By Shin Fujiyama, Social Entrepreneur, CNN Hero, Nonprofit Organization Manager
The podcast currently has 58 episodes available.
While traveling in Liberia as an undergraduate research student, William Smith played in 7am pickup soccer games. As the captain of the varsity team at the College of William & Mary (‘14), he needed to stay in shape. Little did he know what would happen next.
William’s foot skills impressed Sekou “Georgie” Manubah, a former national team player. A few days later, Georgie invited William to play a friendly game at the national stadium. But it was no ordinary game. It was the Liberian Peace and Reconciliation match where JJ Okocha, Samuel Eto’o, Patrick Mboma, and Roger Milla had been invited. The organizer of the event was the legendary George Weah, Africa’s only FIFA World Player of the Year (and Liberia’s soon-to-be-President).
35,000 fans—including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—came out to watch the game. William was the only non-African player on the field. Though he lost the match that day, William gained an important insight that summer: The potential of football to change Liberia’s failing education system and gender inequality.
Liberia’s challenges were staggering. A devastating civil war had killed 250,000 people of its 3.5 million population. The GDP per capita was $455 (compared to $2,300 in Honduras). It was the least electrified country in the world. In 2013, 25,000 high school graduates in Liberia took the university entrance exam and every single one failed. Then Ebola broke out in 2014.
In November 2014, William asked himself a simple question: “What about a football academy? What if we use this passion and energy that young people have for football as an incentive for kids to improve in the classroom, to break down gender barriers, and to ultimately prepare students to lead positive change?”
He reached out to Georgie and together they wrote out a plan for Monrovia Football Academy.
He began raising money in London while pondering their next steps: “What does the concept actually look like? How many students do we start with? What ages? How many boys? How many girls? Where do we do this?”
There was no time to waste. 58% of 15-24 year olds in Liberia were not completing primary education. “We jump in when ebola finishes,” they said to each other. It was a tough time to start an NGO. People couldn’t shake hands, hug each other, go to school, or play soccer for an entire year because of ebola. In 2015 when ebola subsided, they opened MFA—the first football academy in Africa with a principle of 50/50 gender equity.
William was full of self-doubts. “I had no idea how I was doing any of it,” he said. “You’d be a fool to think you have all the answers.” He tried to convince himself to try and be okay with the prospect of failure while being obsessive about not letting it fail. He woke up early each morning asking himself, what was next? How do we get better? How do we improve?
He gave a fundraising pitch at Saracens Rugby Club but that was not enough. He was asked to do a second and then a third presentation. Finally, they awarded MFA $45,000 for seed funding. Crowdfunding campaigns, meetings with potential donors, and events followed. Like pre-season training at an elite soccer camp, the pace was grueling. But his persistence began to pay off.
Now in its third year, Monrovia Football Academy is showing great promise. President Sirleaf visited, as well as US Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. Results from preliminary impact studies demonstrated academic and athletic improvements. Word began to spread. In 2017, 1,062 students applied for the 21 spots available at the academy. “We’re trying to be the best school in Liberia,” said William. “That’s our goal.”
William Smith Reading ListDuring his senior year at the University of Kentucky, Jacob Dietz made it his mission to raise $25,000 for Students Helping Honduras. He and his classmates wanted to build a school in La Lima, Honduras, where 400 children lacked a middle school building.
Jacob asked himself: “Do I have the ability and time and self-discipline to do this?” It all seemed daunting. The previous year, they had raised $11,000—less than half of what they hoped to raise this year.
He called up his SHH chapter at the university for a meeting. For him, the group was “a team in the utmost sense.” They studied and discussed how other chapters had succeeded in different cities. A few days later, they decided on an event that had been carried out in New York and Maryland. They were going to organize a gala to raise $25,000 in one night. It would be called Brick By Brick, Kentucky.
Jessica Schilling, a fellow student at Kentucky, worked alongside Jacob as the co-organizer. The two had gone to school together since kindergarten. But for Jacob, he would have never imagined such a partnership with Jess. In fact, he never talked to her when they were kids. “Jess was always the smartest student in the grade. I failed 4th grade math,” he said. A shared mission turned them into an unstoppable duo.
