November December 2019
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Angel investing:
Hands-on help for startups Tim Penner reflects on MEDA experience MEDA helps Pakistani farmers earn more SheCycle aims to support African women Building better bananas
1
The Marketplace November December 2019
Roadside stand
On angel investors and venture capital
T
his issue’s cover story is about Ontario angel investor Dale Brubacher Cressman. Angel investing may be unfamiliar to some. “Angels” play a key role in financing new businesses. Angel investors are one of three funding sources that entrepreneurs access to grow their start-ups when conventional financing or cash flow won’t work, says Yuri Navarro, CEO of Canada’s National Angel Capital organization. Family and friends are the first source, Navarro told Gary Will in a 2017 episode of Will’s Cultivating Start-ups podcast. You can listen to that interview at this link: https:// bit.ly/2mdMtK6 Angel investors, the second source of funds, typically invest between $10,000 and a few million dollars, he said. In 2018, the median angel investment in Canada was about $120,000, NACO’s annual report suggests. Venture capital investors often supply $5 million or more, Navarro said. One of Brubacher Cressman’s recent investments is trying to close a $1 million equity deal with Dragon’s Den panelist Arlene Dickinson. Their handshake arrangement was televised on a January episode of the CBC series. (see sidebar, pg. 17) How often do such deals fizzle? A CBC spokesperson pleaded ignorance. “We don’t have stats or percentages of closed deals,” she wrote in an email to The Marketplace. “We ask the Dragons and the pitcher to keep us apprised when they reach a deal.” In late 2015, Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, got a more detailed answer to a similar question. Of 361 handshake agreements during the first nine seasons of the long-running pitch show, 79 made it through due diligence to The Marketplace November December 2019
finalized deals. Fewer than half of successful pitches on the BBC version of Dragon’s Den ever receive a penny of investment, an article in the British newspaper The Telegraph reported. Many entrepreneurs go on the show mainly to gain profile for their business, the article suggested. After a show airs, sometimes sales increase and they no longer need the money, or are offered a better deal elsewhere.
Banana facts
You may have read about a disease that threatens the bananas North Americans eat (see story, pg. 15). Here are some things you may not know about bananas. Bananas may have been among the first fruits cultivated by humans. They are grown in 135 countries. They are the fourth most important crop in the world, after rice, wheat and corn. Four hundred million people rely on bananas as a staple food or source of income.
Mutual aid org publishes history book
Several stories in this issue relate to partnerships. Mutual aid has long been a central feature of Mennonite faith communities.
Comments Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to mstrathdee@meda.org
When we all pull together is a new book documenting the 50-year history of the Mutual Aid Sharing Plan (MASP). MASP is a non-profit that serves the employee health care benefit needs of 19 Mennonite and Anabaptist ministry organizations. Members include MEDA, Mennonite Central Committee, Ten Thousand Villages, Mennonite Disaster Service and Christian Peacemaker Teams. Orie O. Miller, who helped organize the meeting that led to the formation of MEDA and served for decades with MCC and other Mennonite agencies, had a role in starting conversations that led to MASP as well. In 1955, Miller called together “preachers, church leaders and farmers” to discuss mutual aid services. That initial meeting sparked the formation of the Association of Mennonite Aid Societies. Two years later, that group created a risk-sharing organization called Mennonite Indemnity Inc. MII’s first leader, Edgar Stoesz, became aware of the need for health insurance for overseas workers. That led to further discussions and the birth of MASP. MASP faces a much different landscape than when it began its work. Some Mennonite mutual aid organizations have had to shut down or narrow their focus in recent years. Last year MASP dropped a guideline indicating that it “does not intentionally seek to add new members.” Keith Scheffel, MASP’s executive director, looks forward to identifying and inviting new members into its mutual aid program. -MS Follow The Marketplace on Twitter @MarketplaceMEDA
2
In this issue
Features
6
Creating opportunity
Outgoing board chair Tim Penner reflects on his “exhilarating” time with MEDA
Investing in electric-assisted ride sharing. See story pg. 17
Departments 22 Roadside stand 24 Soul enterprise 21 Review
Volume 49, Issue 6 November December 2019 The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2018 by MEDA. Editor: Mike Strathdee Design: Ray Dirks
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 33 N Market St., Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 33 N Market St, Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805. To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters, email mstrathdee@meda.org or call (800) 665-7026, ext. 705 Subscriptions: $30/year; $55/two years. Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MEDA’s economic development work in developing countries creates business solutions to poverty. MEDA also facilitates the connection of faith and work through discussions, publications and conventions for participants. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
Tim Penner with MEDA president Dorothy Nyambi
10
Supporting Pakistani farmers
MEDA’s PAVE project helps small-scale farmers profit from using certified seed, best cropping practices
Want to see back issues or reread older articles? Visit https://issuu.com/medathemarketplacemagazine
13
Yes, there will be bananas
19
Perseverance for Ugandan women
Project promotes adoption of new varieties by African farmers
Waterloo students work to improve women’s menstrual health By Mike Strathdee
Cover photo of Dale Brubacher Cressman by Kamil Ahmed
3
The Marketplace November December 2019
Soul Enterprise
Created to work Labor is intended to be a blessing, not a curse By Neil Josephson
D
use the gifts, skills and strengths that God has given us to participate with Him in creating and in caring for others and for Creation. This is a good thing, not a curse.
First, think of work as a gift and not a curse. God did curse the ground (Genesis 3: 17) as a consequence of human sin but work itself is not a curse. Work at its best is a place to celebrate and
Third, reject the thinking that work establishes our identity and our self-worth. Our North American culture pounds home the falsehood that we are what we do. But defining our identity and
The Marketplace November December 2019
4
istock Lise Gagne
o you remember what you wanted to be when you were a child? I remember wanting to be a fireman, a policeman, a garbage man, a milkman (there once was such a thing as milk delivered to your door). Basically, I wanted to be a man and drive something, preferably a truck. One thing I don’t ever remember saying is, “When I grow up, I want to do nothing.” I believe there is an impulse to work in each of us, a motivation to do something productive, something that matters. This is a mark of God on us. We don’t work to fill our time, we work to fulfill our created nature. God worked (Genesis 2:2) and because we are made in His image, we are created to work. But like many things that God created good and perfect, humans have distorted the motivation for work and even work itself. If we are going to experience God in our work and glorify God through our work, as I believe we can and should, we need to resist being conformed to our culture’s concept of work and “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12: 2). We need to think differently about work.
