Local Organization, International Reach

Some people take jobs simply to get a paycheck. Chingwell Mutombu took her job—or, rather, created it—to help with a cause she cares deeply about.

Mutombu is the executive director of First Step Initiative, a Golden Valley-based microfinance organization that supports women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mutombu lived in the DRC through high school, then graduated from Luther College in Iowa with financial help from an American family her parents met when she was young. She launched First Step six years ago in an effort to help the poverty-stricken country. Many people in the DRC live on as little as 45 cents per day, making it among the poorest nations on Earth. Civil wars have also marred the country’s history for many years, and rape and violence remain prevalent today.

But Mutombu said she saw something more positive in the DRC growing up. 

“I saw an entrepreneurial spirit,” she told the St. Louis Park Rotary club when she spoke to them on Friday. “I wanted to find something to tap into that.”

Mutombu realized that even small amounts of money could make a big difference, so First Step often gives $100 or less at a time. But the organization tries to target its aid in very specific areas to spur the local economy—like buying rice for a local merchant to sell. Mutombu said her organization has only helped women to this point, because she wanted to first work with the most vulnerable people, but First Step may expand to helping men directly.

Mutombu said she's pushing to get more support from west metro service organizations, such as the St. Louis Park Rotary and Rotary clubs nearby. This is all part of her plan to help more DRC residents in need. To date, First Step has given loans to 629 women, and Mutombu wants to grow that number to 1,350 by the end of this year.

“It’s a topic I hold very dear to my heart,” she said.

Click here for more information on donating to First Step Initiative.