The two of them spent hours handwriting invitation letters. They drove around endlessly, talking to businesses to find sponsors. They faced one rejection after another. They created videos for social media but they kept stumbling over their words in front of the camera. When things felt overwhelming, Jacob closed his eyes and imagined the night of the event where all his friends would be there. His parents who planned on missing work to be there. His brother Josh who had tirelessly helped him that semester.
When they paid the down payment to reserve the venue, they knew there was no turning back. One challenge after another awaited Jacob and his team. Guests waited until the last minute to register. They found typos in the posters they had printed at Staples. A video Jacob had spent hours on crashed on the morning of the event. He had to decide, “Do I put the work back in? Or do I scrap it?”
Did Jacob and his team prevail? Find out how the night unfolded by listening to this unbelievable podcast episode.
Rich Johnson is the co-founder of Spark Ventures, a nonprofit focused on international community development in Zambia, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Along the way, Spark Ventures began to facilitate engagement trips for the mutual benefit of supporters and partner communities abroad.
In this episode, Rich discusses his past challenges, fundraising, creating a separate business venture called Ignite, Board development, trends in impact travel, voluntourism, and more.
Rich Johnson Reading ListThe Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan
Rich Johnson Show NotesAlex Altman and Zeke Copic are longtime supporters of Students Helping Honduras. They have been organizing a charity gala each year in NYC called Brick By Brick to benefit SHH. In this episode, we discuss what it takes—step-by-step—to organize a gala that can raise $25,000+ for your favorite nonprofit organization.
Show Notes
Countless nonprofit organizations are stuck on the treadmill of financial survival. Most of their energy is spent trying to make payroll at the end of each month—which means less time is spent maximizing their impact. Does that sound familiar to you?
For five years Kathleen Janus traveled the country to find out how successful organizations like Teach for America, City Year, and Charity: Water broke through their barriers. She conducted studies and interviewed 200 social entrepreneurs.
She documented their secrets to success and wrote down the five patterns that got them there. Soon, a playbook was created. In this episode, Kathleen talks about her new book, Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up and Make a Difference. She is a lawyer, lecturer at Stanford, and founder of Spark. Kathleen Janus Reading ListThe Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman
Kathleen Janus Show Notes"Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong," said Steve Sexton. His first major fundraising event as the chapter president of Students Helping Honduras at UMD—a 5K— was a, "disaster that barely broke even."
“I wanted to deflect the blame at first," he said, "But I took a long look in the mirror and said it is my fault. I can’t let this happen again.”
He dusted off and said to himself, “You can’t let some naysayers put you down. You gotta keep going!”
Steve wanted to improve the team's unity and morale. Soon, barbecues, rollerblading nights, and paintball outings were organized. His biggest focus as the leader was simple: “to look out for my friends in the chapter.”
In this episode, Steve deconstructs how they raised $1,500-$2,100 per day selling Krispy Kreme donuts at metro stations and through their campus thrift shop. “Every waking moment I had to do something," he said, "Planning, organizing, talking to somebody.”
During the spring semester of 2017, the UMD chapter raised $45,000 to build two schools in Honduras. In this episode, Steve Sexton explains step-by-step how it was done.
Steve Sexton Show NotesWhile studying at the College of William & Mary, Sam Pressler learned about the post-traumatic stress disorder war veterans were facing as they reintegrated into civilian life.
So in 2015, he started Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) to help them re-enter and thrive in their communities. ASAP, based out of Washington DC and Hampton Roads, VA gives veterans a voice by doing something completely unconventional… By offering them free classes and workshops in stand-up comedy, improv, storytelling, and creative writing.
But the entrepreneurial journey for Sam Pressler was no joke. He bootstrapped with just two other employees—and during the same week, they both quit. “That was rock bottom for us. I thought we were going to implode,” he said. “How the heck am I going to do this?” he asked himself. Yet instead of quitting, Sam kept pushing forward. “Time stopped and I immediately went into survival mode."