Second, think of work as stewardship. That is, something entrusted to us by another. Colossians 3:23 asserts that the ultimate giver of work is God: In all the work you are given, do the best you can. Work as though you are working for the Lord, not any earthly master. If we embraced this, don’t you think that Christ’s followers would be the most respected, most trusted workers on the job? Even when colleagues and bosses are cutting corners or crossing lines, we can still work with excellence and diligence and integrity because we are stewards of the Master.
our worth like this condemns us to lives of insecurity. These things can change in an instant. If our work is wearing us down with stress, competition and comparison, think on Jesus’ question: “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?” (Luke 9: 25) I had a personal encounter with this question in my 30s. I had worked myself to an unhealthy place because I said “yes” to everything, trying to prove my competence and improve my worth. I had pushed my relationships to unhealthy places because I had made succeeding at work a higher priority than succeeding at home. So, I stepped out of the workforce for a time in order to get some perspective and to reboot my relationship to work. I renewed my thinking and since then have tried to live by these commitments: My identity will not be determined by what I do but by who I am — an image-bearer of God, a forgiven child because of Jesus, and a worker called to join in building the Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. Like Mary (Luke 10: 40-42), I will prioritize my relationship with Jesus over all my tasks. None of those childhood dream jobs ever came true for me (though I did own a truck) but that’s ok. I have learned that understanding who we work for and why is far more important than what we do. ◆ Neil Josephson is the national director of FamilyLife Canada. This article originally appeared in Seven magazine.
Building smaller barns to benefit the less fortunate By Fred Redekop photo by Clair H. Sauder
“I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.“ Luke 12:18.(NIV)
T
he Bible is not about economics. It is about how the writers understand God, and how God might be working in this world. Then, we have our myriad of interpretations of the post-Biblical world. There are no business plans from Jesus that you can transfer to your company in today’s world. Jesus, I believe, offers to all people a way of living in this world. I think that he tells it like it is in the real world. When he is in conversation with the powerful voices in his world, he often answers their question with a question of his own, leaving us to discover the answer for ourselves in our own world. The verse above is from the “Parable of the Rich Fool. “The parable is so real that I often forget that it is a made-up story by Jesus of Nazareth. The writer of Luke tells us it is a parable, and so, it is a fictional story that has much truth in it. Parables, for me, never have an ending, but my life must continue the story. Our lives react in many ways to Jesus’ stories. There is never one answer to the story. Can one answer be, to build smaller barns to save the world’s less fortunate? The parable is in response to a real question from someone in the crowd. He asks Jesus a “simple” question. “Tell my brother that he should divide the inheritance.” Jesus seems to sense that the man in the crowd is greedy. Jesus warns him against such an attitude. It seems like
the man might be the younger brother, and so he would not be given an equal amount. The man wants more than he would get from his parents. Then the man in the parable builds new barns for himself, sits down, and says to himself that he can lay down in his Muskoka chair, watch over his empire and relax. But God is harsh with this farmer. The farmer is a good manager, and a good crop scientist, and has done well. The weather has been good, and he has had enough workers to bring in the crop. But God says that he is a fool! Your life is on the line tonight. Who will get your stuff if you die this evening? Are you storing up all your earnings for only yourself and your family? Are you rich toward God? For you, your family, and your company, what does it mean to act well towards 5
God? What is God demanding of your business this year? What would it mean for you as a MEDA supporter to engage in helping the poor to build a lot of smaller barns, so as to help more people? MEDA has helped women to enter the workforce all over the world. What small eco-friendly barns can we help the women of this world to build? Do you want to build a few barns for the less fortunate, so they might be able to be successful farmers? If you are a successful entrepreneur, what can you offer the less fortunate in our world? As always, Jesus’ story never ends the conversation of faith, but it only makes it more interesting and complex. What does it mean for the ministry of MEDA? Discuss. ◆ Fred Redekop is a Mennonite pastor, municipal politician and storyteller for MCC. He lives in Elmira, Ontario.
The Marketplace November December 2019
Opportunities to improve lives Outgoing chair reflects on nine years with the MEDA board
W
hen Tim Penner reflects on his MEDA involvements over the years, he uses words like exhilarating and opportunities. “It’s so exhilarating that all of these great things have happened,” says the Kansas businessman. Penner completes nine years on the board, most recently as chair, at MEDA’s annual meeting in Tucson in early November. MEDA has transformed the lives of many for the better, providing opportunity through economic development, he said. “There’s so many good things that we have done, but I really think the future holds so much more.” Penner is chief executive officer of agricultural equipment manufacturer Harper Industries. He first became aware of MEDA in the 1980s, when he and his wife Faith served with Mennonite Central Committee in Bolivia. MEDA was also active in Bolivia then. Staff of the two organizations would sometimes cross paths, as they were cooperating on a bean growing project. “I saw how MEDA gave opportunities to farmers in rural Bolivia.” The Penners’ MCC community development work made them aware of the huge need people have to understand their situation from a business Tim Penner The Marketplace November December 2019
and economic perspective. “I was always really impressed with MEDA.” When he moved to Kansas in 1991 to take a job there, the Kansas MEDA chapter invited him to join their board. “There’s quite an openness to working with MEDA there,” he recalls. Dinner meetings of 75 to 100 people were common. Large expressions of support for MEDA projects from Kansans continue to be the norm. Three years ago, 18 supporters went on a MEDA tour to Nicaragua, he said. “When we do the right thing and have a measure of success, people will want to join you.” After buying Harper Industries in the late 1990s, Tim Penner discusses a convention program he began attending annual with board member Mryl Nofziger MEDA conventions. During his time on the the lives of many in emerging marMEDA board, Penner has visited past kets, he said. or current MEDA projects in Kenya, In February, Penner was at a Tanzania, Jordan, Paraguay, Bolivia, Sam’s Club store in Wichita with Peru and the Ukraine. MEDA’s Tanzania country director The Penners’ son Daniel, a video (who was visiting Kansas). They got producer in Seattle, did a MEDA into see how a MEDA lead firm helped ternship with the Ghana Greater Opthe labor of Tanzanian farmers to portunities for Rural Women (GROW) reach North American consumers. project. That experience was transforThe previous year, in January mative both for him and the women 2018, Penner was part of a MEDA soybean farmers, Tim said. group visiting farmers in rural MEDA’s lead firm model supports Tanzania. He heard how MEDA lead businesses that in turn work with firm Natural Extracts Inc. (NEI) was farmers to grow higher value comteaching farmers like Martha Kisanga modities. That approach provides to grow organic vanilla. amazing opportunities that improve Growing half an acre of vanilla 6
on her three-acre property helped Kisanga earn far more income than she gets from her other crops. Some of NEI’s other farmer clients are doubling their purchasing power by growing vanilla beans. Producing quality organic vanilla allowed NEI to sign a deal with a US luxury ice cream manufacturer. Penner
was thrilled to find a case of that ice cream at Sam’s Club in Wichita. He later showed the empty container to staff at a MEDA event in the spring. Values and integrity are key to MEDA’s success, he says. “They are essential to making MEDA what it has been and form the foundation for future growth. I see the work we do
Giving and growing
F
