Dear Alvin,
I have had the privilege to spend the last two months in Seattle attending the Fledge program, a conscious company accelerator, under the mentorship of Luni Libes, a veteran serial entrepreneur and angel investor. These two months have offered me the opportunity to take a fresh look at our strategy and vision and further develop my skills as a social entrepreneur and a young leader. My stay in Seattle culminated in a TED like talk at the Impact Hub Seattle which is now available online. As I head back to Kenya, I am confident that the lessons I have learnt, the networks I have built and your continued support will go along away in achieving our mission of a world where energy is clean and affordable for all.
|
|
|
Increasing access to GreenChar products
|
|
|
We continue to distribute our products to those who need it most. We are most happy with our new distribution partnership with women in the lake town of Homa-Bay. This town has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in Kenya and the highest number of widows as a result of this. Most of them have resorted to frying fish along the lakeshore as their sole means of income. We are delighted that over the last two months, we have provided them with a safe way to fry and sell their fish. We will be ramping up our distribution to this market over the next months.
|
|
|
Empowering women to be at the forefront
|
|
|
My personal experiences have taught me that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. I am delighted to announce that we ware launching a new distribution model in July that will provide women and young people with a path to a better life. Through this distribution model, we are going to empower women and young people to act as GreenChar micro-franchisees by providing them with the necessary training and access to financing to make this possible for them. The idea is that after a few months these distributors will be able to be independent micro-franchisees. This is made possible through out partnership with the Godley Family Foundation, who like us is committed to supporting innovative ideas and established projects that improve the health and well-being of communities in developing countries. You can learn more here.
|
|
|
You can now make a difference
|
|
|
Every time I talk to people about the work that we do at GreenChar, they ask me how can they get involved? From this month, we are giving you the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a Kenyan family. On our website, you can now buy a GreenChar product for a Kenyan household, we will deliver it to a household selected through our partnership with grass root women groups and they will send you a thank you note once they receive it. Go ahead and support a Kenyan family now.
|
|
In honor of the work that we are doing at GreenChar, we were awarded the runner up position in the Bata Legacy Award that honors the best enterprises in East Africa. This is a further indication of the confidence in the work that we are doing in rural Kenya. GreenChar was also profiled on BBC Outlook last week; you can listen to it here.
|
|
Social entrepreneurship provides us with a unique model to create sustainable impact and social change within communities. Through my work with GreenChar I continue to experience on an almost daily business how social businesses impact lives and transform communities. It is a great challenge building a social enterprise. How do you balance between purpose and profits, traction and impact? How do you raise traditional capital yet your focus is not profits first? How do you continue involving the local communities within the organization to make it as inclusive as you possibly could? These are some of the difficult questions that we face every day at GreenChar. Though we still don’t know the answers to all of these questions, we believe that with the support network that we have put in place working with organizations and great individuals together with your continued support we will answer these questions and build an enterprise that will transform local communities in Kenya and beyond. I urge you to visit our website today and see how you can be ne involved with the work we are doing at GreenChar. Together, we are stronger.
Best,
Tom Osborn
|
|
|
|
|
