A certified B Corp distributor in London, ON, has launched a new initiative to raise awareness of important social causes.

McCabe Promotional Advertising Inc. (asi/264901) has officially kicked off its monthly Little By Little Campaigns, a series of educational sessions on current issues that align with the company’s values. In a related effort, the company will fundraise by selling limited-edition T-shirts designed by local artists, with 100% of the proceeds going to related charities.

The first of the campaigns was a virtual Q&A, held on Thursday, Feb. 10, ahead of Women’s History Month in March and International Women’s Day on March 8. McCabe welcomed Solange Tuyishime, founder and president of Elevate International in Ontario and a UNICEF Canada Ambassador who advocates for children’s rights to quality education and clean water.

Solange Tuyishime, founder and president of Elevate International in Ontario, was featured in a Q&A on women’s leadership as part of McCabe’s first Little By Little Campaign.

 Tuyishime was a refugee from war- and genocide-torn East Africa when she arrived in Canada as an adolescent. Since then, she’s dedicated her life to raising awareness to the plight of women and children around the world and supporting positive change in homes, communities and workplaces.

“When you think about all the issues we face in the world, women and girls are often at the center of it,” she began during the Q&A, with questions posed by Jill Wright, client relationship coordinator at McCabe. “So why are they often not at the leadership table? How can we make decisions that impact them when they’re not there?”

As she fled conflict and genocide in her home country, Tuyishime told the approximately 60 event attendees that from a young age she was committed to serving her community. “After seeing people I knew be killed, I decided if I survived this, I was going to dedicate my life to making this world a better place,” she said, as she lamented not only the persistent lack of women in leadership positions, but also barbaric practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation that still take place in various cultures.

After becoming a mom to identical triplets and losing one of them not long after, she was reminded of how many women and their babies die each day due to pregnancy complications that are largely preventable with the appropriate care. “Yes, we have to fundraise for these communities,” she said. “But even more than that, we have to make sure they’re at the leadership table. We often create initiatives for people who aren’t there among the decision-makers.”

Tuyishime (top center, on right) answers questions posed by Jill Wright, client relationship coordinator at McCabe.

COVID certainly exacerbated already-difficult situations for women, particularly people of color, Tuyishime acknowledged. But it also highlighted the beauty of women’s leadership, which is heart-centered and nurturing. “Women showed up, but we also took on so much,” she said. “Our work teams became our family while we were also caring for our own families at home. And now our mental health is suffering. We need to recognize women’s efforts so they don’t step back from leading.”

When asked how women can start to change the world one step at a time, Tuyishime suggested starting with how we model leadership to the girls around us. Support girls’ leadership abilities from when they’re born, she said. They can’t be told they should be or think a certain way and then be expected to step into a CEO role. “It doesn’t work,” she said. “Leaders need to show up for girls too.” She further suggested that women need to start celebrating themselves and their abilities, since “the world for so long has told us what we should think about ourselves.”

Next month, Tuyishime said she has plans to host Elevate International’s fourth annual gathering at Parliament Hill for International Women’s Day, which has grown from about 75 people to 600 participants. “When people show up for you,” she said, “you know you’ve built a strong house.”

Natalie Kervin, marketing manager at McCabe, opened the session with Tuyishime and will oversee the Little By Little initiative this year. “We aim to be a catalyst for positive change in our communities and our industry and we wanted to demonstrate the power of branded merchandise in being a force for good,” she says. “We couldn’t have been more thrilled with how our first campaign turned out.”

McCabe is selling limited-edition T-shirts from Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day next month. All proceeds will go to related advocacy organizations in Ontario.

More information on McCabe’s Little By Little Campaigns, including Environmental Protection, Indigenous Sovereignty and other causes, can be found here.