or Harper Industries, giving back is more than a sentiment — it’s a key part of how they do business. The Kansas firm manufactures livestock feeding equipment, hydraulic truck solutions for work trucks and turf maintenance equipment. Their corporate philosophy includes donating 10 per cent of company profits to church and community-related charitable entities. Harper Industries is the largest manufacturing employer in its county. It employs 120 in Harper, Kansas, a community of about 1,500 people. The firm would like to add five staff by year-end, says Tim Penner, the company’s chief executive officer and majority shareholder. The company was recently honored for community involvement in the Wichita Journal’s Manufacturing, Wholesale and Distribution Awards. It works with county school systems through a transition to career program. It hires high school students as summer interns and sponsors a variety of community events. Some farm equipment manufacturers have been warning of a slowdown. Penner expects Harper’s sales for the fiscal year that ends in October 2019 will be up 10 to 15 per cent from a year earlier. In May, they acquired competitor Butler Beds of Bixby, Oklahoma and transferred that operation to their Kansas facilities. Over the coming year, Penner believes Harper’s sales will rise another 25 to 30 per cent. Harper’s commitment to donating a 10th of profits to charity is impressive and rare. “Big corporations will talk about partnerships and community support for projects, but it’s never to the tune of 10 per cent,” Penner says when asked. A commitment to that level of corporate giving is one of the points in the philosophy document written when Harper was founded in 1998. Between 50 and 60 per cent of Harper’s sales are agriculture related. The remainder is almost evenly split between their truck hydraulic and sports turf products. Harper’s agriculture and hydraulics lines are focussed on North America. It also sells into southeast Asia, the United Kingdom and the Middle East with its turf equipment. Part of Harper’s success is related to focus, knowing how to say no to opportunities that are not core to its business. Harper uses a GPS system — guide for proposed strategies — as a capability compass. That helps them to make a go- or no-go decision on business strategies. The company developed a two-page document outlining this philosophy several years ago, Penner said. The document outlines corporate strengths to propel its success. This includes the scope of product offerings through “efficient and reliable solutions that reduce labor costs,” and the scope of customers and markets that they will pursue. ◆ 7
as definitely being faith-motivated.” Some of the language that MEDA uses may be altered somewhat in order to become more inclusive, he said. “The values and the things that brought us to this point, we cannot discard.” Penner was pleased to work with MEDA during a period of recordbreaking growth in its reach and number of clients served. “I really want to give credit to (former president) Allan Sauder. What a tremendous fellow, how he worked to make MEDA a very effective organization.” Working with integrity and vastly expanding partnerships with donors and institutional funders are his memories of interactions with Sauder. “So many people have contributed. It’s the whole team.” MEDA’s future success will require the organization to make the right moves, to say no in the right places and say yes in the right places in terms of focus, he said. He led the search committee when MEDA hired its first female chief executive officer, Dr. Dorothy Nyambi. Nyambi, a Cameroonian Canadian medical doctor with decades of international development experience, joined MEDA in late 2018. “Commitment, enthusiasm, and community are three characteristics that come to mind when I think about Tim,” Nyambi said. “I am sincerely grateful for his leadership, professionalism, personal commitment and contribution to MEDA. He will be missed!” Three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day, Penner noted In an address to MEDA’s board in June. MEDA’s goal is to “put money in the pockets of those who need it” through creating business solutions to poverty, he said. Quoting from Melinda Gate’s book The Moment of Lift (see review, pg. 21), Penner said lifting up women lifts up all of humanity. Nyambi’s leadership will provide a moment of lift that will take MEDA to the next level, he predicted. ◆ The Marketplace November December 2019
Winnipeg funeral directors view their work as a calling By John Longhurst
I
photo by John Longhurst
attended the ordination of a friend this summer. It was a wonderful, celebratory event as she was welcomed into the priesthood. Despite my joy for her, I couldn’t help but wonder why only clergy are ordained to ministry. Isn’t every Christian called to be a minister, no matter what they do? In theory, yes. In practice, however, Christians who aren’t clergy are rarely officially acknowledged for how they serve through their jobs. It’s rare to find church services where police officers, farmers, businesspeople, doctors, nurses, teachers and others are publicly acknowledged and commissioned for their ministry and service to the world. The truth is, most people go through life rarely meeting a minister, but they interact with other Christians daily. If non-clergy don’t feel their work is affirmed as a divine Patricia and Kevin Sweryd carry on the Bardal Funeral home tradition of service to all. calling, is the church shortchanging its ability to serve don’t wait for their churches to recWinnipeg’s Bardal Funeral Home. the world? ognize their work as ministry. This The couple attend Albright includes Kevin and Patricia Sweryd of Church, an evangelical congregation. Fortunately, many Christians The Marketplace November December 2019
8
They see their work as part of who they are as Christians. “I have always felt that this job was a calling, not simply an occupation,” says Kevin, who is president and funeral director at Bardal. The funeral home is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. For Patricia, vice-president and chief financial officer, doing her best to help others who come to the home at a time of loss and grief is the “way we best honor the God we serve.” Through her work, she seeks to “share the love of Christ that we received with others.” For the Sweryds, it doesn’t matter what religion their customers belong to, whether they have any faith at all. “They are people in need of service and my calling is simply to serve them,” Kevin shares. In this, they are inspired by the example of Neil Bardal Sr., who previously owned and operated the home. In 1941, Bardal was a member of the Winnipeg Grenadiers when the infantry regiment was shipped to Hong Kong to defend that city. After being defeated by the Japanese, he spent almost four years in inhumane captivity as a prisoner of war before returning home in the fall of 1945. He might have hated the Japanese for what they did to him and
his comrades. But Bardal Sr. responded warmly to the needs of the Winnipeg Japanese community through the funeral home, Patricia says. “He was one of the few funeral directors in the city willing to serve Japanese families after the war,” she shares, noting there was still much stigma and prejudice against that community then. “To his credit, he felt that forgiveness was the best way to heal the wounds from the war,” adds Kevin. “His kindness and service made such an impression with that community.” It also continues to leave an impression on the Sweryds. They follow Bardal’s example by serving others “regardless of sociological or economic status, religion, nationality or lifestyle,” Patricia says. This includes a special regard for those who are low-income, another value passed on by the funeral home’s founders. Many low-income people don’t know about provincial government assistance to help pay for funeral expenses, Kevin explains. The Sweryds are glad to help these people find finan-
9
cial help, even if it takes longer and can result in payment being delayed. “Knowing we are able to help ease a financial burden for a family in need is important to us,” he says. The couple acknowledge some other Christians don’t understand their approach. Shouldn’t they be evangelizing people, especially at a time when clients might be most receptive to a spiritual message? Taking advantage of people at a time of great stress and grief can be viewed as ethically questionable. Kevin has another response: “I don’t think it’s my place to judge anyone else’s life choices, especially when it is my job to care for them. Our job is simply to serve them, and to treat them as we want to be treated.” That sounds like a great form of ministry to me—ordained or not. ◆ John Longhurst is a Winnipeg freelancer writer. A version of this story originally appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press.
