2020 WINNER

Sara Nuru

Co-Founder of nuruCoffee and nuruWomen e.V.

Sara Nuru is an entrepreneur, model, speaker, author and ambassador for Menschen für Menschen (People for People). In addition, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) appointed the Ethiopian in 2018 as ambassador for Fair Trade. In 2016 Sara Nuru founded a social business called nuruCoffee together with her sister Sali Nuru. With the sale of fair trade coffee from Ethiopia they aim to support women, who are the most disadvantaged in the value chain. While they support them with micro-loans, education and training for women, they also founded their own non-profit association, nuruWomen e.V. in 2018 in Berlin. The purpose of the association is to promote women in countries of the global south, especially in Ethiopia. This is done by means of information and education, offering training courses for microcredit borrowers, and the granting of microcredits for women who want to start their own business.

According to the jury, Sara Nuru won the Woman in Business award for empowering women and promoting female entrepreneurs, and for using her sustainable business and not-for-profit association in Germany to build a bridge through Europe and Africa – through shared values of gender equality and fair business models.