He asked himself one question, "What is the first step to take to get out of this?” and then created an insane schedule for himself—4:30 am workouts at the gym and 6-10 am focused solo time at the desk. “I ruthlessly prioritized my time, segmenting every minute of my day,” he said. Sam's hard work paid off and ASAP was asked to organize a show at the White House. "It was surreal," he said.
Since 2015, more than 450 students have taken classes, and there have been over 700 performances in front of an estimated 40,000 audience members.
Sam is an Echoing Green Fellow and was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship.
Sam Pressler Reading ListSam Pressler studied political science at the College of William & Mary
Back in high school, Sam lost a close family member to suicide
Humor and laughter are universal languages that can connect us
Growing up, Sam’s passions were service and comedy
Sam read Jerry Seinfeld’s biography
Sam’s father went to the same gym as Tina Fey. Tina Fey agreed to have an hour-long lunch with Sam!
20 military veterans commit suicide each day in the US
Suicide rates in the US are rising
Older veterans are seeing the higher rates of suicides
Less than 1% of the population has served in combat, so veterans have very few people who understand them when they return home
Veterans can face identity issues when returning to civilian life
Identity and purpose are important
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
The military gives soldiers a strong sense of community. When they go home, they are abruptly stripped of this community and social bonds.
Social clubs and community groups are on the decline
At William & Mary, Sam started a writing group and comedy club for 65 veterans from Williamsburg
Sam got help from George Srour and Cosmo Fujiyama (my sister) and received a prestigious Echoing Green grant.
For Sam, the very first comedy boot camp workshop was terrifying
Seven veterans showed up to the first boot camp
Two of those original participants now hold positions for Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)
Many participants become best friends and even invite each other to their evenings
Sam doggedly reached out to veteran service organizations, veteran clinics, student veterans, local military bases, etc. to find participants
The very first performance was held at William & Mary
World War II veteran Joe Bruni read a poem about a friend who was killed at the Battle of Iwo Jima. He expressed survival guilt in the poem.
One participant shared his story of being homeless as a veteran and then eventually going to college
The stories are full of tragedy, triumph, and humor
Sam moved to Washington DC upon graduation
Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) is not an art therapy program, though some of their art programs can be therapeutic
“Don’t ever say I, say we.”
Hundreds of people are behind Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)
“A village of people were supporting us. Teachers, administrators, students.”
Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) has three staff members and 30 instructors
Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) generate funds from ticket sales from their performances, corporate sponsorships of their shows, fundraising performances at conferences, grants, private donations
Standup comedy generates the most revenue for Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP). Improv shows are mostly given for free
They can reinvest the revenue generated to expanding their programs
In October 2016 Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) carried out the first ever veteran’s comedy show at the White House
“It was surreal.”
People are interested in the comedic process and behind-the-scenes knowledge
Sam’s family was at the crowd in the White House, along with family members of the participants
Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) was overextended during the first months.
One week, his only other employee suddenly and the volunteer CFO quit. Simultaneously, a good friend became suicidal. Deadlines were missed.
He saw immense operational difficulties of the startup phase
“That was rock bottom for us. I thought we were going to implode.”
“How the heck am I going to do this?”
“Time stopped and I immediately went into survival mode. What is the first step to take to get out of this?”
He felt the imposter syndrome
The difficulty forced Sam Pressler to think more deeply about his work and his deficiencies
“It was terrifying and very difficult.”
“I ruthlessly prioritized my time, segmenting every minute of my day.”
“It taught me to rely on other people.”
The co-founder, Ryan, volunteered for three months to help Sam rebuild
Identifying the right people at the right time is the key
“It’s about building the personal and organizational resilience.”
Many veterans didn’t commit suicide because of Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)
“The shiny end-state that you see with the awards and all, those are just snapshots in time and things can change very quickly.”
Sam Pressler still has a flip phone!
He listens to NPR and complains about the weather like an old man, lol
Quarterly and monthly meetings to set the north star with staff are key
He uses a composition notebook to write down his priorities and tasks
Sam Pressler “calendarizes” his time around his peak periods
Sam Pressler wakes up at 4:30 am every day and works out
6am-10am is quiet work time for Sam where he does uninterrupted work.
