TiwaleTogether with IDG
Last spring in 2015, I met Ellen at a function my university, University of the Pacific, was hosting to award her as a Powell Exemplary Leader. The Powell Exemplary Leader award is given to an individual who the Powell student’s believe embodies important characteristics in leadership and social change. The Powell’s are a group of students who are shaping to be leaders after college and excel in their academics above the average student. Hearing Ellen talk about Tiwale and all the work that her organization has done for the women of Malawi was truly inspiring. This is why I was so excited to learn that the Integrated Development Group (IDG) would be working on a project for Tiwale, and that I would be the project manager.
IDG is a student-driven, management consulting group sponsored by the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, compromised of twenty students from various academic backgrounds. Our mission statement is, “To accelerate high impact social entrepreneurs and enterprises through an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving.” Each semester, the team takes on two to three projects and teams are formed with student analysts assigned to the projects that best compliment their academic skill sets and interests. The ultimate goal of this project with Tiwale, is to raise the funds necessary to build an education center that will help over 100 women a year and act as a facility for Tiwale’s fabric production. The team working on Tiwale’s campaign is comprised of five analysts with backgrounds in economics, civil engineering, engineering management, bioengineering, and finance. With this interdisciplinary approach, my team is working to create an Indiegogo campaign for Tiwale specifically to raise the funds to help them succeed in their mission.
This project includes designing the layout and graphics of the campaign, editing the content, updating the campaign throughout its term, and increasing its outreach via social media and communication platforms. The success of this project will be measured in May when the campaign closes and we hopefully reach our goal of $20,000. It will be exciting to see where this campaign will lead and how it will affect the future of Tiwale. Additionally, the team will be working to identify donors and organizations that are willing to partner with Tiwale and support the education center through donations of furniture, school supplies, computers, and other materials that will help the center reach its goal of having a graduating class by next June.
Our hopes are to create a larger Tiwale community and to expand the following and support of the organization. We foresee the campaign being successful and the launching of the women education center within the next year. As a team, we are excited to work closely with Tiwale and hope to keep a close partnership not only to work with them in the next years, but also to support their endeavors.
Project Manager
Meagan Kim