On June 7th, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aired part 2 of the story on Acumen. In January, PBS accompanied Jacqueline on her trip to Kenya. This segment is the second installment in a two-part series and focuses on Jamii Bora’s innovative work in providing safe, affordable housing for communities throughout Nairobi, specifically profiling one customer, Jane. Also see our blog post on part 1 of the series, which highlights the work of Ecotact.
Posts Tagged ‘East Africa’
Acumen on PBS NewsHour: Part 2
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010Honoring Acumen’s Frontline
Friday, June 4th, 2010
The final night of Acumen’s Portfolio Gathering highlighted the hard work of eight employees from Acumen portfolio companies, who were recognized with Frontline Awards. Leah Okullo, an associate in our East Africa office, emceed the event, providing short stories about the commitment and determination of each honoree. The awards program was modeled on a similar event at the Pakistan Community Gathering last year and was a highlight of the Portfolio Gathering for many participants.
Congratulations to our honorees:
- Hannah Mwangi, UHEAL
- Sally Aluoch, Ecotact
- Josephine Mburu, Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops
- Jack Njiru, Botanical Extracts EPZ
- Abel Kuley, Botanical Extracts EPZ
- Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, Insta Products
- Janet Bett, Jamii Bora
- Felix Bunyasi, Western Seed
The following is Leah’s speech from the event:
Leah Okullo, Master of Ceremonies
Welcome to a very special part of our program this evening. When we speak of the impressive achievements in the social sector, often times it is the pioneering philanthropist, ideologist, or more recently, the social entrepreneurs who come to mind.
However, there is also a second group of people who need to be acknowledged here, our ‘unsung heroes’ – the front lines of these social organizations.
These are the people who are the backbone of the companies they work for, and especially given today’s challenging political and economic climate, they really have their work cut out for them.
They are the ones who go door-to-door in the heat. They are the ones who galvanize communities to empower themselves. They’re the ones who deal with the hostilities of skeptics and grapple with the bureaucrats on a daily basis.
Most of the front line staff being honored today do come from the communities which their organizations are serving – and this is really capacity building, self-sustenance and dignity at its best.
Today we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the frontline staff of some of our investee companies and thank this group of people upon whose shoulders Acumen Fund’s entire ecosystem is dependent.
I am sure each and every one of us as a team has learnt a lot from spending time in the field with them.
Please join us in thanking these exemplary individuals.
Jacqueline, would you please join me on stage to present the plaques to our honorees tonight.
First, we would like to Hannah Mwangi from UHEAL. Hannah, please join us on stage.
As we heard from Patrick Quarcoo yesterday, customers buy friendship and love.
Hannah is an ophthalmic assistant working with UHEAL. Her job is to attend to the patients, which includes counseling and passing on information on various medical conditions related to the eye: testing vision, checking eye pressure and dilating patient eyes, and maintaining the specialized equipment to ensure that it is good order, clean and stored well at all times.
But Hannah has also gone above and beyond her call of duty. She was the first employee of UHEAL and was asked to run the administration and patient support work for the doctor with no training in any of these things.
She soon learned all the ropes and made the place what it is today . Her background is in tailoring but you would not know it unless somebody told you that.
In the client feedback survey UHEAL conducted in December, a majority of the clients mentioned that they came to the place because of Hannah because she is patient, caring and makes them feel loved and valued. She takes times with each client making sure their experience at the clinic is delightful.
Hannah, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.
Next, we would like to honor Sally Aluoch from Ecotact. Sally, please join us on stage.
If cash is king , then Sally is Queen to Ecotact. Sally was among the first employees of Ecotact. She started as a cleaner, and was then promoted to a cashier shortly thereafter.
Today, Sally supervises the Iko-toilets facilities throughout Nairobi . Her responsibilities have grown to include supervising cleanliness in the Iko-toilets, as well as depositing cash collected from the facilities.
Despite the high volume of cash transactions done every day, there have never been any irregularities. She is also keen on checking on cash collected by cashiers, who trust her because she was once a cashier just like them.
She is also trusted by Ecotact management, as she reports back on employee issues with empathy but also in a spirit of accountability.
