Founded by former Miss South Africa and local businesswomen, Cindy Nell-Roberts, Women4Women has launched several successful initiatives that aim to mobilise economic growth through a strategy that places the interests of women firmly at the centre.

It’s the realisation of a long-term dream for Nell-Roberts who believes that active participation in social upliftment is a moral obligation that many South Africans are loath to admit. She says: “It’s my intention to do everything that I can to give back and help to create a more advantageous future for as many women as possible. I truly believe that those who are fortunate enough to be in a position that allows them to give back should do so, and I intend on using my experience in the industry and corporate affiliations to do this.”

With this in mind, Women4Women has clear objectives when it comes to approaching the challenges faced by many women in South African society. Importantly, it’s an approach that is multidimensional in nature. For Nell-Roberts and her team, the help that they can offer extends to facilitating corporate funding for female entrepreneurs, connecting mentors with underprivileged youth, skills development workshops or something as simple as offering make-up tutorial lessons that help build a greater sense of self-worth. In short, Women4Women is able to assist on a variety of levels in order to ultimately bring about job creation, increased income levels, the growth of female-owned businesses and entrepreneurship as well as empowering females of all ages and from all spheres of life to improve their circumstances.

To this end, although operating as an independent organisation, Women4Women has chosen to strategically align and form partnerships with projects that are geared towards empowering women on a national level. Upcoming collaborations for 2018 include:

• End Girl Hate: A campaign that aims to break down barriers between women and instead foster a culture of inclusivity through promoting greater solidarity and sisterhood amongst women. Originally started by LeAnne Dlamini, Women4Women will participate in a programme of anti-bullying events that aims to educate young girls about the role that they can play in contributing towards this.
• Mrs South Africa: The Mrs South Africa organisation intends on raising R1 million which will be channelled into disadvantaged communities through projects chosen by the Mrs SA finalists. Women4Women is supporting this valuable endeavour through inviting the finalists to host a series of high teas and breakfasts countrywide that will highlight these projects along with motivational talks that showcase the power of strong female role models within a community.
• Look Good…Feel Better Foundation: Intent on not letting cancer rob women of their self-confidence whilst undergoing treatment, Look Good…Feel Better provides free two-hour beauty workshops through a network of hospitals, oncology clinics and interim homes specially designed to assist women to manage the appearance-related side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, to help restore their confidence. In partnership with Cosmetix, the cosmetic distributor co-owned by Cindy Nell-Roberts, Women4Women will be involved with providing beauty products and services to events and workshops including the Look Good…Feel Better 2018 roadshow.