Creating Sustainable Social Impact with Ruvimbo Chimutsa

Startup Women Podcast

Ruvimbo Chimutsa is the founder of The Grace & Nelly Project and G&N, Healthier Happier Periods. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, she moved to Canada at the age of 19 to continue her tertiary education and discovered she could still make an impact on the lives of those in her home country thousands of miles away. She obtained her Juris Doctor in 2012 and was called to the Bar in the province of Manitoba in October 2013. She recently completed a Masters of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (MMIE) with the Smith School of Business at Queens University.

Ruvimbo is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and, in particular, menstrual rights. In 2016, having seen some of the struggles of girls and women in Zimbabwe, she and a group of friends started The Grace & Nelly Project. She named the organization after her grandmothers who taught her that financial independence for women was freedom and the opportunity to pursue one’s dreams. They also taught her the importance of community and uplifting others, especially those who are often forgotten. The Grace & Nelly Project’s aim is to create opportunities and platforms for girls and women living in rural communities in Zimbabwe to help them achieve financial independence and access opportunities that are otherwise out of their reach.

“There were young girls like me, women like me and they had nothing. So, we asked what they needed and how much they could afford.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Ruvimbo talks about how her company is committed to sustainable impact, how menstrual rights must continue to be talked about, and the freedom that women feel when they can make their own purchases.

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