Sally does demonstrations for new employees on how best to clean the Iko-toilets, building trust throughout the organization. She even steps in as a cashier or a cleaner whenever necessary. She has energy to visit all of the Iko-toilets, checking cleanliness on her own, without supervision.
Sally has proved to be dedicated and committed to her work, and a team leader to the Ecotact team.
Sally, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.
Next, we would like to honor Josephine Mburu from the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops.
Josephine Mburu is the Field Services Manager at the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops. Josephine trained as a nurse in Germany and chose to forgo highly-paid positions in Europe and the US to come back to Kenya.
With her deep insight into healthcare and also a strong grasp of the business essentials of running a franchised healthcare business, Josephine is a driving force at CFW Shops. As one of the longest-serving employees, she is also a treasure trove of knowledge and has supported the organization through periods of transition. She’s an extremely committed individual who is driven by a strong need to make a difference in the community that she is a part of.
Her boss and CFW’s Country Manager, Spencer Ochieng, has this to say about her: “Josephine possesses a positive, can-do attitude which is infectious to those around her. Her efforts have greatly contributed to the success of SHF as an organization and, in turn, the realization of our mission. She easily mixes with all ranks, works long hours and is absolutely committed to her work; in short she is a great asset to me as the Country Manager and to the organization in general!”
Josephine please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.
Next, would Jack Njiru from Botanical Extracts EPZ please join us on stage.
In the words of Winston Churchill, as we heard from Bruce Robertson this week, “Never give up, never give up, never never never never.”
Jack is the Production Manager at the BEEPZ processing plant and is responsible for managing all production activities in the factory. He is also very involved in assisting the technical team to improve recovery rates in the factory and works closely with the Technical Director, factory manager and the development lab staff.
We would like to honor Jack because in recent months, Jack has maintained a very positive attitude and has been able to assist management in working with the production team.
We very much appreciate Jack’s approach to his work and look forward to his input in the future and his assistance to build up the production team.
Jack, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.
We have a second awardee from Botanical Extracts EPZ, but he is unable to join us this evening. Patrick, would you please come up to accept Abel Kuley’s award on his behalf.
Abel Kuley manages all BE’s activities in Tanzania, particularly relating to raw material production but also in dealing with local authorities and financial management.
Abel has played a truly amazing role to keep production activities going in the face of challenging financial circumstances. He has interacted with farmers and creditors and kept his team motivated. He holds one of the hardest roles within BE, particularly given the distance from the main BE operations in Kenya.
Raw material is absolutely the lifeblood of the company and BE will depend heavily on Tanzanian production, so we are very appreciative of Abel’s efforts to keep this production going and to keep his team intact in such an independent and competent way.
Patrick, please accept this award on Abel’s behalf. We are sorry he can’t join us here tonight.
Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, is the honoree from Insta Products. Ken, please join us on stage.
They say perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
Kennedy (“Ken”) Nyamwaya Bundi joined Insta way back in 2004, starting as a shipping clerk. Of his own volition, he studied for and passed exams to earn his Certificate, and then a Diploma, in East African Customs Freight Forwarding & Shipping Management.
He has subsequently taken additional exams, and is conversant with tax import and export regulations, all of which changed recently with the introduction of the New East African Customs Union.
Ken works tirelessly in his position to expedite Insta products shipments throughout East Africa often overcoming immensely complex customs issues. For importing ingredients, he similarly works with Kenya government offices to cope with difficult regulatory systems that breaks down, and the many unexpected events that prevent customs clearance in a timely fashion.
You will find Ken even working Sundays, holidays, and evenings, driving between Insta’s offices in Athi River (EPZ) and downtown Nairobi, to ensure Insta’s business is successful.
Ken, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.
Next, we are pleased to ask Janet Bett from Jamii Bora to join us on stage.
Truly, when the world says, “Give up, hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’”
Anyone seeing Janet’s elegance and good looks today would never have imagined this lady, Janet Bett, was once looking rugged and dirty as she begged in the streets of Nairobi. A trained teacher, Janet left a marital home when her husband threw her and her six children out.
He made sure that she lost her teaching job with the TSC and went to the extent of burning all her certificates. Her younger brothers would not allow her and her kids to stay home because that meant competition for the little milk from their mother’s cows.