Sam does meetings during the day when he is a bit more tired
Sam gets 7 hours of sleep, going to bed around 9:30 pm every night
Sam reflected on the question, “What is your life task?” upon reading Mastery by Robert Greene
Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) is now working with the Veterans Affairs office
Joe Bruni was one of the first participants and joined near the 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima. He was 92 at the time. He wanted to simply survive until the anniversary.
Joe Bruni wrote “Ode to Joe” about his friend Joe Esposito who fought alongside him
CNN sent a film crew to cover the ceremony that Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) organized to honor Joe Bruni. The segment was released on Memorial Day, 2015
Joe Esposito’s nephew saw the segment and called Sam.
Joe did another reading of Ode to Joe in Norfolk. Sam didn’t tell Joe that Joe Esposito’s family was going to be there.
The family left a scrapbook with letters and photos from Joe and Joe. Joe Bruni realized that he had written some of those letters 70 years prior. He started crying. Everyone started crying. “They’re here?”
Joe Esposito’s nephew gives Joe Bruni a huge hug and they start talking.
“If nothing else happens through our programs, that alone was worth it.”
Today’s guest is Noam Angrist, the founder of Young 1ove, an NGO providing sex education to 35,000+ young people in Botswana. Sex-ed is a complicated issue, and over the decades it’s been hard to tell what worked and what didn’t. In Botswana, where 22% of the population has HIV, much of it hadn’t worked.
But when Noam used a tool from the scientific community, he could actually tell what interventions worked. Like a scientist, Noam discarded the interventions that didn’t work and focused on the ones that did. Soon, teenage pregnancy dropped by 28% in the communities he worked with, and he had the evidence to prove it. The tool that Noam used was the randomized control trial (RCT).
In this episode, Noam talks about his experience carrying out RCTs and discusses their limitations, challenges, and financial costs. He faced countless personal struggles along the way, like using his personal savings to fund the startup years, not having funding as launch day neared, government officials obstructing the program, and having to make 11-hour drives through the dirt roads of Africa.
When things got tough, Noam reminded himself to, “stay fiercely optimistic,” and “push through even when things are collapsing around you.”
Noam’s goal is to provide sex-ed to a million youth in southern Africa in the coming years. For his work, Noam Angrist has been named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship.
Noam Angrist's Reading ListNoam Angrist studied math and economics at MIT
He took a class at MIT with Esther Duflo, one of the founders of The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The Poverty Action Lab popularized the Randomized Control Trials.
Randomized control trials have revealed that most interventions don’t work
Noam Angrist was influenced by an article he read in Esther Duflo’s class: Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya By Pascaline Dupas
Noam worked for the World Bank and J-PAL upon graduation and realized that many research studies produce papers but not programs
Noam did a project at the World Bank about Botswana. He went to the University of Botswana to better understand the situation.
The university students give free tuition and provides student stipends. But when stipends run out at the end of the month, they become sugar babies.
According to the study by Dupas, the unprotected sex with sugar daddies was infecting many young people with HIV, but the research paper was not being turned into a program
Noam went out into the field with a team and turned the research into an actual program
Doers need plans that are simple, clear, and actionable but research papers are usually complicated and long.
The topics of sex and sugar babies are taboo
Noam and his team organized sex-ed workshops with the college students and found out that what the facilitators did or said affected the results greatly
Small, five-minute ice breakers at the beginning of the session changes the whole dynamic of the workshop and people talk more. Or when someone contributes a comment, everyone snaps and creates an environment of positivity and enthusiasm
The workshops are more effective when the facilitator is also a youth. It is truly a youth-to-youth model
Young 1ove now focus on girls ages 12-16
Women in areas with high HIV rates tend to have multiple, concurrent sexual partners
Due to the nature of the HIV virus, the disease is easier spread when less time has passed between sexual intercourse with different partners. That is why having concurrent partners is so dangerous.
45% of 40-year-old men in Botswana have HIV. 5% of young people have HIV. So the inter-generational sexual partnerships is infecting the younger generation.
