Jishike Social Couture was created out of a desire to make a real, tangible difference in the world.  While volunteering at a school in Tanzania, East Africa, founder Sinead Fyda wanted to find a way to fight the overwhelming poverty she witnessed.  Inspired by the ideas of social entrepreneurism and creative capitalism, where you can run a successful business while simultaneously making a positive impact on the world using business strategies to fight poverty, Sinead decided to start a company doing just that.

Wanting to have a long-term impact on the lives of the children she was teaching, Sinead decided the best way to accomplish that was to work directly with their mothers.  After spending two months interviewing all the mothers, Sinead learned what their needs were, what their skills were like, and what kind of help they really needed.  From there, Sinead taught the women how to crochet and sew in order to create a line of handmade women’s accessories.  Combining her two true loves of fashion and business along with her passion for making a difference in the world, her company officially launched in 2009 and from its inception, Jishike, a Swahili word meaning ‘hold onto your strength’, used opportunity to help women empower themselves to fight poverty.

After the first Jishike collection was completed, shipped, and sold, Sinead returned to Rau, Tanzania and personally went to the bank with each woman and helped them open their first bank accounts.  Together they came up with savings goals for their family and mapped out a plan to reach those goals.  To-date the women have increased their income by as much as 700% and two have been able to install electricity in their homes for the first time in their lives.  Each time a customer buys a Jishike product it positively impacts the life of an entire family while strengthening their most important resource of all, their dignity.

Today, Jishike works with over 25 women and has impacted the lives and futures of over 80 children, primarily in the areas of education, health care, housing, nutrition, and day to day household expenses.