Janet traveled to Nairobi with the hope of being reinstated. Months passed b and nothing was happening. She slowly drifted to the streets where her friends were begging.
For 10 years, the streets were Janet’s home until she met Ingrid Munro, the founder of Jamii Bora who unfortunately could not be with us tonight. Janet would gather together with her friends around Mama Ingrid whenever she brought her adopted children to play with their friends.
Janet soon became Mama Ingrid’s translator. Soon after, she joined Ingrid as Ingrid created Jamii Bora.
At Jamii Bora, she became Head of the Tumaini project that reaches out to the very destitute with a word of hope. A typical day in Janet’s life involves going out to the street; she sits down on the verandas to chat and listen to the street families.
Some share their problems and others even give excuses why they can’t save. But Janet is very firm and assertive and the beggars have learnt that there is no easy way out of poverty except through climbing up the ladder by saving, taking loans and servicing them.
It is through her that Jamii Bora adapted the saying that “not even the sky is the limit.” She has helped mobilize over 40,000 members either from street families or the very destitute families from the slums.
In the streets, Janet is a heroine. People call out her name; the street boys carry her hand bag and protect her wherever she goes. While walking in the streets of Nairobi, she is safer than the Police Commissioner because all the street families are her friends.
Janet, please accept this plaque as a token of our appreciation.
Finally, we would like to recognize a member of Western Seed’s staff, in absentia. Saleem please join us on stage.
Franklin Roosevelt once said “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
We would like to recognize Felix Bunyasi who hails from Kebwefwe in the Trans Nzoia district just outside Kitale. Felix started as a field assistant with the Grasslands Research Station in Kitale in 1964. He worked under Steve Eberhart, Penny, Larry Darrah, Peters and Crompton until he retired in 1997 when he joined Western Seed as Saleem’s Breeding Technician.
Felix has since worked tirelessly under challenging conditions, planting and managing experimental trials all over western Kenya and at the Breeding Station.
Felix was officially retired in 2007 at age 65 but continues to work on an annual contract. At 7 am every morning he is up and about and supervises the nursery and field staff until sundown. Felix broke his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2003 and, although was incapacitated for 10 months, returned back at the station and has not missed a day since.
Saleem please accept this plaque on behalf of Felix, as a token of our gratitude.
I’d like to end with an African proverb that I feel really captures the essence of our work as Acumen Fund, and the types of environments that our entrepreneurs are working in. And it goes like this:
“When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it.”
So I would like to thank our honorees from making the extra effort to make sure that we–our entrepreneurs, Acumen Fund, and our community–are in the well looking for the needle, which is part of what we have been doing this past week.
Shukrani for making this happen.
Brian Trelstad is Chief Investment Officer at Acumen Fund. He attended the 2010 Frontline Awards program in Kenya.
Leah Okullo is a Program Associate at Acumen Fund East Africa. She served as emcee for the Awards ceremony.
“A Seamless Web of Deserved Trust”
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Last week, for the second time in Acumen Fund’s 9 years, we gathered 35 managers from 25 of our portfolio companies , along with our senior portfolio staff and a small group of partners, advisors and thought leaders, for four days of intensive discussions and reflection at the Lukenya Getaway, near Nairobi. The Portfolio Gathering’s success depended upon creating a “seamless web of deserved trust,” a phrase suggested by Bruce Robertson, the South African entrepreneur and Aspen Institute-trained moderator who facilitated the program.
Our objective was not only to build trust, but also: to build stronger connections among our entrepreneurs; to share best practices in marketing, governance, and measuring social impact; to offer intensive “real time consulting” on a problem of their choosing; and to reflect on the values of our work by discussing readings as diverse as fiction, philosophy and political history.
The sessions kicked off on Wednesday evening with four of our Kenya-based entrepreneurs – Saleem Esmail, Stuart Allison, David Kuria and Ingrid Munro — telling their stories, about what brought their families to Kenya, why they started their social enterprises, and what keeps them going. Ingrid was accompanied by three Jamii Bora clients – Clarise Adhiambo, Jane Ngoiri and Wilson Maina – whose stories left us inspired for the rest of the gathering.
