One of my favorite countries to visit on the African continent is Rwanda. I worked there from 2015 to 2020 and had the opportunity to watch, up close, what can happen when a country aligns its policies and priorities around economic growth and inclusion. The progress has been remarkable.
Rwanda offers a powerful context for rethinking how business contributes to development. Over the past two decades, the country has experienced significant economic growth and stability while prioritizing gender equity and local enterprise development. Women play a central role in the economy, particularly through cooperatives in agriculture and small-scale production. At the same time, tourism—especially in regions like Musanze near the Virunga Mountains—has become an important driver of local income.
At first glance, it might seem like a restaurant and distillery in a beautiful location. But spend a little time there, and something else becomes clear. This is a business designed differently. At the foothills of the Virunga mountains, Virunga Mountain Spirits quietly challenges assumptions about what business is meant to do. The impact is not framed through bold claims or branding. It is embedded in how the business operates each day.
Some of that begins with what is grown on site. Much of the food served is cultivated directly on the property, reducing reliance on external supply chains and creating a visible connection between land, labor, and consumption. Production is not distant or abstract. It is right in front of you. Sourcing extends this logic outward. Virunga partners with local producers, including Hollanda Fairfoods, and works intentionally with women-led cooperatives. These are not incidental choices. They shape who participates in the economy and who builds income and stability over time.
What becomes clear is that this is not about adding social impact onto a traditional business model. It is about designing the model itself differently. Who benefits is not left to chance. Who participates is not an afterthought. Value isn’t extracted from the community but circulated within it.
This is where Virunga Mountain Spirits offers us an important lesson. Conversations about business for good often focus on purpose statements, certifications, or founder intent. But what matters most are the structural choices that determine how a business actually functions: how it sources, whom it hires, how it distributes value, and how it connects to place.
Virunga is not an outlier; it is a reminder. A reminder that business can be designed to reinforce local economies rather than displace them. A reminder that supply chains can be structured to include those who have historically been excluded. And a reminder that business for good is not a label; it is a set of decisions.
What is especially striking is that this thinking extends beyond the business model into the building itself. Last year I had the pleasure of taking a group of executives to tour the facility, taste the vodka (it’s delicious!) and have a meal. During the visit owner Karen Sherman shared why and how she created VMS. The distillery is organized around a transparent, light-filled core where production is visible rather than hidden. Thick volcanic stone walls are sourced locally and ground the structure in the landscape and the community it serves.
Even the architecture reflects a set of decisions: who is invited in and how the building connects to place. The design of the building reinforces the design of the enterprise. It does not separate production from people or extract value from its surroundings. It integrates, reflects, and circulates. The architecture is not incidental; it is part of the system.
Virunga Mountain Spirits also reflects a broader vision of Rwanda’s development. As a woman-led, farm-to-bottle distillery and agro-tourism site, it integrates local production, hospitality, and storytelling. Its Kari Vodka, named in part for the Karisoke Research Center founded by Dian Fossey, connects the enterprise to the region’s history and landscape. One of the nearby mountains, Karisimbi, further reflects this connection to place. Kari vodka is produced from locally sourced ingredients and distilled in Musanze, representing both craft and place.
Rwanda’s trajectory shows that economic growth and social inclusion do not have to be separate goals. Businesses like Virunga Mountain Spirits demonstrate what becomes possible when enterprise is intentionally designed so that growth is shared, participation is expanded, and value remains rooted in the community.
You should visit some time.