Noam Angrist won $20,000 from D-Prize, a foundation that funds new entrepreneurs who increase access to proven poverty interventions.
Young 1ove carried out a second program (that had been proven to work in Kenya ten years prior) in Botswana, funded by J-PAL, Baylor HIV Clinic, and the Ministry of Education
Noam wanted to know if what worked in Kenya would work in Botswana
Noam thought he would become a development economics professor before the opportunity to run Young 1ove had came up
He had been offered a full ride to go to graduate school in the US but instead became a social entrepreneur
“Why do research when you can use it to make a difference?”
There was a gap... the good research was not being used
“It’s not the lack of good research. That exists. It’s the using and adapting of it that interested me.”
J-PAL and World Bank have hundreds of studies showing what works and what doesn’t, but the studies are not being used enough
NGOs should ask themselves, what do you need to do an RCT for? Is it to demonstrate impact to get more funding or is it to understand if an intervention is actually working to adjust or scale your programs?
If you want to do the RCT to give you more credibility and better branding, then you should hire an expensive, credible third party like J-PAL to do it for you
But if you want to do the RCT just as a learning tool for your own organization’s internal purposes, you don’t need to spend much money
Currently, kids are being told to abstain, which has not been very helpful.
Simply encouraging young people to date other young people leads to safer sex
Mechanism matters
90% of girls think younger men have a higher HIV rate than older men. But when you reveal the truth, it changes the cost-benefit-analysis for the girls
Botswana is really good about distributing HIV medication. So now the cost of having HIV is lower. So the messaging for sex-ed has to evolve with the changes of cost-benefit-analysis of the situation
A lot of universities now have centers that perform RCT.
Reliable organizations that do RCTs: J-PAL, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), World Bank, ID Insight, The Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Nairobi, Kenya
You should build into your organization’s fiber to always look to improve and constantly iterate
The original studies in Botswana produced ambiguous results. They measured more factors than the study from Kenya and had three groups instead of two that they studied
They were not ready to scale at that point
They tried different strategies, like instead of focusing on talking about the risk of HIV (now that the cost of having it is less), they experimented by focusing on the risk of pregnancy. Or by providing follow-up meetings to remind people
There is the temptation to do more and more research and not take a stance/position or move forward until one is 100% sure. But we are never 100% sure!
There is less evidence as to what works across countries and over time
MTV, The Ministry of Youth, and The Global Innovation Fund started to help
They delivered their programs to one third of the country in forty days
Young 1ove’s commitment to evidence-based interventions has attracted many donors
Most of the original staff members were volunteers
They applied for funding from Evidence Action and many other groups to find funding
Noam Angrist used his personal savings to withdraw cash out of ATMs in Botswana to fund the beginnings of Young 1ove
Everything was bootstrapped in the beginning. They operated lean, and shared computers at the university
During one 11-hour drive, Noam received a phone call from J-PAL about funding for a quarter million dollar RCT. They awarded the money and Noam was ecstatic and called his staff immediately. They received the funding one month before everything needed to start
They needed to get permission from the Ministries of the Botswana government. When ministers advocating for Young 1ove change jobs, it can complicate matters
They learned to get buy-in from EVERYONE in the government and so called and updated the stakeholders so much that they were told not to call so much
The marginal cost of changing what the workshop facilitators say is very low. The benefits could be huge.
Young 1ove is now working on a remedial education program
One of the best ways to prevent HIV is to keep kids in school
Noam describes his team as fiercely optimistic
“Push through even when things are collapsing around you. Stay fiercely optimistic.”
“You should be able to do good and do well.”
Salaries for nonprofit workers should be competitive
“What a pleasure it is wake up and want to go to work.”
The documentary, Broken for Good talks about the poor salaries in the nonprofit industry
Big Bang Philanthropy is a foundation that funds big but meddles/dictate little. They trust the organizations to make the right decisions. Getting donors like that is key.
“Stay crisp and simple, but internally brace for a lot more complexity. Juggle that tension and be aware of it.”
