Faith first
We are a faith-led organisation. We work in the belief that God sees the woman whose work nobody claps for.
About Ayarda
We were helped when nobody
had to help us.
Ayarda Women & Youth Development Ltd exists to pass that on — deliberately, on a fixed share of everything we earn, to women and young people building something of their own in Uganda.
Our story
A business with a promise attached
Ayarda started as a business — fashion, makeup and events, run from Loy Plaza in Kisaasi, Kampala. It grew the way many Ugandan businesses grow: on family support, and on people who chose to help when they did not have to.
We know what it means to receive help. So the help was never going to stop with us. 5% of the proceeds of every job we do goes to supporting women and youth. Not what is left at the end of the year — a set share, from the top, on every job.
And every December we give back to the community for the business God has blessed us with, by blessing the people He has laid on our hearts.
We believe that God gives us gifts, opportunities and resources not just for ourselves, but so that we can make a difference in the lives of others.Jessica Wells Oundo · Founder, Ayarda
Our vision
A Uganda where a woman's business is never only her own — where it feeds a family, employs a neighbour and lifts a whole street.
Our mission
To create openings, empower women and young people with skills and capital, and transform communities — giving back 5% of every job and raising more alongside it.
What we hold to
Our values
These are not posters on a wall. They decide who we back and how we behave when nobody is counting.
Kindness passed on
We were carried by people who owed us nothing. Everything we do is an attempt to do the same for someone else.
Together, not alone
Alone we achieve something very little. When we are many, we go a long way. So we bring people into the room.
Honest with money
We say what the 5% is, what we raise, and where it lands. If we cannot show it, we do not claim it.
The founder
Jessica Wells Oundo
Founder of Ayarda, CEO of Makeup by Ayarda, and the voice behind Her Rise, Her Rules.
Jessica built Ayarda in Kisaasi out of fashion, makeup and events work — and from the beginning kept a share of it for other people. She started Her Rise because she kept meeting women whose businesses had quietly become other people's lifeline: a salary for a neighbour, school fees for a niece, food for a household that was not their own.
“These are women whose stories deserve to be heard, whose work deserves to be celebrated, and whose impact deserves to be recognised.”
The organisation
Where Ayarda sits
A registered Ugandan company doing development work, funded by its own trade and by people who join in.
Registered entity
Ayarda Women & Youth Development Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. Based at Loy Plaza, Kisaasi.
Funded from trade
The fashion, makeup and events business carries the overheads, so more of what is given reaches the women.
Open to partners
Companies, churches and individuals who want to put weight behind women in business are welcome.
Come and see it for yourself
The clearest picture of Ayarda is a room on 29 November with ten women in it who are about to be told that their work was seen.