LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
Memeza, a South African social innovation organization using ICT to protect vulnerable women and girls
Elmarie Pereira, co-founder of Memeza, has dedicated her life for the past 9 years to the impact Social Innovation can make in South Africa, specifically using innovative ICT to combat Gender Based Violence and protect the most vulnerable people. Elmarie joined her co-founder, Thuli Mthethwa, in 2015 after the loss of her sister due to gender based violence and her wish to help make a change. Through various pilots done with Memeza's crime fighting technology, Elmarie & Thuli, together with their team, have proven to reduce sexual offences by 67% and murder rate by 9%. Under Elmarie’ s leadership, the Memeza team was also able to develop the Social Partner Mobile Survey tool which to date has created over 2700 youth jobs through auditing over 15 000 liquor outlets Nationally for COVID compliance. Memeza has won over 10 industry awards for the impact made in fighting crime through this woman lead organization and has created 27 jobs.
Elmarie brings 28 years’ of work experience, with 14 Years of experience in the telecommunications Multi-National Corporate Technical Project Deployment environment and 9 years’ experience in managing socially focused technology deployment projects, developing partnerships, growing human capital, leading teams, and streamlining delivery, with the aim of building a sustainable Social Enterprise.
Lioness Weekender spoke to Elmarie Pereira about what continues to drive her to make an impact in combatting Gender Based Violence in South Africa, and also her aspirations for the future of Memeza.
What does your company do?
Memeza is a Social Enterprise, founded in 2012 by victims of Gender Based Violence, with the goal to create a safer South Africa. Memeza works through Private and Public partnerships to target the most vulnerable communities, which enables us to deploy a variety of unique community-based solutions, services, and technology, specifically designed to create healthier, empowered, and flourishing communities.
What inspired you to start your company?
The loss of my sister due to gender-based violence inspired me to become a co-founder of Memeza Shout Crime Prevention. I wanted to do something to help other woman, families, mothers, and sisters, not having to go through the pain I went through losing my sister. Through Memeza, as a woman I joined the security industry to fight Gender Based Violence through a Social Enterprise approach, where we make sure that the most vulnerable people and communities get access to GBV prevention technology and private/public response services.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
We are a social enterprise, and therefore developed a unique business model that provides our customers with the opportunity to receive our prevention technology through sponsorships. Those who can afford can buy our product, but those who cannot afford, we help through sponsorships. We reach communities through Public Private partnerships.
Tell us a little about your team:
We have an amazing team of 27 crime fighters that works tirelessly to bring our GBV prevention technology to the vulnerable people and communities. Working at Memeza is not just a job, it is a passion, as most of our employees have also been victims of crime.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I come from a family of female entrepreneurs. My mother and 3 of my sisters all had and some still having successful entrepreneurial journeys as woman building their own businesses. My entrepreneurial journey only started about 10 years ago and was initiated by great loss and the passion to make a change in the landscape of GBV. I am blessed to have met a fellow female lioness in my partner Thuli, who is a born entrepreneur and together we have shared our entrepreneurial journey, which as all entrepreneurs know, comes with many successes and failures. Where I really realized how much I have learnt over the past 10 years, was when I won the African Business Hero's award, this made me truly realize that I am now finally walking in the shoes of my Mother and Sisters. As a woman, it has been a tough journey being an entrepreneur, but surrounding yourself with the right team, the right leadership and always believing you can achieve, makes it the most rewarding journey I could have ever wished for.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Memeza’s focus for the future is on ensuring sustainability, which will allow the organization to continue to provide vulnerable people and institutions with much needed, affordable security and safety services, while continuing to partner with Private and Public Industry. We want to reach over 5 million vulnerable women in the next 5 years. We want to help protect over 1 000 no fee-paying schools and 1 million vulnerable learners in the next 5 years. We want to create an additional 5000 community based jobs in the next 5 years.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Seeing how our baby (Memeza - meaning Shout in Zulu) has grown and outlasted COVID and many other hurdles, together with the impact we have made in so many vulnerable women's lives - this is the satisfaction that makes me get up again tomorrow.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Surround yourself with like-minded women and people. For me, having a like-minded very strong female partner, meant we could conquer together and console each other when times were tough. Don’t back down, don’t take no for an answer - keep knocking!!!
To find out more about the work of Memeza, contact Elmarie Pereira via email: elmarie@memeza.co.za or visit the website and social media channels.
Website: https://memeza.co.za/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.memeza.co.za
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemezaShout/status/1498571673850859520
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memezasafety/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Your YouTube or Vimeo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKHq1VyfKrQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGOmSYLKWCc
