“When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.” — Melinda Gates

“Gyal” is a Women’s empowerment movement centered on the Caribbean women through;

Education | Mentorship | Networking

For 5 years, the Soka brand has been redefining antiquated standards of beauty by empowering Women of the Global Majority to celebrate their heritage. We’ve always taken pride in being an eco-friendly, body positive, fair trade brand and now, we’re giving back to the community by establishing a girl empowerment movement named ‘Gyal.’

As Soka’s social enterprise arm, Gyal will focus on female development by offering safe spaces that reinforce programs in the arts, leadership, entrepreneurship, and wellness for girls of secondary school age. By providing assistance in the development of core skills and qualities such as self-confidence, interpersonal skills, leadership and healthy lifestyle choices, Gyal seeks to enable young girls to reach their full potential and become independent and successful young women.

Here’s how we’ll do it:

Education

We will provide continual workshops, especially in the creative field, to equip women with skills to better develop their own businesses. We will also introduce younger Girls to Entrepreneurship as a career choice. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from our ‘Soka Gyal’ tees, will be used to adopt classrooms in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

Mentorship

We will develop life skills of young girls across Saint Vincent and by extension the Caribbean to assist in their transition from teenagers to young women i.e. Resume writing, financial management, deportment, self-awareness, through curated workshops.Pairing them with a mentor in their field of interest i.e. (internship period))

Network

Create a network and a digital platform to connect Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs.