
small business big heart
the tribal textiles team
Introducing the passionate team behind Tribal Textiles, the driving force behind our unique handcrafted home decor. With decades of expertise, we bring our creations to homes worldwide.

board of directors
women led business
Tribal Textiles: A women-led small business, empowering artisans through creativity, preserving traditions, and inspiring sustainable livelihoods.

JOINT OWNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
KIRSTIE SELFE
Kirstie holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Physiological Sciences from Oxford University in the UK. Starting her career at Nike, in their Sports Marketing Team, she then worked for many years as a sports web journalist. Prior to joining Tribal Textiles in 2011, she was employed as a Project Manager for a firm of interior architects and designers in London running high end residential renovations.
During her tenure at Tribal Textiles, she has achieved record Retail and Export revenues, and navigated the company through tough macroeconomic and regulatory changes. She was responsible for the design, building and launch of the business’s online shop in 2015, and the opening of a new satellite retail outlet, café and community artisan market in 2017.
Her highlights of the last 12 years include seeing Tribal Textiles products being sold in Selfridges London in 2018, ensuring the survival of the business through Covid, despite turnover dropping by over 80%, and pioneering recycling in rural Zambia through the creation of the Company’s sustainability and recycling programme.

JOINT OWNER
Charity Van Der Meer-Musoma
Charity Van Der Meer-Musoma was born and grew up in Zambia. She is a fashion designer specializing in hand-made ecological garments, qualifying in Fashion and Knitwear Design at Nottingham Trent University of Art and Design (UK) in 2002.
Today, her contemporary designs are inspired by nature itself. Her mission is to create unique, natural, sustainable and wearable garments and to share this with others around the world. To produce her collections, Charity uses new ideas and techniques that are inspired by nature using durable and ecological products. She travels all around the world teaching felt fashion and felt techniques. Her contact with so many cultures encourages her ideas and inspires her towards new creations.
Her dream of sharing is her reality and this has led her to invest in Tribal Textiles. She is constantly stimulated through others with new ideas.

JOINT OWNER
julie taylor mills
A native Australian, Julie has University majors in Economics and Japanese and post graduate qualifications in Environmental Management.
For two decades she has worked as a specialist consultant to NGOs, Investors and Company Boards seeking to drive better sustainability outcomes from the corporate world. With her husband, Julie now focusses on Impact Investing, providing capital and input to companies with the intention to generate a measurable beneficial social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
Julie has come to love the Luangwa Valley and her support as a donor to various organisations in the Valley has led to her investment in Tribal Textiles, a company she has admired since she first visited Mfuwe.

NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER
DR. Tasila Banda
Tasila lives in Lusaka, Zambia and is a highly qualified Environmental Consultant, Researcher and Scientist working with world-renowned institutions such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Her expertise with natural resources, climate change, biodiversity conservation, conservation ecology, natural resources conservation and management as well as environmental and developmental policies means she is well placed to advise the board on environmental policies to ensure Tribal Textiles remains an environmentally conscious sustainable company.

the team
Workshop & Office team
Allow us to introduce our small but mighty team at Tribal Textiles
THE TRIBAL TEAM

Nathan Mchenga
Accounts Manager

Nsabila Njobvu
Shop Manager

kizylous zulu
Export Assistant

Allegra Louise
Sales and Marketing Manager

Jennifer Jarvis
Design & Production Manager

Kalangwa Kamena
Sales & Marketing Assistant Manager

Treaser Mbewe
Head of Workshop

mwamba kasonde
Head of Glass Workshop

Emmanuel Mbewe
Head of Sewing

Mambwe Ngoma
Head of Painting

Priscilla Nkhata
Head of Starching

Richard Mwanza
Paint Mixing Wizard

2023
labour day awards
We wanted to highlight our employees who were awarded our Labour Day Awards.
Congratulations to George Chulu, Nelly Mphasi, Matonela Phiri, Whiteson Zulu, Sam Kachepa and Nathan Mchenga who have all been recognised as going above and beyond in their work for Tribal Textiles.