The following morning, after a brief update from Jacqueline on the state of Acumen Fund, we were privileged to a sneak peek at the Monitor Group’s research on base of the pyramid business models, presented by Mike Kubzansky. He shared with us five pervasive myths about BoP markets –for example, price may not be as important as cash flow management and franchising has yet to be proven as a path to scale. The group agreed that once the research is completed, it will both validate our experiences and will upset some conventional wisdoms in the social sector.
After lunch, Niko Canner of Booz & Co. led the first of two real-time consulting sessions. Over the two days, 12 entrepreneurs presented to a small group of peers, staff and advisors on pressing business issues, and a skilled facilitator helped them to reframe their challenges and outline possible paths forward. The participants valued their peers’ perspectives on the problems, and focusing on confronting challenges (vs. presenting success stories) went a long way towards building a sense of real trust among the entrepreneurs.
We ended the day with a series of energizing team-building exercises where small teams were asked odd questions and tasked with unusual challenges. What was said at Lukenya stays at Lukenya, but needless to say, some of our colleagues have unusual ideas about how best to safely launch an egg from 6-feet-high without it cracking on landing.
On Friday morning, we kicked off the first of two sessions on Good Society readings. The concept was modeled on the Aspen Institute’s methodology for readings-based reflections on leadership . In two groups we read the introduction to Amartya Sen’s “Development as Freedom” and Leo Tolstoy’s short story “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Both readings catalyzed vigorous debates about the values that guide our work and how to think about scale. For me, the final paragraph of Sen validated Acumen Fund’s approach, and injected the idea of “constructive impatience” into the discussions.
Later that morning we had two guests—George Odo from AfricaInvest and Vikram Kumar of the IFC—join our own Raj Kundra and board member Stuart Davidson to talk about tapping into the capital markets.
Friday and Saturday continued with a mix of outside speakers, real-time consulting and Good Society readings, but the two highlights of the event came on Saturday: site visits to two of our investments (Jamii Bora and Ecotact) and a celebration dinner that recognized the hard work of seven frontline staff members from our Kenyan portfolio companies.
I was part of the group that headed into central Nairobi and Mathare Valley to visit our pay-per-use toilet investment with Ecotact. The central business district toilet was a beehive of activity on a Saturday morning—at least 100 people paid for the toilets in the 30 minutes we were there, dozens more getting their shoes shined along the back wall of the facility, while others came to the small store to top off their mobile phone cards. It was an impressive new business model in action. At the Mathare Valley site, the challenges were immense—even getting the site built required substantial negotiations within the community—but the pride exhibited by the local operators showing us around the site was inspiring.
Meanwhile, about 60 km outside of Nairobi, another group turned off the main road and ventured until the red roof tiles of Jamii Bora’s Kaputiei Town slowly came into view. Kaputiei Town is a community-in-development residential neighborhood open to qualified Jamii Bora clients, whose credit history with the microfinance bank enables them to take mortgages on one of the town’s 2000 single-family homes. Kaputiei is still a work in progress – about 250 homes are occupied, housing around 1,000 residents whose children attend the primary and secondary schools on site, drink purified water and enjoy their first in-home bathrooms. Admittedly, there’s a long way to go for Kaputiei Town – another 1750 homes to construct, along with more social infrastructure – but our colleagues’ impressions were hopeful across the board.
Brian Trelstad is Chief Investment Officer at Acumen Fund. He recently attended the 2010 Portfolio Gathering in Kenya.
Emerging trends: Toilet parties in the Nairobi slums
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
Benje meets Ecotact CEO David Kuria
“Once you don’t have it – that’s when you realize the value”
David Kuria, founder and CEO of Ecotact
When I first journeyed to Kenya in 2004, celebrating the launch of a public toilet facility was one of the last ways I imagined spending a Monday morning – or any morning (or afternoon, or evening), for that matter. In fact, unless I had enjoyed an elephant’s dose of mango juice and was on a 5 hour safari across the Great Rift Valley, I might not have had reason to celebrate a toilet at all.
