Rebecca Kaduru
Rebecca joined Solidaridad on 16 August 2019 after former managing director, Sebastian Teunissen, stepped down from his position at the end of June.
Reflecting on her new assignment, Rebecca said:
I am excited to be joining Solidaridad, and look forward to the opportunity to bridge the North American market to the network’s global reputation and track record of successful implementation. It is time for Solidaridad to become a recognized partner and grow its footprint within America and Canada.
Rebecca is a social entrepreneur and development professional who has spent her career scaling value chains and livelihood programming in developing countries.
She co-founded KadAfrica, a social enterprise, in 2012, and served as managing director for five years before handing over to local leadership. Under her direction, KadAfrica transformed into an outgrower programme supporting more than 10,000 passion fruit farmers in the Western Region of Uganda. KadAfrica also launched a fully-fledged processing operation exporting passion fruit pulp to international markets.
Rebecca in Uganda leading KadAfrica’s activities
A successful track record
Previously, Rebecca served as the director of public affairs research at Ipsos in Uganda. She has more than 10 years of experience leading the development of teams and partnerships at various social enterprises and non-profits, including handling management roles at D-Rev and Educate!.
Rebecca has a successful track record in raising both philanthropic and investment capital and is excited to grow Solidaridad North America through a long-term, market-based approach to supporting larger network operations.
She has a B.S. in Political Science from Santa Clara University and a M.A. in Political Science from The American University in Cairo.
Rebecca is a graduate of the 2017 Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Global Social Benefit Incubator, 2015 SPRING Accelerator, and is a 2014 Unreasonable Fellow. She was awarded Nestle’s Creating Shared Value prize for her work building inclusive value chains in 2017.
Envisioning growth and expansion
Rebecca’s vision for Solidaridad North America is to:
- Grow philanthropic and corporate partnerships to support the Solidaridad network
- Establish Solidaridad’s brand presence and positioning, as both an implementation and sourcing partner
- Strengthen mutual connections between Solidaridad’s impact investment goals and the thriving North American impact investing sector.
- Build market linkages and sourcing partnerships to leverage the North American market to further Solidaridad’s value proposition for smallholder farmers, workers and miners globally.
As Rebecca gears up for her new position, she says:
There is so much potential for Solidaridad to become the go-to partner for ethical and sustainable production within the philanthropic, social investment, and corporate space in North America. I am looking forward to unlocking this potential with our dedicated team and support from the global network.
Solidaridad warmly welcomes Rebecca to the global team, as she brings her energy and expertise to the network. Solidaridad looks forward to strengthening collaboration between North America and the rest of the network to further improve supply chain sustainability and the wellbeing of smallholder producers globally.