Founders

  • Mariama Mounir Camara

    Co-Founder

    Mariama is an entrepreneur and humanitarian born in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. She is one of the most influential African women in philanthropy, fashion and entrepreneurship. She is the Founder and Creative Designer of MARIAMA CAMARA, a New York City based sustainable fashion brand, Founder of Mariama Fashion Production, the leading African handmade sustainable textiles and accessories company.

    Mariama’s story is among the five inspiring female entrepreneurs’ stories showcased in the Dream, Girl Film which is being screened globally. Mariama Camara’s name and face has been seen in various magazines and television around the world such as TV5 Monde, RTI, Univision, VOGUE, Cosmopolitan Magazine, New York Magazine “The Cut,” The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes Africa, Forbes Women, The Washington Post, Fast Company, Huffington Post, ELLE –CI and more.

    In 2014, Cosmopolitan Magazine chose Mariama as one of their Fun, Fearless, Female and referred to her as the “dream weaver”. Mariama is also the final and 15th Revlon Provocateur, a campaign that shared the story of trailblazing women changing the norms. She was VOSS Foundation 2017 Women Helping Women Hamptons Honorees for her humanitarian work in the Republic of Guinea through There Is No Limit Foundation. In 2017, UNDP picked Mariama as one of the 4 designers to present their collection at the first sustainable fashion event “Feel Good, Look Good & Do Good” organized at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Mariama is also the brand ambassador for THULE, a Swedish brand founded in 1942.

    She moved to New York City in 2001 and started working in fashion. Mariama and her artisans have designed prints and accessories for renowned brands such has Tory Burch, Lemlem and EDUN.

    Mariama and her younger sister Aissata M.B. Camara are the first ones to showcase the work of Guinean artisans globally at New York Fashion Week. She recently collaborated with EDUN to showcase the work of Ivorian artisans now in stores in New York City. Finally, Mariama’s first documentary about her work debuted in September 2018.

  • Aissata Mounir Belgrade Camara

    Co-Founder

    Aissata is a professional with over a decade of program development and management, strategic planning, and relationship building experience in non-profit, local government, and international affairs. While working in leadership and management positions, she developed and implemented successful programs that impacted the lives of over thousands of poor and ultra-poor individuals, mainly women and youth.

    A social entrepreneur and advocate, she was featured in The Guardian, PBS, RFI, and Deutshe Welle for her advocacy to end female genital cutting (FGM/C). She has received numerous awards and recognition for her commitment to building stronger communities including the 
New York State Assembly Certificate of Merit, Knights of Pythias Medal of Achievement, the Hackett Medal for Oratory Excellence, and the Jo Ivey Boufford Award for innovative solutions to public service challenges. Aissata is also a frequent speaker at conferences including high-level events at United Nations.

    Aissata serves as the Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Strategic Partnerships in the New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. She also previously worked at The Rockefeller Foundation and Grameen America. She graduated from Bernard M. Baruch College (CUNY) with a B.A. in International Relations and Social Policy and went on to earn an MPA in International Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy at the New York University (NYU) Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Aissata served as the Chair of the Housing, Homelessness, and Human Rights Committee on Community Board 6 (East 14th Street to East 59th Street.)

Founders Story

EARLY ROOTS 

We are from the Republic of Guinea, a place where most people live on less than $1.25 a day and women and girls have little to no rights. From a young age, our parents taught us to give back by exposing us to the realities of our country and world. They often took us with them on humanitarian trips as a way of understanding the importance of “doing our part” in this world.

Visiting Sierra Leonean refugee camps with our father were one of our fondest memories of these trips.  We remember being mesmerized by our father’s work and the work of public servants in these camps. It was amazing to see them work so diligently to help people they had never met before.

Through these “lessons” we also learned the importance of being independent. Our mother was always working on a business idea. Though young, we could see the positive impact her businesses had on our immediate family and community.  Most of all, we saw the importance of the financial and social independence that resulted from her ventures.

Giving back became engrained in us as we maneuvered our way through a country where being a girl meant less opportunity and increased instances of violence.

AWAKENING

In 2001, we moved to New York City. In this new surrounding, we had to learn a new language while adapting to the “New York” lifestyle; we quickly learned that it wasn’t all glitz and glamour. Still, we felt fortunate to have the opportunity to be in a place where we could create our own opportunities.

Though we were away from Guinea, we continued to hear the stories of hardship. These news were hard on us because we knew these issues were easily solvable and also because it could have been us.

We had to make a change. After a lot of soul searching and research, we realized that we could make a difference by relying on the lessons we learned as kids and our experiences. In 2008, with $18 to invest in our dream, we started our journey to help people move beyond their socio-economic limits.

We had a simple goal of helping people live in security and dignity.

THE NEW NORMAL

Years have passed since then but our work never gets old. We love showcasing human resilience and are excited about the idea of helping people create their own version of living a secure and dignified life.

Together, we prove each day that There Is No Limit!