Six years later, however, armed with the realization that an estimated 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation and 2.2 million die each year from water and sanitation related diseases, I now have billions of reasons to attend toilet parties, an emerging trend in the Nairobi slums thanks to David Kuria and Ecotact. So when the Acumen team received the invite to attend the launch of Ecotact’s 17th Ikotoilet facility last Monday, I practically ran for my dancing shoes.
Sitting under a small tent adjacent to the about-to-be-launched Kawangware Ikotoilet, Rob Katz and I listened eagerly with the 200-plus gatherers inside and spilling out the edges of the makeshift party hall. The crowd – a mix of residents, officials and journalists – engulfed the architecturally distinct Ikotoilet structure. It was clear that Acumen wouldn’t be dancing alone at this party.
The Minister of Public Health and Sanitation and the Chief Public Health Officer also showed up for the celebration. Given the honour of Chief Guests, they both made remarks before cutting the ribbon: this day marks the launch of a noble public-private partnership initiative, as we bring necessary services closer to the people and are no longer dependent on flying toilets.
Part of the media frenzy at the Ikotact launch event
The Kawangware facility is part of Ecotact’s newly implemented slum outreach model; it is now the second Ikotoilet in the informal communities of Kenya. And according to Kuria and the Minister, there will be more Ikotoilets in Kawangware in the near future – extremely exciting news for Acumen as a BoP investor!
Ecotact is experimenting with a school model in the slums as well. After cutting the ribbon at Kawangware – and being mobbed by reporters as she toured the facilities – Minister of Public Health and Sanitation and Kawangware MP Beth Mugo led a delegation to the Dagoretti Secondary School, about 10 minutes away from the new Ikotoilet.
Darogetti students meet Ecotact CEO David Kuria
The school’s 150 students currently use pit latrines. But with funding from the Solid House Foundation, Dagoretti will soon inaugurate a free-for-use Ikotoilet on site. What’s more, a biodigester will generate valuable methane gas, pumped from the toilet to the school’s kitchen.
With facilities in Nairobi’s central business district, city parks, slums and schools, Ecotact is tackling the sanitation problem here in Kenya on many fronts. As an investor and partner with Ecotact, Acumen Fund is eager to continue the celebration with Kuria and his team, as they grow from 17 facilities to a target of more than double that within the next year.
Bio:
Benje is currently a Portfolio Intern in the Agriculture and Energy portfolios in Acumen’s East Africa office. Prior to Acumen, Benje was a management consultant at TecnoServe in Kenya and at PwC in New York. He is currently starting several SMEs in the Nairobi slums, and holds a BS in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.
Work with Acumen: Open positions
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Acumen Fund is seeking talented, passionate individuals for a few open positions. Complete job descriptions in PDF form can be found on the Work with Acumen page of the website.
The Manager of Portfolio Performance Management will directly oversee Acumen Fund’s post-investment management processes, from assessing the needs of our portfolio companies to designing the most appropriate strategy considering available best-practices and our unique market in addition. The Manager will also be expected to build a successful performance management capability in a fast-changing and entrepreneurial environment. Our ideal candidate is not only deeply committed to our mission and business model but equipped with 8-10 years of work experience in management consulting, private equity, venture capital, start up businesses, or a related area. This is a global role which will require the hire be based in one of our global offices and travel frequently to our investment regions.
The East Africa Portfolio Manager will be directly responsible for managing current investments in the Water and Sanitation portfolio in East Africa and developing future investments in the sector. S/he will also manage compliance and operations of the Acumen Fund East Africa office. S/he will be expected to play a significant role globally, helping to build on the existing water and sanitation expertise in the organization. Our ideal candidate is not only deeply committed to our mission and business model but equipped with 7 – 10 years of principal investing experience in the water sector.
The India Portfolio Manager will be directly responsible for (1) managing the healthcare portfolio in India, including current investments and the development of future investments in the sector and (2) managing compliance and operations of the Acumen Fund India office. S/he will also be expected to play a significant role globally, helping to build on the existing healthcare expertise in the organization. Our ideal candidate is not only deeply committed to our mission and business model but equipped with 7 – 10 years of principal investing experience in the healthcare sector.
If you or someone you know is interested in these positions, please visit the site to learn more.