If you read your edition of The Mix this weekend, and were following some of the truly remarkable sessions at last week’s Lionesses of Africa Annual Conference, you would have no doubt been inspired by a new generation of women social entrepreneurs putting Africa on the global impact map. Social entrepreneurs have the ability to envision a new future that is driven by individuals who believe they can make a positive difference in the world through their actions and their approach to problem solving. Women like Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder of Gorilla Conservation Coffee in Uganda, who shared her story at the conference. Gorilla Conservation Coffee is a for-profit social enterprise aiming to improve livelihoods of coffee farmers whilst at the same time protecting mountain gorillas in the area. GCCoffee pays a premium price to enable marginalised small-holder coffee farmers living in remote sub-counties bordering Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to improve their lives, which keeps them from resorting to damaging the forest through activities like poaching and removing resources like wood. This in turn helps protect the gorillas and their habitat. It’s a win-win scenario, created by a passionate social entrepreneur on a mission to make a difference and make an impact.

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