Christine Hategekimana is Stepping Up as a Leader in Rwanda

“As a woman, I can’t find words to express my gratitude for this opportunity given to me and other women, by Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW) and PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® Rwanda which really changed my life and improved my business.” – Christine Hategekimana, PTB® Class of 2017.

Christine has shown tremendous dedication to paying it forward over the last 2 years since her PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® journey began. After returning home from Leadership Development in 2017, Christine and her PTB® colleagues formed the Women of Destiny Group to continue to learn and grow together, and decided to create a financial fund within the group to grow as an entity.

Her wine import and sales business experienced remarkable growth in a short amount of time after PTB® because of the introduction of innovative methods and the skills that she gained through the program.

Christine joined the Alumnae Association and the PTB® loan committee in Rwanda and returned to the USA in July 2018 for additional training as a leader within these groups. She says her experience with the program has opened doors for her, as she was recently elected as the Vice President of the Rwanda Women’s Chamber in the Private Sector Federation (PSF).

In November, Christine was invited to the 2018 Vocational Development Program for Women in Seoul, Korea where she participated in workshops with the goal to promote awareness of the crucial needs for advancing gender equality and implementing policy to strengthen the social and economic status of women. The program offered a platform for participants to analyze and obtain new ideas for enhancing the present vocational development models in their countries. Christine was nominated to represent the business women in Rwanda for this training, joining Rwanda Women Council representative, Alice Umuhire. Together, the team won the award for Best Action Plan Presentation for their plan on increasing women’s employment rate in Rwanda, and Christine won the Friendship Award. The training consisted of lectures, site visits, country reports and action planning. Christine returned home with a full list of recommendations on how to advance women in the workplace in Rwanda; An incredible advocate for PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS®, Christine Hategekimana is paving the way for women’s empowerment in her country.