BeadforLife
Creates sustainable opportunities for African women to lift their families out of poverty by connecting people worldwide in a circle of exchange that enriches everyone.
Luci Sheehan
P&G Alumni Sponsor
Eight (8) years at P&G in Sales / CBD (North America); 1st female P&G District Manager
Luci’s work as a strategic consultant took her to Africa where she became involved with BeadforLife (BFL). Luci serves on BFL’s Professional Women’s Advisory Committee and is a personal donor. She launched the Professional Business Women’s program in Jan 2017 connecting American & Ugandan business woman for mentorship. She is also helping the P&G Alumni Foundation to develop a “beyond the money” strategy to further engage P&G alumni and grantees.
“My P&G experiences nurtured my interest in supporting the empowerment of women. BFL has helped me make a difference – helping women and their families who are suffering from deep poverty.” ~Luci Sheehan
Established in Uganda in 2004, BFL created a global market for jewelry made from recycled paper. Given early success, BFL saw the increased need for better business training and started its Street Business School (SBS) – an immersion training program educating other African NGOs to better manage their businesses and increase their sales. Through jewelry making and its SBS, BFL has impacted the lives of more than 60,000 individuals across five (5) African countries with a goal of elevating 1 million women out of poverty by 2027.
To learn more about BeadforLife, click here to visit their website.
Taking the best part of BeadforLife’s beads-to-business training, Street Business School was created in 2010 with a mission to end extreme poverty through small business ownership. Their mobile classrooms meet women in their own communities and give them the skills and confidence they need to build sustainable businesses including practice business skills education and one-to- one mentoring.
P&G Alumni Foundation grant of $20,000 supports continued expansion of the very successful “teach the teachers” program with four (4) additional immersion training workshops and 32 new global catalyst partners, expanding the number of certified coaches. It is expected that 5,230 women will be trained in years 1-2 alone by the expanded network. Prior Foundation grant support has helped SBS scale their successfully model, expanding to southern and western Africa.
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“Accounting + Confidence = Business Success”
Despite working hard, Safina’s business was not thriving because she did not know the importance of basic bookkeeping. All that changed after attending Street Business School. Ignited with accounting knowledge, Safina started a new business of selling belts. In the afternoon on a busy street in Kireka town, Safina, full of energy, lays out her belts with confidence. Today because of joining SBS, Safina is getting smarter in money matters, her business is growing by the day and gradually, she is becoming the pride and envy of Kito village. Her income has increased from $2.28/day to $8.57.
“I make sure I have a big stock – naturally eyes are drawn to a business with lot of things – and I have learned how to keep my income and expenditure accounts separate. I feel so good I can hardly sleep!” Safina says.