The Marketplace November December 2019
Better seeds for better livelihoods Pakistan project helps farmers increase income through improved harvests
M
EDA’s Partnerships and Value Expansion for Inclusive Seed Systems (PAVE Pakistan) project works to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers from villages in the
Sheikhupura and Gujranwala Districts of Punjab in eastern central Pakistan. Punjab is the main agricultural province of Pakistan. Pakistan ranks 8th worldwide in farm output, but many farmers have
low incomes. Small-scale farmers (those with 12 acres or less) average about $2,000 a year of income to support a family of five, based on two crops a year. PAVE works with 4,422 farmers
Javed Iqbal (on right), his wife Bushra (third from right) and their son (second from left) pose with red radishes along with PAVE team members. The Marketplace November December 2019
10
A female extension officer assesses crop quality with a male farmer.
to broaden the seed supplier base and the volume of seed for sale. Farmers receive greater income from value-added growing and seed-multiplication crops and selling their quality harvests to the seed processors at a higher price than regular crops. They also learn new farming practices and marketing techniques. MEDA set a goal of ensuring that at least 10 per cent of clients are female farmers brought into this supply chain. That goal, unprecedented for that region and that value chain has been surpassed, as 600, or 13.6 % of clients, are female farmers. Rural laborers also benefit from higher wages that come from supporting seed farming. Every dollar invested in the project has generated $4.36 in economic activity. MEDA provides project management, monitoring and impact measurement and gender support for the $678,000 (USD) project, which is funded by the Australian govern-
ment and carried out by partner ENGRO Foundation. ENGRO Foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of Pakistan’s largest conglomerate group. It focuses on designing inclusive business projects to incorporate the poor and marginalized into mainstream supply chains. MEDA staff have made 10 visits to the project over the course of 2.5 years. Additionally, MEDA staff have monthly calls with ENGRO about project progress. What follows are the stories of several PAVE clients.
Javed and his wife, Bushra,
own two acres of land in the village of Saranwala. Like everyone else in the village, they had very little information about the use of certified seeds. They saved their own seeds for growing rice and wheat. Their farming income was low due to the fact that margins on wheat and rice crops are low, and they only have a small acreage. 11
They were shy, lacking confidence and initially resistant to change. But when Javed and Bushra got to know how certified seeds and best crop management practices can help to increase their farming profits, they were eager to learn. They wanted to learn more about crop diversification and increasing harvests from twice a year to three or four times a year. Javed and Bushra were one of the earliest adopters in the project. After attending training, they contributed to PAVE’s demonstration plot. They have also practically implemented most of the modern practices that they learned. “Not only we have learnt new practices from PAVE, but we have successfully implemented them as well, Javed said. “Results have been satisfying and we shall continue to implement the modern practices. I hope PAVE or any such group continues to keep us informed of new techniques in future.” The Marketplace November December 2019
By growing certified Basmati rice seed, they increased their yield from 30 to 48 maunds per acre. A maund equals 82.3 pounds, or 37.3 kilograms. Engro bought their rice at a premium price of 1,700 rupees (several hundred rupees above average), just under $24US. They also kept some of their rice to process into seed and sell. For a second crop, they planted an acre of round gourd, selling it for almost three times their costs. That profit was far more than what they earned for rice and wheat crops. Bushra also set up a winter vegetable demonstration plot to grow a range of vegetables that they previously had to buy from the market. Money they have earned from their improved farming practices has allowed them to send their son to a private college for his secondary education. They have also rented another acre of land to grow peas. Javed actively participates in farmer gatherings and mega gatherings of PAVE and eagerly advocates for the project concepts. He invites his fellow farmers to learn from his experience.
Humaira Bibi, a farmer from the village of Wasakha Singh in the
An extension officer (right) examines white radish harvest with a farmer client.
Gujranwala district, followed a traditional cropping pattern of wheat and rice crops on a six-acre field. She was not aware of the latest farming techniques and concepts of crop diversification through vegetable farming. Humaira was interested in learning about the modern farming
practices to increase the yields and improve the quality of her crops. The PAVE project’s focus on the use of certified seeds and best crop management practices attracted her. She believed that without adapting modern techniques and practices, she could not get optimum crop production. When Shumaila Tufail, the Women Seed Officer from Gujranwala, conducted initial trainings in her village, Humaira actively participated in the trainings and regularly kept in touch with Shumaila to seek guidance. Humaira cultivated certified rice seed and got impressive yields of more than 45 maunds per acre, a yield increase of more than 28 per cent. She also diversified her cropping pattern by planting peas and potatoes. She has proved herself to be not only a progressive grower of rice, wheat and vegetables, but has also kept a portion of her rice production to process it into seed. Profits she earned from selling quality produce have allowed her to renovate her house. “I am positive of continuously improving my earnings because of the shift to new cropping techniques,” Humaira said. ◆ Humaira Bibi examines a rice plant
The Marketplace November December 2019
12
No bananas? MEDA project supports research into new varieties
R
ecent media reports say bananas — a breakfast and dessert staple for many — may soon be more expensive. A banana-killing fungus is threatening production in several countries. Most of the bananas that North Americans eat come from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia or Ecuador. There are more than 1,000 types of bananas grown in 135 countries around the world. Major banana exporters in the Americas focus on one variety — the Cavendish. Cavendish makes up half of world banana production, but close to 99 per cent of banana exports. If the fungus continues to spread, the industry will need new varieties that are resistant to the deadly Panama disease. Major banana producers in Central and South America will find a new product to sell. In the 1950s, when disease ravaged the dominant Gros Michel banana, they switched to the Cavendish.
