Ellen Chilemba. 21, Malawi. Founder, Tiwale

This young women is from Africa and she is setting out to help women become more independent and self-reliant. She is accomplishing this through “microloans” . Microloans are what they sound like, small loans. The amount usually ranges anywhere between $5,000 and $100,000. The goal is to help small business get the cash that they need to start their own business or the money allows them to take a bigger risk with their business. Risks can allow a company to reap more profit if executed correctly; some businesses don’t ever get the opportunity to take risks that they deem worth it because they don’t have enough money to fall back on. She founded the company Tiwale to help solve this problem. The name Tiwale means “to shine/glow” in her native language of Chichewa. She is focused on helping women better their future but raising awareness and funds for them. She started this venture by teaching Malawain women how to make dye print African fabric and saving up the money they earned. With this saved money she created the micro loans that she gave to women starting or expanding their businesses. To this date 150 women have participated in Tiwale.

She was featured in “Humans of New York” and “Forbes most promising young Entrepreneurs” both of which greatly helped to expose her and her business. She hasn’t stopped at microfinance though, she wants to build more resources for women. One idea that she has been growing and starting to put into action is opening a women’s shelter in the community of Lilongwe, Malawi. She has a plot of land currently and is in the process of raising funds for it. She wants the center to provide secondary education classes in the hope that those women will be able to get their MSCE (Malawi Secondary Certificate of Education.)

When asked what the best part of her job was she responded with, “It is the ideas that burst up once we get together. It’s amazing the strength we find in a community. Whenever our community meets, business ideas and education aspirations are always floating around. We are a positive group. My favorite moments are when a member has an idea and another member suggests a connection or supplier. Even though money is essential to sustain our opportunities, the biggest benefit is mobilizing each other.”