Alaffia Founder Wins Glossy ‘Founder Of The Year’ Award

Olowo-n’djo Tchala has just added a new award to his long-running list of social and economic accomplishments with his plant-based beauty brand, Alaffia. This past week, Tchala received Founder Of The Year from the 2022 Glossy Beauty Awards. The annual awards honor brands and influencers that are setting the standard for marketing and business innovation across the beauty industry.

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For nearly 20 years, Tchala has been on a mission for social and economic justice through beauty. The Togo-native started off with a shea butter cooperative to provide economic empowerment and fair trade opportunities to West African women, while also addressing education, poverty, maternal healthcare, and wellness issues.

Since then, he has established several collections of natural hair and beauty offerings, including the Queen Alaffia lifestyle collection which offers one-of-a-kind handmade by women at the Alaffia Artisan Center in Sokodé, Togo. The women who work there receive fair wages while learning transferrable skills for gainful employment.

Alaffia, which means peace health, and well-being, has impacted the lives of more than 250,000 individuals through its Empowerment initiatives. This includes building 16 schools, providing school supplies to 37,521 students, and eyeglasses to 30,953 people, as well as planting trees and donating bicycles. Last year, Tchala shared that “one in five children born in Central Togo is paid for by Alaffia.”

And, of course, Tchala’s mission comes with some great beauty perks for his consumer base. Alaffia launched two new collections last year: Beautiful Curls and Authentica African Black Soap Haircare. They also offer up facial and skin care, shea butter- and coconut-infused haircare, and a kids’ line, along with unscented options.

Learn more about Alaffia at alaffia.com.