While volunteering as a rural community health agent in the US Peace Corps, Constance Mulbah gained firsthand insight into the vital role agriculture plays in the lives of rural women—and the many challenges they face due to limited access to tools, training, and financial resources. Seeing their resilience despite these barriers, she was inspired to take action.
Determined to make a lasting difference, Constance decided an MBA degree would provide her with the business acumen and leadership skills required to be able turn her vision into reality.
Fast forward to today, as an MBA graduate from Duquesne University’s Palumbo-Donahue School of Business Constance is drawing on her business school experience to transform the lives of women in her home country, Liberia, through her non-profit organization, Kpo’ma Women.
Here, Constance shares how her MBA empowered her to advance her mission and create lasting change for women farmers.
Tell us about your businesses?
Kpo’ma Women is an international non-profit dedicated to empowering women’s farmer cooperatives. We do this by increasing their access to modern farm equipment and financial literacy tools.
We believe that providing women with the right tools, technology, and financial access is the key to strengthening their community’s economic foundation. Despite Liberia’s progress in economic growth, education, and women’s rights, women still lack equal opportunities in the workforce.
The majority of Liberians, as in many other countries, work in the informal economy, with women comprising 74% of these laborers. Notably, 41% of university-educated women engage in informal work, compared to 24% of men with similar education.
Female informal workers—including market sellers and street vendors—face challenges such as limited access to credit and banking services, insufficient financial literacy and business training, a lack of social protections and childcare options, harassment from citizens and authorities, and poor sanitation in marketplaces.
As UN Women puts it, ‘Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path toward poverty eradication’.
What inspired you to start Kpo’ma Women?
I’m from Liberia, a country with a long history of civil war that devastated much of the nation. My family and I came to Pittsburgh as refugees, and this city became our second home. We were welcomed here, and we found a new community, a strong network, and lifelong friendships.
Even with a new home, my connection to Liberia has never faded. It’s shaped many of my career choices and allowed me to work with people from all walks of life.
In 2015, I joined the Peace Corps and served as a rural community health agent. It was there that I truly understood the vital role of agriculture—and the profound impact women, especially rural women, have on that sector. I saw firsthand how much they contribute and how little access they have to the resources they need.
After my time with the Peace Corps, I returned to Pittsburgh with a clear purpose. I pursued my MBA at Duquesne University with one goal in mind: to create a program that would empower women farmers and help them claim their rightful seat at the table. My best friend and long-time mentor, Theresa Andrew, and I came together—and that’s how Kpo’ma Women was born.
What does the business look like today?
We are a woman-founded and woman-operated nonprofit with a globally distributed team: five active members on our Pittsburgh team and six women operating in Liberia.
Every project is driven by local, peer-appointed members on the ground. These women are chosen by their own communities and are responsible for ensuring that the voices of women farmers are heard and centered. This structure is a core strategy to guarantee equal representation and create leadership opportunities for rural women within their communities.
What part did your b-school experience play in developing your business idea?
My time in business school was undeniably stressful, but completing my MBA remains one of the most rewarding achievements of my life. That experience was vital to developing Kpo’ma Women.
It didn’t just equip me with the knowledge and skills needed to start and operate a nonprofit—it gave me the confidence to put myself out there and embrace a “can-do” mindset. I realized: If I can complete my MBA, I can do anything.
In what ways do you draw upon the skill set you developed at b-school?
Business school was instrumental in helping me overcome my public speaking anxiety. It built my confidence and allowed me to share my ideas clearly while connecting with others in a way that feels authentic to my personality.
The consulting projects exposed me to people from all walks of life, helping me develop the ability to manage diverse personalities. This focus on people management is absolutely vital, especially for effective leadership in the nonprofit sector.
Tell us about your typical working day?
Since both Theresa and I are working mothers balancing multiple roles outside of Kpo’ma Women, our days are fast-paced. Due to the time difference, I prioritize checking in with our Liberia team first thing every morning. My afternoons are spent communicating via email and connecting with our social media coordinator. Theresa takes the lead on grant searching and writing. We wrap up our days with a check-in to ensure we are aligned.
How has your b-school network helped you develop Kpo’ma Women?
Pittsburgh has proven to be an excellent location for networking, largely due to the support of the business school staff. They have been instrumental in our success — actively including our work in their programs and providing us with space to connect with other nonprofit organizations. Most importantly, the staff made themselves consistently available to answer questions throughout the start-up process.
What have been some of the biggest obstacles you’ve encountered?
One of our biggest challenges is expanding our Board of Directors and finding passionate individuals who share our mission. Because our activities and programming are carried out in Liberia, the work can seem distant to our Pittsburgh network. Consequently, we struggle to attract board members with the necessary international mindset.
Another persistent issue is securing regular funding. While we rely heavily on grants and donations, we have struggled to effectively tap into the local funding available for women’s empowerment initiatives within the Pittsburgh area.
Where would you like Kpo’ma Women to be in five years’ time?
I have identified three main goals I would like Kpo’ma Women to achieve:
- Expand technology access: Continue our outreach efforts by extending farm technology access to more remote and hard-to-reach villages.
- Foster women’s leadership: Evaluate and increase our impact by growing the number of rural women in formal leadership roles within their communities.
- Improve educational outcomes: Support the social development of our partner communities by increasing school attendance among school-age children in rural villages.
What is one surprising thing you’ve learned since starting your venture?
I’ve learned that maintaining motivation for difficult work is a significant challenge. Having a co-founder has been crucial, providing both the motivation and accountability needed to push forward.
Another key lesson is the importance of supporting others’ work. It’s easy to get consumed by our own struggles, but actively showing up for a friend’s project or attending another nonprofit event is often refreshing. These actions connect us to a larger community and prevent us from working in isolation.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own business?
Just start—and find people who will hold you accountable.