photos by David Eagle/MEDA
David Eagle holds up a large cluster of bananas
13
Canadians eat about 15 kilograms of bananas a year, about twice as many as people in the US. In some parts of Africa, cooking bananas are a dietary staple. People in Uganda eat between 250 and 400kg of bananas per person annually. Sone regions of Africa grow a dozen or more banana varieties. Having crops ravaged by a pest like the Panama fungus is a serious issue for African growers. Most African banana farmers are small-scale producers. In the Western Hemisphere, Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole operate major plantations. Small-scale farmers do not have the resources to deal with the Panama fungus. MEDA’s RAPID banana project is tackling that problem, through work in Tanzania and Uganda. RAPID is a four-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to commercialize seed multiplication technologies. It
TheMarketplace MarketplaceNovember NovemberDecember December2019 2019 The
will also promote new models to drive investment into banana seed systems in Tanzania and Uganda. Bananas are vegetatively propagated. This means new plants are generally distributed by small cuttings rather than seeds. Part of one plant is used to grow new plants. The ease of getting planting material from family or neighbors is a double-edged sword, says David Eagle. Eagle works as associate director of MEDA’s programs in eastern, southern and central Africa. On the upside, farmers can easily and freely obtain new cuttings. That also means they are not used to paying for maGrowing new banana varieties terial to grow new crops. Banana seeds are few in number duce disease-resistant, high-quality yet needed to pollinate and grow a varieties. new variety. Tissue culture grown in Governments and development labs using banana seeds can proagencies can buy and distribute new
The Marketplace November December 2019
14
banana varieties. But doing so reinforces dependency, Eagle says. MEDA encourages the private sector to have a sustainable business model. The RAPID project will create demonstration plots. These plots will show farmers the need to invest in new, higher-yielding banana varieties. By focusing on local scale producers, the goal is to build markets and preserve a staple crop. RAPID will provide capital investment and technical assistance to between 10 and 15 companies that produce banana varieties. Companies and nurseries will then sell these new banana varieties to farmers at an affordable price. Farmers who invest in new banana varieties will see higher incomes and productivity. â—†
Hands-on angel investing Evaluating people and crunching numbers key to success for New Hamburg man
S
uccessful angel investing — providing funds to early stage companies — requires paying attention to details, expecting high financial returns and being okay with losing everything, Dale Brubacher Cressman says. “You’ve got to go into it recognizing you could lose your entire investment,” says the New Hamburg man. “It’s not like any other investment. If you are not prepared to lose (all) the money, you shouldn’t be investing.” Over the past 12 years, Brubacher Cressman has done four major investments. One firm failed, one has not yet provided a return after many years, another has had some moderate growth, and another achieved “a World Series winning home run” in terms of its financial payout. “Out of four deals, I’ve done much better than the statistical average.”
“I think 10 times (the amount invested) is what you are looking for in a deal. That’s what your hopes and expectations are, for the amount of risk you are taking.” “You don’t angel invest expecting to break even” unless doing it as part of personal charitable activity, he said. His philosophy for success in investing is to become actively involved in companies, getting a seat on the board in order to help shape its chances for success. “Part of me says, and this is my Mennonite ethos: If you are just throwing money at a company and hoping they will succeed, you’re just gambling.” “I don’t want it to be a game of chance. I want it to be a game of skill where you can actually influence the outcome.”
Brubacher Cressman’s faith community was a key part of his upbringing. “It definitely shaped a key part of who I am. It absolutely affects how I deal with people, how I do business.” “There were business deals that I did not fight for because I said: ‘I don’t do business that way, and I don’t want to do business with somebody who does.’ If it means giving up that business opportunity, that’s fine. I’ve got lots of other business opportunities.” He recognizes that he has been fortunate not to have to be chasing dollars and has had business partners who share the ethic of being unwilling to compromise their values. “I think that perspective helps me in evaluating people. That’s a Dale Brubacher Cressman makes a point about his investing philsophy photo by Kamil Ahmed
15
The Marketplace November December 2019
big part of professional investment, knowing who you are investing in, being able to discern somebody who has an approach that’s compatible with your ethic.” Brubacher Cressman began investing in start-ups after leaving Waterloo tech firm Research in Motion (now Blackberry. See sidebar.) A decade ago, he was both an investor and working at drone developer Aeryon Labs, which eventually provided his biggest investment win. At the same time, he was helping to launch renewable energy firm Vigor Clean Tech (now known as VCT Group). Within two weeks of starting
to work full-time at Aeryon, he was approached to help with Vigor and began second-guessing his choice. “Happenstance or divine guidance? You be the judge.” Aeryon’s early philosophy was to “build cool stuff and have fun doing it.” The firm started with a variety of robotic flying machines before settling on quad rotor drones. Brubacher Cressman worked at prototyping and researching suppliers. Aeryon grew from building flying cameras to comprehensive systems, achieving sales of $20 million before being acquired by a US company for $200
Love changed investor’s career path
B
rubacher Cressman was raised on a farm near New Hamburg, ON, west of Kitchener. He studied systems design engineering at University of Waterloo. After graduating, he started his career in Ottawa at Cognos, a software company now owned by IBM. But he returned to Waterloo Region a little over a year later “for true love.” When his future wife, Cheryl, said she had no intention of following him to Ottawa, he started looking for jobs back home. That move paid off personally and professionally. Dale and Cheryl celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary earlier this year. He applied to a small Waterloo start-up after reading about it on a UseNet bulletin board (a forerunner to modern web pages). The firm offered him a job as employee number five two hours after he visited to drop off his resume and introduce himself. Startled by the quick offer, “I said to (company co-founder) Mike Lazaridis, why don’t you take the weekend to think about it,” he recalls. By the time Brubacher Cressman left the company 17 years later, Research in Motion was known worldwide. RIM had transformed itself from a struggling contract manufacturer to a smart phone pioneer (later renamed Blackberry, after its flagship product), with revenue of more than $1.3 billion, thousands of employees and millions of subscribers. Along the way, he got to attend the Oscars with Lazaridis to see RIM win a technical award for a film editing product. He received a patent for a backlight timer for handheld wireless devices, which are standard in mobile phones today. He also ended up in a financial position to decide what he wanted to do next. Not that it was smooth sail“Part of me says, and ing in the early days. He admits to this is my Mennonite once being told by Lazaridis that the cash-strapped company might ethos: If you are just not be able to provide his paythrowing money at a cheque on time that month. “What I know about startcompany and hoping ups is that there’s an awful lot of they will succeed, start-ups where that happens,” you’re just gambling.” he says. ◆ The Marketplace November December 2019
