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Kota Kinabalu: Irene Mositol from Sabah has made the nation proud after emerging the grand winner for the Social Impact Category in the 2022 Shell LiveWIRE global Top Ten Innovators Award, an entrepreneurial competition which rewards entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence in innovation. This year, 195 entrepreneurs from 17 participating countries around the world took part in this competition and the finals took place in Mexico City.

“It’s very inspiring to see passionate entrepreneurs from our nation being recognised globally for taking on innovative businesses that grows and empowers not just themselves but also the community in which they live. My heartiest congratulations to Irene and all the winners.” shared Dato Ivan Tan, Chairman of Shell Malaysia and Senior Vice President, Upstream Malaysia.

Irene is the founder of DumoWongi, which helps women generate their own income by teaching them sustainable farming and further supporting them in aggregating their products for larger sales. Irene’s win comprises cash money of USD20,000 and a year of global business mentoring and coaching to further upscale and develop her business.

DumoWongi products

“I was truly shocked as I did not expect to be the grand winner for the social impact category. Nevertheless, I am truly honoured and proud to receive this award as this is a testament of DumoWongi’s achievements. I am happy that people believe in my vision of uplifting the livelihood of my community through my business. I thank my team for their dedication and hard work as this has enabled us in receiving this prestigious, global recognition,” expressed Irene who hails from Kota Kinabalu.

DumoWongi means ‘pleasant-scented farm’. Established in 2019, DumoWongi is a Kota Kinabalu-based social enterprise that offers a variety of herbal products such as fresh herbs, herb salts, dry herbs, superfood powder, succulents, and edible flowers. It provides only fresh, organic, and pesticide-free herbal products and all crops are harvested fresh from the farm. Apart from that, the company also provides an avenue for Sabahan women to make extra income by empowering them in growing these herbs and purchasing the herbs from them. DumoWongi currently has over 30 women in its supply chain.

Aside from Irene, Sarawakian entrepreneur Heineken Anak Laluan, Founder and CEO of Syarikat TIMOGAH, an e-commerce platform which enables small-scale and rural farmers to market and distribute their produce, was awarded runner up for the Business Innovation category. He won USD10,000 and a year of global business mentoring and coaching. Meanwhile, Azuar Zainuddin, CEO of Satu Creative from Malaysia was named the runner-up in the Implementing Partner category. Satu Creative is the delivery partner that works with Shell in running the Shell LiveWIRE programme in Malaysia.

Irene (first from right_back row) during DumoWongi’s first training session with the first batch of herb growers from Kampung Bundu Tuhan Ranau.

Top Ten Innovators is a worldwide competition open to the alumni of the Shell LiveWIRE programme. In Malaysia, this programme, which was introduced in 2015 is held annually in Sabah and Sarawak and for the first time this year, is brought to Peninsular Malaysia.

For more information on Shell LiveWIRE Malaysia, log on to https://livewire.shell.com.my/.