the number of people you’re working with, supporting or employing – and that providing sustainable employment opportunities to individuals is key to tackling poverty long-term.
“We’re 6 years in now and it’s just one challenge at a time. One impact at a time. And we just build from there. ”
In this episode we discuss:
How Megan discovered she could use her experience to provide a market for the women making jewellery in Uganda and how she started her social enterprise [2:08]
6 years in, Megan shares how many men and women she’s supporting in Uganda and Kenya [6.02]
The challenge of making a business from East Africa and the issues Megan has faced with scalability [6:51]
Megan’s “big vision” to fight poverty in a sustainable way through fairtrade and employment [7:55]
How Megan is measuring how she’s tackling poverty and creating social impact [13:12]
The motivating factor of having your social impact data and stories [17:10]
The power storytelling has in helping your brand grow and the ethics to consider when sharing other people’s stories (as beneficiaries) [18:57]
Megan’s business model and why she employs local managers in country in East Africa [29:20]
What Tuli is now doing with it’s profit to help the communities it works in grow in a sustainable way [34:00]
Listen to episode three with Megan Kitt here.
Tuli’s Links:
https://www.facebook.com/tulistore
https://www.instagram.com/tulistyle/
If you enjoyed this podcast you may also enjoy these episodes:
Stella Airoldi at 22 Stars about her jewellery business providing employment and education in Uganda
Bianca Caruana at LOCWOM Australia about her fairtrade fashion providing employment for Nepali women
Sanne Meijboom at i-like local about her home-stay travel business providing accommodation throughout Africa & Asia