16
million in January. Brubacher Cressman’s investment in renewable energy came from a sense of the need to be a good steward of the planet and reduce carbon impact. Vigor originally planned to do small scale, run-of-river hydroelectric power generation. Buying 50 per cent of a US firm that was working on a technology to provide run-of-river hydro resulted in a total loss after several years. “At the end of the day, we didn’t have a product to sell.’’ Vigor pivoted towards installing rooftop turbines to provide wind power. As clients continually asked them about solar power, the firm refocused again to become a solar systems provider. Shortly thereafter, the Ontario government announced a program that provided generous financial incentives for businesses and homeowners to install solar panels. A multitude of players rushed into the solar business. When government support was phased out, the industry contracted. Less than 10 per cent of those companies still exist. There are niche opportunities in solar, where businesses can get a payback of a few years or less on their investment, he said. Brubacher Cressman is still a board member and shareholder at Vigor/VCT but stepped away from active management three years ago. VCT manages a related solar firm, the Community Energy Development (CED) Co-operative, of which he is a director. CED has provided opportunities for economic development “in communities that could use it,” he said. It has given people a chance to invest in solar without being directly involved in the business. He has made two new investments since Aeryon was acquired. “The Aeryon win has basically allowed me to look at another round of angel investments.” eleven-x, an Internet of Things company, has tremendous potential in a challenging business segment because they have a strong team, he
The career path that led to Dale Brubacher Cressman becoming an angel investor was laid out by love, not money. said. He is also bullish on the prospects of Vancouver firm VeloMetro Mobility (see sidebar below). There are a number of organized networks for angel investors across Canada and the United States. Brubacher Cressman has attended a few meetings of an area group, but found “that just doesn’t resonate with me,
that approach to angel investing.” “I’m pretty picky on what companies I will invest in at this point,” he says. Brubacher Cressman doesn’t share a view of investing in as many companies as possible in the hopes one will do well. “I have generally taken the approach that I want to take a significant position in a few companies, but I don’t spread myself too thin, so I can be actively involved with the company.” Being discerning and doing the homework needed to understand a start-up’s chances of success is a guiding principle in his investment approach. He is specific about sticking to
investments in the tech sector, only putting money into firms he understands or where he can bring some unique perspective to the table. eleven-X, which works in the wireless technology space, can benefit from his experience working in wireless at RIM, he believes. Investing is a retirement career that he pursues in a fashion that still leaves him time to indulge interests in musical theatre, travel, golf and volunteering. He also meets with start-ups, some started by former colleagues who are seeking advice. “A lot of it is, I’m continually learning more and more. I enjoy it, I feel like maybe I’m making a difference, and it doesn’t cost me much.” ◆
Investment in British Columbia firm was years in the making
F
or Dale Brubacher Cressman, due diligence on a prospective investment might be measured in seasons rather than months. He spent two years evaluating a Vancouver-based firm before investing in them and joining their board. VeloMetro Mobility makes an electricassisted, three-wheel enclosed vehicle used for bike sharing on bike paths in city environments. Half car and half bike, it is a rentable vehicle that claims to provide the convenience of a car and the freedom of a bike. It can travel 100 km on a charge. The company has done a trial at the University of British Columbia and is working on a production version of its Veemo product. Company president Kody Baker appeared on the CBC Dragon’s Den TV show early this year, seeking a $1 million investment in exchange for five per cent of the company after raising $7 million in investments and grants to that point. Most panelists balked at the capital costs involved in scaling the business. Baker accepted Arlene Dickinson’s counter-offer of $1 million for a 7.5 per cent stake in the firm. Canadian readers can view that
photo courtesy VeloMetro Mobility
Veemo is an electric assisted ridesharing vehicle that can operate in Vancouver bike lanes.
pitch at this web address: shorturl.at/rtwMS At time of this writing, VeloMetro said the deal is still in process. ◆ 17
The Marketplace November December 2019
Soundbites
Business success through defying conventional wisdom
S
ometimes business success comes from counter-intuitive thinking, ignoring popular and professional wisdom. That’s the message of Rory Sutherland’s book Alchemy: The Dark Art & Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business and Life. Sutherland is vice-chair of the New York-based advertising firm Ogilvy Group. Focus groups are not always a good predictor of how a product will sell, he writes. The Red Bull energy drink company asked an international research firm to test consumer opinion of its product. The answers were not encouraging. The researchers, specialists in carbonated beverages, reported the worst reactions they had ever seen. “I wouldn’t drink this (expletive deleted) if you paid me to,” a particularly dissatisfied taste-tester said. Red Bull now sells seven million cans annually. Other ventures that have done well by ignoring expert advice include: Dyson sells an expensive vacuum cleaner that looks cool. Starbucks — known informally as $5 — gets people to pay many dollars for a drink people can make at home for a few pennies. Ikea — convinces people to buy furniture they have to assemble themselves. ◆
investments in emerging markets will not change. Inventiv was a boutique New York City-based investment company. It focused on investments that promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Inventiv brings a number of team members to Sarona. Paulus Ingram, Inventiv’s founder and chief executive officer, has been appointed deputy CEO of Sarona. Prior to founding Inventiv in 2016, Ingram was formerly with the New York office of APG, the largest Dutch pension fund manager. Laura Brightsen has been appointed Sarona’s managing director of strategy and marketing. Brightsen has worked with a number of private equity firms, including Apax Partners, the ‘grandfather’ of private equity in the UK and USA. Sarona will also inherit a small team managing USA renewable energy investment mandates. Sarona’s newest office is located at 400 Madison Ave. in New York City. ◆ MEDA holds a 10 percent stake in Sarona.