The incredible waste of time was tragic. But Katy and her cofounders saw opportunity amidst the tragedy.
The cofounders asked themselves, what if these people sitting around in the hallways spent those hours learning about health, physical therapy, and disease prevention? After all, some people didn't even know what a pulse was, and at least 40% of the patients had diabetes.
Noora Health began by showing one health video that they filmed in a parking lot. To the surprise of the founders, patients and their families loved the video. They wanted more. But there was a problem: the founders had no money. Yet something inside Katy kept saying, “We need to go all in and become an organization and throw our lives into this.”
For months, Katy lived in garages, attics and tents to make ends meet. She worked part time bartending and babysitting while she built up Noora Health with her professional soulmate, Edith.
The founders grew the nonprofit organization and created countless health workshops. Now Noora Health operates in 16 cities in India. They have provided training to 90,000 people and impact studies have shown a 36% reduction in post-surgical complications.
Fast Company rated Noora Health as one of the most innovative companies in 2016. They've been recognized by Y-Combinator, Echoing Green, and Ashoka. Katy Ashe was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for social entrepreneurship.
Katy Ashe's Reading ListKaty Ashe did an undergraduate thesis project in the Amazon rainforest in Peru
She accidentally began studying environmental contamination for mercury in the illegal gold mining industry
Noora Health started out as a class project for a at Stanford’s School of Design
They utilized the Human Centered Design Practice for their project to find out what was happening in the hospitals of India
Katy Ashe discovered that the patients and their family members were not ready to go home after they were treated due to uncertainty
In India, many family members accompany a patient to the hospital. They wait and camp out outside the hospital for days
Communication between patients, family members, and medical personnel was lacking
Medical personnel rarely explain to the patients and family members follow up procedures
Katy Ashe and her team decided to train and educate the family members who were waiting around and bored
40% of the patients going to the hospital had been diagnosed with diabetes; many others probably had it but were undiagnosed
The majority of the people Katy worked with had never been to a hospital or a health class
Some people didn’t even know what a pulse was
Katy Ashe and her team were actually determined NOT to start an organization through the class project
Then they used a point and shoot camera to make a video. A nurse in India showed the video to teach a class to the bored family members
A huge line of people showed up to watch
The video showed people how to walk after surgery, physical therapy techniques, basic diet advice
The impact numbers were surprisingly positive; infection rates were lowered, satisfaction levels for the hospital increased, people didn’t need to go to the hospital as much afterwards
The Amazon rainforest project had gotten too dangerous for Katy Ashe. The gold mining mafia wanted to kill Katy
Two of the co-founders had moved onto medical school
Katy Ashe went to India for a couple of weeks but ended up staying for nearly a year
Living in India is very affordable, but Bangalore is a tech city and costs are increasing quickly. A ramen at a ramen bar in Bangalore can cost $15!
The hospital asked Noora Health to do their programs in their other hospitals
“We need to go all in and become an organization and throw our lives into this.”
The founders did not want the project to fade away
They gave themselves three months to get things going
Katy Ashe was living in a friend’s garage to make ends meet
Edith, the other co-founder, was job searching
Katy nor Edith could find jobs that were as impactful to the world, and they are impact-aligned people
They wanted to turn the dial using their lives
Katy Ashe was looking at IDEO, getting a PhD, becoming a researcher
Katy Ashe and Edith consider themselves “professional soul mates”
They started Noora Health without any money or funding
They made pitches about Noora Health everywhere they went
In the beginning, the founders didn’t know how to tell a story
At the tail end of the three month deadline, they were accepted by Y-Combinator, an accelerator for tech startups (Air B&B, Dropbox, etc.). They create a community for the entrepreneurs and create a space for accelerated growth
Katy had part-time jobs (bartending, babysitting, odd jobs) while starting Noora Health, just getting by
Katy had unusual housing arrangements to make ends meet, such as attics connected with ladders, tents, garages
At Y-Combinator, nonprofits are treated the same way as everyone else
Noora Health was the second nonprofit ever to be accepted by Y-Combinator
Y-Combinator lasts 3-4 months but you become part of the community forever
Katy Ashe went into Y-Combinator without knowing too much about it, without expectations
Noora Health shot out of Y-Combinator “like a cannon ball”
“We’ve been trying to keep the cannon ball in the air.”
