How do you make a lasting impact on the people of Rwanda? The Women’s Bakery(TWB), is not alone in its belief that an answer to that question starts on a small scale.

After touching down in Rwanda last night, our team was excited to get started early this morning. Once we all introduced ourselves, we dove into the specifics of what TWB means to each of the members on its leadership team.

Markey Culver (President and Co-Founder), Julie Greene (Co-Founder and East Africa Director), Meg North (East Africa Program Officer), Aime Nshizirungu (Rwanda Training Facilitator) and Yvonne Mukamutara (Finance and Training Intern) walked us through how they believe The Women’s Bakery helps the women it employs gain “irrevocable skills.”

Amie went so far as to declare that, “Through TWB, women are able to understand how to own, start, and track their own businesses.”  He believes that once trained the women “are not only helping their income, but also their families, their towns, and their nation’s well being as well.”

To understand the scale of this impact, we considered it essential to witness the impact first-hand. We are representing Washington University’s Olin Business School and the Center for Experiential Learning as a team of consultants to advise TWB on how to build on what it is already doing and help it overcome some current challenges. Our time on the ground is an integral aspect of understanding their model, but also more intimately to recognize their cultural impact.

Today we became acutely aware of the impact scale. We always knew that TWB offered access to life skills, nutritional knowledge and educational business acumen. But there is something about hearing these leaders discuss it in person that really brings that impact to life.