Best of the B Corps
Sarona Asset Management, a private equity company that has its roots in MEDA, is growing. On August 1, Sarona merged New York-based Inventiv Capital Partners into its operations. Sarona’s brand, mission and focus on private
Sarona was also recently recognized as one of the 2019 Best For The World Honorees. The annual Best for the World citations are given by B Labs to the top-performing B Corps in the world. B Corps is a private certification for companies. They must meet standards of accountability, social and environmental sustainability and
The Marketplace November December 2019
18
Sarona grows, opens New York office
being transparent to the public. Best for the World honorees are recognized for high environmental, community, customer, worker and overall impact. They have earned a score in the top 10 percent on the B Impact Assessment, or the greatest impact improvement. Several other Best for the World 2019 honorees may be familiar to readers. Kindred Credit Union (formerly Mennonite Savings and Credit Union), Enviro-Stewards (profiled in our July issue), and Peaceworks Technology Solutions are among the winners. All four firms are repeat winners. ◆
Gleaning as a modern business practice?
Gleaning describes the ancient practice of needy people collecting food from crops farmers leave on the edges of their field after the harvest. The concept is getting new attention. Gleaning was perhaps most famously recorded in the Old Testament Book of Ruth. The practice has inspired charities that collect and process leftover food for the lessfortunate, here and abroad. In a recent Christianity Today article, Bruce Baker and Tom Parks suggest gleaning has relevance beyond agriculture or charity. Business managers should understand the importance of running a business so that everyone experiences peace and welfare — the Hebrew concept of Shalom — they write. The authors say gleaning is about who a business is: “a community of people who show hospitality and empathy by creating opportunities for those on the margins to engage and flourish.” You can read the article at this web link: https://bit.ly/2MKotcx ◆
SheCycle strives to help Ugandan women Students persevere after unsuccessful pitch at MEDA competition, win larger prize
W
hen a group of Waterloo university students presented their business idea at the MEDAx pitch competition last fall, they were surprised and disappointed not to win the $5,000 prize. SheCycle aims to improve the health of Ugandan women with an antimicrobial, reusable sanitary pad. They may have got something more important than money from the MEDAx experience. They learned the value of resilience. Encouraged by the response they
received from observers at that pitch event, they tried again and landed a bigger prize. In June, they won $30,000 at the 2019 World’s Challenge Challenge held at Western University in London, ON. “Something we learned from MEDAx is, you have to just keep trying, because sometimes you won’t win, even if your idea is good,” says Anna Kuepfer, a member of SheCycle. SheCycle wants to improve Ugandan women’s menstrual health. Only 30 per cent of Ugandan women use menstrual hygiene products. The
majority use potentially dangerous options such as rags, dried leaves, mattress foam or newspaper to fashion pads or tampons. Tetanus, kidney and urinary tract infections result from poor menstrual hygiene. This leads to school absenteeism, lower education, earlier pregnancy and other barriers to breaking the cycle of poverty. Across Africa, one in 10 girls skip school due to periods. Water-based infections caused by bacteria in improperly dried menstrual pads are a major contributor to this problem.
SheCycle team members, l-r: Anna Kuepfer, Abigail Loewen and Leah Wouda 19
The Marketplace November December 2019
There are organizations that distribute reusable pads to women. But these still foster bacterial growth as the pads need to be dried outside in full UV light in order to be safe. Cultural stigma means that 98 per cent of pads are dried improperly, inside. Unfortunately, women who use those pads are twice as likely to get infections as those who use disposables. SheCycle’s solution to the problem is to coat reusable menstrual pads with an anti-microbial coating. The coating kills 99 per cent of bacteria, including E. coli, which is known to cause over 90 per cent of all urinary tract infections. Treatment is effective for over a year. The team that took part in the MEDAx pitch competition in Indianapolis in November 2018 had six members, including two men. Three women from that group, all full-time undergraduate students, make up the current She Cycle group: Amanda Loewen, Kuepfer and Leah Wouda. Loewen, a Wilfrid Laurier University business student, acts as executive director. Kuepfer is in her final year of health studies at University of Waterloo. She works as SheCycle’s director of global innovation, developing international and local relationships and working on a prototype pad. “I’m the one who’s doing the sewing.” Wouda, a fourth-year UW international development student, is in charge of social media engagement. She also fields inquiries and writes grant applications. They were recently accepted into Concept Science (formerly Velocity Science). Concept is a free pre-incubator program at the University of Waterloo. Concept Science provides coaching, grant funding, access to lab space and materials to UW students who have a business idea. Being able to use lab equipment is crucial for SheCycle. The group is hoping to find a fourth member to take the lead on nanotech technology development. The Marketplace November December 2019
“We have an idea, and it’s a proven technology, but the actual development (of an antimicrobial coating for a reusable cotton menstrual pad) is a little outside of our realm of expertise,” Kuepfer said. They need to decide the amount of chemicals to use, how to bond them to the cotton, and make sure it stays bonded. “We have a general idea of what chemicals we want to use, but we have to test it.” They hope to interest fourthyear engineering students in doing their prototyping tests as a for-credit design project. A team could start its work in January 2020 and work on the project until April 2021. SheCycle hopes that a prototype and marketable product will be ready earlier than that. The antimicrobial pad technology has been developed before. But SheCycle wants to refine it so it is sustainable and appropriate to the local Ugandan context. SheCycle hopes to source local cotton in Africa and have the pads produced there. Doing so would benefit women entrepreneurs. Organizations supplying pads in that region are importing cotton, even though cotton is grown in Uganda. There are many milestones for SheCycle to reach before a product can be launched. The money they won in the World’s Challenge competition will be used for purchasing materials, product development and developing a curriculum around menstrual hygiene. “Honestly it’s going to be gone so fast,” Kuepfer said. SheCycles’ business model will be to have women vendors sell menstrual pads in local markets. Their goal is to manufacture pads for 53 cents each and have vendors sell them for 75 cents. Their potential initial audience is 15 million Ugandan women. “There’s a really widespread market for this. In most developing nations, this (menstrual health) is an issue because of various factors.” Civil war, the HIV epidemic and 20
