Make More Impact With Your CSI Buck:
Ramona Kasavan , CEO and Founder of Mimi Women
MAKE MORE IMPACT WITH YOUR CSI BUCK
“If companies spent their full 1% of net profit after tax on one Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative instead of spreading it across many different projects – which make the investment insignificant – they could make a more profound impact in South Africa,” says Ramona Kasavan, CEO of Mimi Women.
Kasavan says it makes more sense for sectors that are legally compelled to contribute to voluntary social development activities to focus their attention on one project that they are passionate about, rather than spending it in a fragmented way. “In this way, companies can make a deep impact rather than applying plasters to several problems.
“Imagine the bearing an entire sector could make on enterprise development, infrastructure, education and health if they focused their full CSI spend on one significant project that would uplift the communities they operate in.”
As a social entrepreneur and founder of Mimi Women, South Africa’s first black female-owned sanitary pads company, Kasavan is committed to helping girls and women in some of South Africa’s poorest areas to empower themselves.
She understands how one idea can lead to another and how her initial mission to supply sanitary pads to disadvantaged girls was just scratching the surface of the many social issues in the country.
That’s why her company continues to evolve, always with a view to empowering South African women. “I realised that what initially started off as a fund-raising process to raise money for a massive sanitary pads drive needed to become a more sustainable venture,” she says.
This insight saw the company, formerly known as Happy Days, transform into a for-profit operation aimed at supporting what then became its non-profit arm, the Mimi Foundation, which keeps girls in school through donated sanitary pads. In addition, a direct selling and distribution arm was established to provide business opportunities for women in impoverished areas.
In this respect, Kasavan developed MimiBizBox, a business-in-a-box tool that allows disadvantaged women – or Agents of Change – to sell affordable sanitary pads in their local communities and create an independent living for themselves. The women are coached in financial literacy and business skills before being signed on as Mimi Women sales representatives.
The next step – and a highly critical one – in the evolution of Mimi Women is to establish a factory to manufacture sanitary pads locally. “A large percentage of South Africa’s sanitary pads are sourced in China. Creating jobs in South Africa by manufacturing our own locally produced and therefore more affordable product is the next logical step for Mimi Women,” says Kasavan.
The sanitary pad factory will facilitate the way for Mimi pads to enter the local FMCG market. And for every Mimi pack sold, a pack will be donated to the foundation, making for a more sustainable reality.
This vision has seen the creation of a fundraising arm aimed at raising enterprise development funds for the establishment of a local factory. “I would like to partner with businesses or sectors that have a similar vision to Mimi Women and who are passionate about empowering women and creating opportunities for them to make their mark on the economy.
“I believe Mimi Women is positioned to make a massive impact in South Africa. A profitable manufacturing plant will allow us to distribute more sanitary pads and offer more women entrepreneurial opportunities. Ultimately, I see the company becoming a vehicle for even greater change in the country, but we need corporate South Africa’s help to achieve this vision.”
Kasavan is therefore calling on all responsible corporate citizens such as Anglo American and Sun International, who are committed to making a difference through their Corporate Social Investment spend, to make a real and substantial difference in the lives of South African women by investing in Mimi Women.
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