About Us

One Woman is a social enterprise on a mission to help women and girls around the world live their dreams and reach their full potential through education, skills training and entrepreneurship. We believe that all women are born with incredible gifts to share with the world and to make each of our communities a better place. Our goal is to provide the tools, educational opportunities, support and encouragement to empower women to become all that they dream to be. When women around the world are united we will make a difference, one woman at a time.

What is a Social Enterprise? As with any business, a social enterprise provides goods and/or services to customers; however, social enterprises differ from traditional businesses in that profits are reinvested to achieve, sustain, and further its social or environmental purpose while still ensuring financial viability. In our case, One Woman is a social enterprise that is in the business of helping women start and build businesses, gain employment skills, and have access to education. We partner with not for profit organizations and charities to work together to create a better quality of life for women and girls around the world.

Our Story

One Woman was created from a vision in March of 2015 when Sharla Brown went on a life changing trip to the Amazon Rain forest in Ecuador. Their community project was to ecuador build a Choza (a Women’s Empowerment Centre), where women could work together and create handmade items like jewelry, pottery and other items that could then be sold to provide a sustainable income and create a better life for themselves, their families and their community. After days of working with the Quechua women learning their trades and working on the Choza, she discovered that all women in this world have the same goals; to have a better life, to give their children a better future, and to make a difference in their communities. Being an entrepreneur herself, she quickly realized that there was an opportunity to empower not only these women, but women from around the globe to achieve financial independence and live the life of their dreams!

That November she then traveled to Kenya to spend time with women in the Masai Mara. One thousand Rafiki Bracelets (Rafiki is the Swahili word for friend) were ordered from these ladies which would become the item included as a 002 gift with each One Woman Membership. These Rafiki Bracelets are the symbol to unite us all as sisters inspiring and empowering one another from every corner of the world.

One Woman now empowers over 400,000 women and girls around the world!

Meet Sharla

Sharla Brown is a Canadian social entrepreneur, philanthropist and humanitarian who has been passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership and social issues her entire life. In the last 10 years Sharla has received 13 business

and social impact awards, including the international WEF Iconic Women in Social Enterprise Award in 2016, the 2019 Ruby Award from Soroptimist International of Central Alberta, a nomination for the Ontario Premier’s Award in 2017, and most recently a nomination for philanthropy by the Toronto Waterfront Women’s Awards.

For more than 20 years, through her entrepreneurial endeavours, Sharla has supported numerous community organizations. As the president of her event management company Keynote Events, she has created and executed more than 200 events and contributed more than 1.5 million dollars to various community and international charities.

Sharla mentors, teaches and inspires other women to embrace their leadership potential and entrepreneurial spirit. She empowers those around her to use their gifts to create a purpose-driven life doing what they love because she believes that each person’s gifts are like pebbles they can toss into the water, creating ripples that positively impact the world around them.

Sharla has created over 200 One Woman Fearless events in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and World Summits Online. Her vision has ignited a ripple that has turned into an international wave of empowerment for thousands of women and girls around the globe.In 2015, Sharla travelled to Ecuador to work with women, and a world-changing ripple effect began through her creation of One Woman and One Girl. These global social enterprises are on a mission to help women and girls around the globe live their dreams and reach their full potential through education, skills development and entrepreneurship.