other factors lead to a lack of knowledge transmission around proper sanitary practices. Kuepfer spent several months in Uganda in the fall of 2017 and hopes to return as the project develops. “Ideally, all three of us would go.” Technology has allowed her to keep in touch with the Ugandan community where she taught school and let them know about SheCycle’s progress. “There’s a lot of conversation that can happen without physically being there.” Once the SheCycle product is up and running, the effort will be selfsufficient, Wouda said. Many granting agencies have large amounts of money directed towards child, maternal and women’s health, said Kuepfer. She plans to study nursing with a view to a job in systems-based health care. “As we continue to develop, we could be a candidate for some large grants, considering that the work we do nails six of the (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) SDGs.” SheCycle hopes to roll out its product through a gradual launch with one or two Ugandan communities. “A lot of initiatives have failed in the past because they haven’t been involved enough in the communities throughout the development process,” she said. Wouda doesn’t expect SheCycle to ever be a money-making machine for the team. She is content to view SheCycle as a passion project to work at while pursuing a career in the non-profit sector. Kuepfer is also comfortable with not knowing whether SheCycle will develop into a full-time pursuit for the team. “Our careers aren’t on hold, just because we have a business,” she said. The SheCycle team isn’t sure whether their venture will eventually become a for-profit, a social enterprise with profits plowed back into the company or a charity. “We’re not an aid organization,” Kuepfer said. “We hope to work ourselves out of existence.” ◆
Reviews
Battling gender inequity to benefit all By Joyce Lehman THE MOMENT OF LIFT: How Empowering Women Changes the World By Melinda Gates (Flatiron Books, 273 pp., US$26.99) FROM RISK TO RESILIENCE: How Empowering Young Women Can Change Everything By Jenny Rae Armstrong (Herald Press, 2019, 206 pp., US$29.99)
M
any international organizations design projects using a “gender lens” to intentionally benefit women over other groups. Experience has shown that empowering women strengthens the family, the community and the world. The life journey and ‘lens’ of the authors are very different. Readers may identify with one more than the other. But in the end, their final thoughts as to how this universal inequity should be addressed are remarkably similar. In The Moment of Lift, Melinda Gates offers a glimpse into her life before meeting her future husband. A whip-smart student at an all-girl Catholic high school in Dallas, she used her Duke University computer science degree to land a job at Microsoft, a smallish Seattle software company. Years later in 2000, she and her husband created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the years since, she has increasingly become an international advocate for maternal and child health. The Foundation collects voluminous data on all its work, but for her, the best way to learn is by listening. Gates takes us with her as she hears
Books call everyone to support equality for young women the voices of women, many of whom are in extreme circumstances of poverty and abuse. For the daughter of a stay-athome mom and an aerospace engineer dad who worked on the Apollo program, space launches were big family moments. They joined other families to watch the drama, barely able to breath during the countdown to … Liftoff! Gates writes that for
21
humanity, as with space shuttles, moments of lift happen when “the forces that push us up overpower the forces that pull us down.” The forces that pull humanity down create and sustain an abusive culture, one that singles out, excludes or diminishes a group. Such cultures are always less productive as energy is wasted on keeping people down rather than lifting them up. Gender discrimination is encoded in law in nearly every country in the world, Gates writes, including the US. She believes inequity increases when religions are dominated by men who distort the Bible, the Koran, and other sacred texts to serve their own purposes. These potent, millenniaold forces can only be overpowered when women gather together. Telling stories and sharing their grief creates a new culture built by their voices and values. Leymah Gbowee launched a women’s peace movement in Liberia that ultimately sent the President to prison for war crimes. Sex workers in India set up a speed dial network so others could come to their rescue when clients or police became violent. The stories are heart-breaking and uplifting. “Every man who’s a bully is afraid of a group of women,” she writes. Empowerment starts with getting together. That incites the courage to let women be seen and to ask for what they want or need, especially when no one wants them to have it. The Marketplace November December 2019
Jenny Rae Armstrong is the daughter of missionaries in Liberia who left the country during a military coup when she was 8 years old. She now pastors a Wesleyan Church in Wisconsin. She calls for people of faith to “search the face of God for the sake of the world’s most endangered species, the human girl.” In From Risk to Resilience, she uses data to support her thesis that the most vulnerable period of a girl’s life is between the ages of 12 and 21. This is when they are most likely to be at risk of rape, hunger, slavery, sexism and poverty. Armstrong gives examples of young women in dire circumstances globally. However, her narrative is mostly about girls in our world and the pressures they face in our time. Each chapter expands on an issue and its effect on girls: education, commodification, violence, early partnering, early childbearing, and conflict zones. The chapters follow a pattern. Statistics demonstrate the scope of the problem. Examples drawn from her own experience and those of women who came before make it personal. She states her hypothesis of the source of the problem and then looks to Scripture for guidance on the solution. The look to Scripture seems tortured, as though Armstrong is checking the pastor-writer box. Her graphic retelling of Old Testament stories does little more than confirm that women and girls were equally at risk in Biblical times. She is much more direct when calling out the “clobber passages” of the New Testament. These passages that exhort women to be submissive are too often used to “keep women in their place.” True, but still not a solution. The Marketplace November December 2019
Like Gates, Armstrong believes church leaders are part of the problem and makes a strong case. Girls learn early on that their social power is not about intelligence or kindness but about appearance and sexuality. She blames the media for this commodification but also faults the underlying principle behind the message. Foremost is the subliminal acknowledgement that women exist for the benefit of men. This will not change as long as the decision-makers in the media and advertising companies are mostly men. She goes a step further to say that church messages about sexuality are similar. Women should dress for the male gaze; the responsibility for managing male sexuality is on their shoulders. The modesty police blame a woman’s clothing choice for the rape. And how many women, she asks, have stayed in abusive relationships because a pastor quoted a 22
submission passage? Armstrong states correctly that today, Honduras is ranked as the most dangerous country in the world in which to be female. Yet, so-called Christian leaders support turning away those who seek refuge when Christ’s teaching is all about caring for the most vulnerable. Though ardently antiabortion, she is disturbed by the frequent conflation of abortion and contraception. She believes the debate then has more to do with policing women’s sexuality than with saving babies. Choosing life, she writes, is about more than opposing abortion. That part of the equation is rarely mentioned. In the epilogue, Gates confesses that for her, gender equality is a milestone, not the summit. People can be equal but isolated. The goal is to be connected, to belong without stigma or shame, to see each in the other, to share joys and burdens, to love. Love is what lifts us up. Armstrong calls on people of faith to gather together and fight for Shalom for girls, for a place where “things are rightly ordered and all can flourish.” We should do this because we bear the name of Christ. In his kingdom there is no regard for gender, ethnicity, nationality or any difference at all. The authors have their own perspective. But in the end, the vision of each is consistent with the core lessons of which Christ spoke so much. Love One Another. Peace be upon Us. ◆ Joyce Lehman is a member of MEDA’s board of directors. She is currently a technical advisor on financial inclusion projects. Previously, she worked as a program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to mstrathdee@meda.org
23
The Marketplace November December 2019
The Marketplace November December 2019
24
