SMU alumnae Melissa Reiff ’77, CEO of The Container Store, and Brittany Merrill Underwood ’06, founder and CEO of the Akola Project, made Inc.com’s list of the world’s Top 10 servant-leader CEOs.
Underwood, No. 5 on the list, was cited as a “clear example of a servant leader practicing conscious capitalism to transform the lives of impoverished women and families.”
Her commitment to that cause was sparked by a summer she spent in Uganda while an SMU undergraduate. In 2007 she established the Akola Project, and over the last decade, it has blossomed into a thriving social business.
The nonprofit offers jewelry-making jobs that provide a living wage to women living in poverty in Uganda and Dallas.
When the jewelry was introduced in Neiman Marcus last fall, the “full impact brand” became a bestseller. The luxury retailer has since doubled its Akola business.
Underwood, who received SMU’s Emerging Leader Award in 2013, plans to build on Akola’s success in the luxury market after winning the top prize of $75,000 at the United Way GroundFloor’s OneUp the Pitch contest in April.
Reiff, No. 8 on the list, was commended for “continuing the company’s commitment to ‘conscious capitalism’ and its servant leadership-driven culture.”
Reiff joined The Container Store in 1995 as vice president of sales and marketing. She was promoted to executive vice president of stores and marketing in 2003. She served as chief operating office and president before being elevated to CEO in 2016.
She is credited with improving The Container Store’s approach to launching new stores and has played a critical role in enhancing and strengthening the retailer’s “employee-first” culture, a philosophy that has led to 18 consecutive appearances on Fortune’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”
Reiff received an SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013 and has served on the school’s executive board and been active on the Cox Associate Board.
Read the full story at Inc.com.
Tag: Brittany Merrill Underwood
When Brittany Merrill ’06 joined a mission trip to teach in Africa, she never dreamed a 10-minute meeting would change her life.
While in Uganda the summer after her sophomore year at SMU, Merrill briefly met Sarah Kamara, a poor Ugandan mother caring for 24 orphans in her meager home. She was moved by the woman’s selflessness and strength of faith.
Brittany Merrill ’06 and Ugandan women in the Akola Project make handbags.
As Merrill began her junior year, she couldn’t forget Kamara. With support from her family and friends, she founded the Ugandan American Partnership Organization (UAPO). Over the past five years, she has raised more than $2 million, built two orphanages, drilled more than 20 water wells, helped 160 village women earn a living and placed nearly 1,600 Ugandan children on the path toward better lives with steady nutrition, shelter, education and health care.
The University community has played a key role in UAPO’s success – from faculty in journalism and corporate communications and public affairs, who have provided their expertise, to her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, which sponsors a biannual golf tournament and jewelry trunk shows to benefit the charity, Merrill says.
“As a student you don’t think about what being an alumna will be like, but I can’t imagine another school being as encouraging and helpful as SMU has been.”
Since graduating Merrill has lived on two continents, dividing her time between UAPO’s offices in Jinja, Uganda, and her home base in Atlanta. She says her work has challenged her in ways she never imagined possible and has shaped the way she sees the world.
“Human barriers that we put up can be overcome,” she says. “That’s a lesson I can apply to all of life’s circumstances.”
In 2007 UAPO started the Akola Project for widows in rural villages. To date, 160 women in eastern and northern Uganda have learned to make and sell beaded necklaces. The project has generated more than $200,000 in revenue for the craftswomen.
In January Merrill stepped down as executive director and is now pursuing graduate studies at Fuller Theological School in Pasadena, California. She still serves on the UAPO board of directors as founder and president and continues her development role on a part-time basis.
– Cherri Gann