Jasiri Talent Investor Connect: Women in Food Systems — Kigali
Twenty women in food systems, the Jasiri team, and breakfast.
We are bringing together twenty founders, operators and technical specialists working across food systems in Rwanda. Women who have built companies. Women running functions inside established businesses. Women who carry deep expertise in their part of the chain.
In partnership with Norrsken.
Breakfast with Sharon Akanyana
Sharon is the founder of Ishyo Foods. She started in her own kitchen in 2017, straight out of an agriculture degree, making yoghurt and jam and sharing it with friends and family. Ishyo Foods now sits on shelves in supermarkets across Kigali.
She will talk about the early part of that journey. How she knew there was a real market beyond friends and family liking what she made, what she got wrong along the way, and what it actually took to get certified and onto a shelf.
The format
A conversation between peers. No panel, no presentation.
Sharon and our fellows will speak candidly about what building has actually looked like, including the parts that were harder than they expected. The Jasiri team is there for anything you want to ask about Cohort 9. Beyond that, the room sets the agenda.
Who we are inviting
Women working in food systems, in production, processing, logistics, finance, data, distribution, or anywhere along the chain. Women who have built before, are building now, or are deciding what to build next. Women with real depth in their field and a view on which problems in it are worth solving.
Registration
Twenty places, reviewed and confirmed individually. Register your interest here and we will be in touch. The venue will be shared with confirmed guests.
About Jasiri
Jasiri Talent Investor is a programme of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies. We back exceptional people before they have an idea and support them through 13 months of building a venture, from co-founder formation through to launch. Since 2021 we have worked with 277 people who have started 116 companies across Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. Our next cohort is focused on food systems.
Applications for Cohort 9 are open at www.jasiri.org and close 12 October 2026.