YALI10 Competition, Third Place: How YALI Impacted My Community and Country
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the Wilson Center, opened a competition under the theme“YALI at 10: My Life, My Community, and My World.” Selected submissions were showcased at the YALI tenth anniversary virtual summit in May 2021, where a decade of YALI change-makers and their achievements were celebrated. Submissions included a variety of media, including videos, short essays, poems, songs, spoken word, and sketches.
We’re proud that several Fellowship Alumni were among the finalists and semi-finalists in the contest, including the entries selected for first and third prize. The third-place prize went to Hyasintha Bartholomew Ntuyeko, 2015 Fellowship Alumna from Tanzania who studied Leadership in Business at Dartmouth College. Learn more about what YALI has meant to her in this report.
The leadership skills and practice gained through the Fellowship helped me to run and grow my team and secure local and international partnerships, something which really increased our revenue up to 10 times.
Hyasintha Ntuyeko, 2015 Fellowship Alumna, Tanzania
Please note that competition entries reflect the thoughts and opinions of Fellowship Alumni and may not reflect views of the U.S. Government.
How YALI Impacted My Community and Country
My name is Hyasintha Ntuyeko, a social entrepreneur and a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumna, and I studied Business and Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College. For the past 6 years since my participation in the Fellowship, I am so very proud that I was able to scale up my business as well as menstrual programs to the degree that is really impactful. My first funding for menstrual programs came from the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania ($10,000), and thereafter we have been trusted and managed to receive up to $70,000 per single menstrual program from other partners. The leadership skills and practice gained through the Fellowship helped me to run and grow my team and secure local and international partnerships, something which really increased our revenue up to 10 times.
The Fellowship doubled my problem-solving ability and therefore I significantly contributed to the following sustainable development goals (SDGs):
SDG 3: Primary Impact
- 300,000 packets of Glory pads sold since 2013
- 10,000 women and 15,000 girls reached via Menstrual Health and Hygiene Programs since 2015
SDG 4: Secondary Impact
- 3% increase of participation of girls in school activities such as sports and remedial classes since 2017
- 25 Menstrual Health Education programs since 2017 and 70 learning resources developed for girls with disabilities since 2018
SDG 5: Primary Impact
- 5000 women and girls accessing Glory pads
- 2502 girls accessing Glory pads at a subsidy cost in 6 school shops since 2020
- 5000 boys and men educated on their roles to support Menstrual Health and Hygiene Agenda since 2015
SDG 6: Primary Impact
- 300 households living within 10km of the Glory pads access
- 15 improved Sanitation in schools due to our awareness program with school committees
SDG 8: Primary Impact
- 5 permanent employment positions created by Kasole Secrets
- 1 International business partner selling our Glory pads
- 30% of corporate Tax submitted to Tanzania Government
SDG 12: Secondary Impact
- 2 social enterprises trained on how to produce reusable sanitary pads
Evidence
- Meet our international partner
- Visit our website
- Watch videos of the work we are doing
- Meet our partners