Sponsoring the Derby Diversity Business Summit
Bosisi Designs is sponsoring the Derby Diversity Business Summit Pivot Challenge Virtual Event (Sept 1-3, 2020). As part of the Summit, Bosisi Designs Founder Deana Cheney and Blank2Branded Founder and President Marcia Tarnoff will lead a virtual session about How Women Owned Businesses Are Making a Difference. The session will take place on Tuesday September 2, 2020 from 1:30pm-2:45pm. If you are interested in attending this session please click here.
Bosisi is thrilled to be sponsoring this amazing event. Covid-19 won't stop the diversity discussion, instead the event is going virtual. Bosisi is donating limited edition Bosisi Shopper Bag Totes to the first 50 registrants.
Here's the write up for the Breakout Session about Bosisi Designs and it's involvement. We hope you join us! (9/2/20 from 1:30-2:45pm)
About Bosisi Designs
Deana Cheney, founder of Bosisi Designs, was in the right place at the right time. In March of 2017, she and her family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa for her husband’s job. She knew the move would be challenging, especially with two teenage boys, but she approached the change with grit and determination. As a “trailing spouse,” as she put it, there was no opportunity for a work visa, and although initially frustrated she was able to observe the life going on around her with honest eyes. She found herself immersed in the local culture and it was then when she discovered the massively disproportionate inequities black women and men face in the poor townships surrounding the city itself, as well as the lack of resources needed to help lift them up. This is where the concept for Bosisi Designs began.
Cheney had worked in Corporate America for over 20 years with the NBA, Kraft Foods/Nabisco, and Keurig/Green Mountain. Her experience is in marketing, consumer engagement, event management, and consumer relationship management. Always interested in different cultures and customs as a child, Deana found herself fascinated by South African culture and design, especially the local Shweshwe (pronounced shway-shway) fabric that is unique to the country. She began sewing and creating bags when she found her purpose. “One of the things that was really driving me was the need to help underserved women,” she said.
Bosisi Creates Jobs For Women
Now, every bag that gets sold directly helps create jobs for women we hire in this township. “So the more we can sell the more we can employ and have more women earn a decent living,” said Deana. “That’s really part of my passion - combining the design and the creativity and making things for an important purpose which is helping lift women out of poverty and make sure they feel pride and are dignified in their work. And that can change the cycle of poverty for their families.”
Bosisi Name Translated from Zulu
Bosisi translates from Zulu (one of the nine tribes in South Africa) and means sisters. “It’s all about women helping women and supporting other women,” Cheney said. “My tagline is strength in sisterhood. We need to foster this community of help and support for each other, and so by creating this company I hope we can better people’s lives and expand this as much as we can in the future in other areas where women don’t have the opportunity to make a decent living.”
Bosisi Speaker and Bag Sponsor
Cheney is looking forward to her involvement with the Derby Diversity Business Summit and this year’s rebranded PIVOTChamp Virtual Summit and says the opportunity to use technology to engage with others this year is “unbelievable.” Deana will be a featured speaker during the virtual summit on Tuesday, September 1st in the breakout session, Strength in Sisterhood, at 1:30 pm EST. She will also have a virtual exhibit booth during the virtual exhibit hall on Wednesday, September 2nd from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm EST. Bosisi Designs will be giving away FREE unique South African shweshwe print masks each day of the Virtual Summit! Please check the Bosisi Designs booth to learn how you can WIN! You can connect with Deana during the virtual summit when you purchase your full summit pass or day pass at www.pivotchamps.com.
Learn More
To see the Bosisi Designs collection and find out more about its founder, go to www.bosisidesigns.com.