Katy had to learn how to hire people, create a team, create a culture
The four founders had started the class project without naming a leader or CEO
“Every couple of months I rewrite my job description.”
Katy Ashe is currently focusing on external communication, such as writing articles and sharing their impact study data sets
Katy Ashe loves to travel, kind of like Dr. Who, to go to conferences and make pitches
She was rarely in one place for longer than two weeks
Noora Health now works in 16 different cities in India
Excessive traveling can make you confused and lose your center
The original nurse in India that helped show the first video is now Noora’s Director of Training!
Noora Health now sets up schools inside the hospitals and provide the staff with videos, flip charts, take home materials, everything they need
Their material is largely visual since many of the beneficiaries are illiterate
Noora Health has more than 30 employees now in the team
Noora Health has filmmakers and designers on the team and they create the curriculum
They are currently trying to change 5-10 behaviors
Noora Health has trained more than 90,000 family members
“You should be paying competitive wages.”
Noora Health sometimes give full time jobs to their volunteers
Being indispensable and adding value are keys to finding jobs
Katy Ashe considers herself a messy person
She is always starting new projects, reading more books, adding more tasks onto her already busy life
She considers herself “too curious”
Noora Health wants to take their model to all of India and eventually to other countries
The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to be advocates for world peace while working on ourselves
While volunteering in India as an undergraduate student, Annie Ryu fell in love at first sight. What she saw at the market wasn't tall, dark, and handsome. It was a spiky, green fruit she had never seen. The huge fruit she was looking at was the jackfruit, the largest tree born fruit in the world.
Fascinated, she researched the fruit and ate them. Many of them. So much so that she'd soon be known "The Jackfruit Lady." The jackfruit, which tastes different in its various stages, has many nutritional benefits. It's high in vitamin E, magnesium, fiber, potassium, and manganese.
It also tastes great! The jackfruit is incredibly fibrous and has a meaty texture similar to pulled pork. When ripe, Annie describes it as, "a combination of pineapple, banana, and mango." That sounds delicious!
The meat industry is the second largest contributor to global warming. The problem is, many meat alternatives don't taste too great. But what if someone could create something that did?
Annie Ryu had an epiphany shortly after: by marketing the jackfruit all over the US as a meat-alternative main dish, she could create jobs, fight global warming, and improve human health. When she returned to campus, she said no to a Fulbright scholarship and no to medical school. Instead, Annie created The Jackfruit Company.
She figured out how to start a company in India, though she had zero knowledge of the food industry. She contacted farmers, local providers, and vendors to create a supply chain for the jackfruit. She bootstrapped the operation for years, concocting flavors in her own kitchen. The flavors that Annie now offers includes: Teriyaki, Curry, Tex-Mex, and BBQ. More are on their way.
But it hasn't been easy for Annie. "I was working all hours of the day,” she said, describing her early days. "Initially, you're doing everything," she expressed. Her first three shipments were disastrous and had to be dumped. As she hired people, she realized how little experience she had as a manager. “Becoming a good manager was a whole new learning curve,” she said.
Yet Annie Ryu kept pushing her limits. “I had the conviction that what I was doing was the right thing to do, even though there was so much more to learn," she said as she thought about all the benefits the jackfruit would bring to the world.
The company grew and grew, and they now run a factory in India and is generating jobs for 50+ locals.
Annie was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for social entrepreneurship. In this episode, she also talks about her relationship with her Korean father, her aspirations, personal struggles, personality test results, and why she decided to start a social enterprise instead of a traditional nonprofit organization.
You can buy The Jackfruit Company's products online or near the tofu and meat-alternative sections in Whole Foods, Wegmans, Safeway, and other supermarkets.
This episode is sponsored by Tikker, the death watch that counts down your life (and tells the time). Use the promo code SHIN at the checkout to get a 10% discount on your purchase.The podcast currently has 58 episodes available.