One of the most important aspects of the Akilah education is career development. Students receive individualized mentorship and guidance to secure internships and job opportunities, and these opportunities are made possible through Akilah’s partnership with Rwanda’s private sector. With a variety of partners and fields to choose from, students are encouraged to pursue ambitious opportunities, professional development options, and career success. This month, we’re featuring Akilah partner Kasha, a consumer technology platform that sells and delivers women’s health products confidentially using any type of mobile phone.

Kasha: Mobile e-commerce putting women’s needs first

Access to women’s health and hygiene products like basic menstruation products and contraceptives is a serious challenge for many girls and women in developing countries. Aside from financial constraints, social stigmas keep girls and women from finding the products they need. 30% of girls leave school for lack of sanitary pads, and often encounter serious reproductive health issues.

Kasha CEO & co-founder Joanna Bichsel with Akilah interns Sonia and Shellah; some of the products offered by Kasha

Kasha is a new start-up company building mobile e-commerce specifically for women and girls in Africa. With a technology platform that can be reached using any kind of mobile phone, women and girls can confidentially order health and personal care products on Kasha and get direct delivery, no internet required.

“Think of us as Rwanda’s version of Amazon — but with a specific focus on women,” says CEO and co-founder of Kasha, Joanna Bichsel, as she walks through her newly established office in Kigali. “Kasha is a social business dedicated to putting women’s needs first. We believe access to sanitary products and contraceptives is a human right for women to take care of themselves, their families and communities.We are building a mobile e-commerce platform that will serve women at all socioeconomic levels, in both urban and rural areas, enabling direct order and delivery of products and information,” Bichsel explains.

Led by co-founders Bichsel and Amanda Arch, Kasha has set up operations in Kigali and is preparing to launch their platform to a Rwandan audience — with a vision to reach a broader East African market next year.

“We decided to start operations in Rwanda because the country’s vision and priorities align very well with what we are trying to do: we share a big focus on technology and women’s empowerment.”

Akilah’s students represent Kasha’s main target audience, and Kasha originally reached out to test concepts and ideas on Akilah’s student body. But after realizing how much the two organizations have in common, a clear partnership developed, and Kasha now partners with Akilah’s careers department to find interns and even future employees.

This summer, two of Akilah’s entrepreneurship students completed their internship with Kasha, focusing on market research, product development, and testing of the platform. During their second year, hands-on experience with a fast-growing start-up is invaluable for students.

“They have been involved in each aspect of this process of planning and getting ready to launch the platform. They are communicating with our target groups, testing the call center, doing photo shoots of the products — really, they’re doing everything,” Bichsel explains. She emphasizes the important roles the interns from Akilah have come to play in the short time they’ve interned at Kasha.

“Akilah is a perfect partner for us: their students are our target audience, and the interns we get from Akilah are intelligent, confident women who are not afraid to speak their mind in a constructive and respectful way. We share a goal of empowering women through technology and education, and we have a lot of respect for the work Akilah is doing.”

Inspired by Akilah’s entrepreneurship students and career development opportunities? Apply to study at Akilah today: www.akilahinstitute.org/apply.