Washington Business Spring 2019 | Washington Business | Page 34

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Equality, Empowerment Embodied
A Tumwater-based manufacturer of fair-trade skin-care
products is making its mark nationally, globally.
Bobbi Cussins
Alaffia has a big mission: To end poverty and promote gender equality in Togo, Africa, where co-founder
Olowo-n’djo Tchala grew up.
It’s the reason AWB featured the company in its 2017 Grow Here campaign and the reason the ads were
refreshed for the latest campaign.
And it’s the reason Alaffia has received significant recognition since being featured.
Last April, as part of strengthening trade ties between West Africa and the U.S., Tchala was appointed by
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to serve on the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa.
In June, Tchala and his wife, Prairie Rose Hyde, received the “Mold Breaker” Entrepreneur of the Year
award for the Pacific Northwest by EY (Ernst & Young). Previous recipients have included such notables as
Howard Schultz of Starbucks and John Mackey of Whole Foods Market. And, in October, the duo received the
2018 Award for Corporate Excellence in Women’s Economic Empowerment at a ceremony at the U.S. State
Department in Washington D.C.
In January, Tchala was invited to the White House for an Oval Office signing of the Women’s Global
Development and Prosperity Initiative by President Donald Trump.
And in March, Tchala and Hyde were recognized with the Business of the Year/Retention and Recruitment
award by the Washington Economic Development Association.
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