As a former Division I rower at Notre Dame, Kiersten DeHaven knows about putting in the miles. Now half a world away, she's still going the extra mile, working for a last-mile distribution company focused on providing women in emerging East African markets access to health services, products and information.
DeHaven first learned about last-mile distribution in Africa while a graduate student at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.
"Awoman came to my class one day, and she spoke about a social enterprise she started in Ethiopia that was about female entrepreneurship and connecting rural markets," DeHaven recalled. "I didn't know much about last-mile distribution or social enterprises, but I resonated with what she was saying."
Shani Senbetta, founder and CEO of Kidame Mart, told DeHaven's class how she was providing an opportunity for rural markets to receive products they otherwise might not access because they are on the "last mile" of supply chain distribution. A social enterprise dedicated to empowering rural Ethiopian women, Kidame Mart hires and trains women as sales professionals who go door-to-door in their villages to sell high-impact and fast-moving consumer goods, such as soaps, sanitary pads, diapers and fortified nutrition products.
DeHaven, who had worked in Samoa in the Peace Corps after graduating from Notre Dame, wanted to be a part of Senbetta's enterprise. "I just hounded her down. Skype, WhatsApp, email, everything until she said 'yes.' And then she became my first boss," DeHaven said.
From the first time she stepped foot in Ethiopia, DeHaven fell in love with the country.
"All of these very joyful things were happening, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I love this energy.' Everyone was so excited," DeHaven recalls. "Ethiopia is a massive market with so much potential to develop things, so I loved it."
Withwomen making up 88% of its employees, Kidame Mart helps rural women achieve economic mobility, said DeHaven, who began working with the organization in 2018. She has enjoyed hearing how women have continued to improve their family's lives through increased income, such as purchasing more nutritious food and financing their children's education.
"Kidame Mart's whole mission is to give opportunities for women to live better lives. When I was an intern, we only had 100 women in one region. Now we've grown to 3,000 women covering 10 regions," said DeHaven, who became the chief operating officer of Kidame Mart last year before joining another organization in January. "Every day, I've learned so much. It's a constant learning experience about how people operate, about how teams work, what motivates people and what connects people to their core."
Now living in Kenya, DeHaven serves as the platform services and partnerships lead for Kasha Global, another last-mile distribution company focused on providing women in emerging East African markets access to health services, products and information.
DeHaven said her experiences competing in Notre Dame rowing have been invaluable in her international development career.
"Sometimes we feel like we know athletics, and we only know how to do our sport. But everything that you learned — all those lessons from coaches and teammates — are applicable off the field and will make you a strong employee, especially in international development," DeHaven said. "In international development, you need fortitude and persistence, and that's what you have in athletics. You're used to waking up early for practice. You're used to like working on Saturdays and Sundays, going the extra mile. You're used to working on teams."
At the end of her sophomore year in high school, DeHaven was not optimistic about even being on a college team. The Tampa native was a volleyball player but felt she wasn't good enough to earn a scholarship in the sport. At a tournament, her alternate journey to college athletics began.
"After reading an article outlining how approximately 50% of female athletes were getting scholarships for rowing, I happened to be at a volleyball tournament at the University of Tampa when a rowing coach approached me," DeHaven said. Knowing the importance strong legs play in rowing, the coach asked DeHaven if she'd be interested in learning to row.
Soon after, DeHaven competed in her first race, taking an empty slot on a boat for a regional championship. Her second race was for nationals. By the time she was a high school senior, DeHaven had made it to one of the junior national camps and was recruited by Notre Dame.
"I fell in love with rowing. It's so peaceful being on the water at 6 a.m., having that connection with the water, the stillness of it all," said DeHaven, who competed for the Irish from 2011 to 2014. "I think it's a very meditative, special sport."
At Notre Dame, DeHaven majored in political science and Spanish. She also became involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and served as Notre Dame's representative to the Atlantic Coast and Big East conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committees. Looking back, though, her most formative experiences as a student-athlete came from engaging with teammates of diverse backgrounds, goals and perspectives. That team bond has remained strong since graduation.
"My teammates and I keep in touch quite frequently. One of them, Molly Bruggeman, even just went to the Olympics, so we're all very proud of her," DeHaven said.
Now she's part of a new team, working with women in eastern Africa, and she's still relying on those skills she learned from her coaches and teammates. She encourages young athletes looking to enter the international development space not to undersell those skill sets developed in their sport.
"You're constantly challenged to be better, and you will carry that on throughout your life," she said. "Don't undercut yourself; those things apply and have confidence in that. Everyone in development is constantly learning. None of us have it figured out. That's why it's development — we're constantly developing."