Magatte Wade is passionate about entrepreneurship and creating high-end retail brands based on diverse African traditions that change the perception of Africa. She was born in Senegal, educated in France, and launched her entrepreneurial career in San Francisco. She is fluent in, and conducts business in, Wolof, French, and English.
Magatte is the founder and CEO of Tiossan, a high-end skin care products line based on indigenous Senegalese recipes and ingredients. Tiossan products are distributed via www.tiossan.com, as well as through selected boutiques and Nordstrom. Tiossan commits at least ten percent of profits to the creation of entrepreneurial schools in Senegal designed to develop the next generation of Senegalese genius. Previously, Magatte founded Adina World Beverages, with African-inspired drinks sold throughout the United States at retailers including Whole Foods and Wegmans. Prior to her departure from Adina, she assembled an executive team featuring a co-Founder of Odwalla, CEO of SoBe, and ex-co-Chairman of PepsiCo.
Magatte writes for The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and Barron’s. She is a frequent speaker at business conferences and college campuses, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Wharton, Babson, etc. She was named a Young Global Leader by the Davos Global Economic Forum as well as one of the “20 Youngest Power Women in Africa” by Forbes in 2011. In 2014 she was featured on the cover of Forbes Afrique for being the person in Francophone Africa having the greatest positive impact on the future. In 2014 she received the award for the "leading Woman in Wellness" from the Global SPA and Wellness Summit, the premiere international organization that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively impact and shape the future of the global spa and wellness industries. She serves on the board of ASNAPP and the SEED Academy (Sports for Education and Economic Development), a private school in Senegal that prepares young people academically and athletically so that they can win NCAA basketball scholarships in the U.S. She also serve on the Advisory Board of the Whole Planet Foundation, the private foundation of Whole Foods Market.