Gobee Group’s photography book: “Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya”

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Kenyan school children: Photo Flynn Warren

[Global Enterprise]

Gobee Group, a social innovation firm based in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, announced today the release of their photography book, “Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya.” This book shows showcases stories of four organizations that are improving life for urban everyday Kenyans – through business instead of charity. Gobee just launched a crowdfunding campaign (ending on December 23, 2013) to finance the production of the photography book. View the campaign here: http://kck.st/1b3lLk8

About “Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya”: Entrepreneurs are solving Kenya’s most pressing problems, from lack of access to lighting to a need for safe, affordable sanitation. Gobee created “Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya” as an ode to the difficult work of making change outside the normal channels of government and the typical development agencies. In the summer of 2012, Gobee dispatched its photographer Flynn Warren to Nairobi to gather stories from the the burgeoning social enterprise sector.

For this project, Gobee sought the four most innovative, social-minded organizations across all sectors in Kenya and instead found the biggest game changers anywhere in the world: Bridge International Academies – just featured in WIRED in November/December 2013, Sanergy – featured in Forbes online in November 2013, Sun Transfer, and Jacaranda Health. Bridge International Academies is increasing access to high quality primary education for Kenyan children. Sanergy grew out of MIT and is working to make basic sanitation affordable and accessible to all the world’s slum dwellers. Sun Transfer is a leading supplier of solar lighting to Kenyans. Jacaranda Health is working to ensure that every Kenyan mother has access to care and support needed to have a safe birth.

This is Gobee’s first venture into book publishing. Gobee envisions this book as just the first of a series. Gobee’s goal is to tell the story of social entrepreneurship in action through multiple, interactive media, beyond photography and print, and beyond Kenya.

Gobee’s Dr. Mahad Ibrahim says, “We live in a time when people are taking the problem of promoting social and economic development into their own hands. It’s exciting and the world needs to know more about the energy, passion, and innovation of this new class of entrepreneurs. We’re here to do that with ‘Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya.’”

About Gobee Group: A decade ago, the founders of Gobee – Mahad Ibrahim, Jessica Rothenberg-Aalami, and Jaspal Sandhu – were scattered across the globe: Mahad was exploring the Mubarak regime’s role in community IT centers in Egypt, Jessica was investigating Nike’s supply chain by going directly into Asian factories, and Jaspal was shadowing nomadic community health nurses in the most rural parts of Mongolia. Bound together by a shared vision to go between people, places, and technology, Mahad, Jessica and Jaspal formed Gobee in 2008 to integrate policy, technology, creativity, and grassroots expertise to design and deliver unique solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

To learn more about Gobee Group or “Social Enterprise Stories from Urban Kenya,” please contact: Mahad Ibrahim, PhD [email protected]

 

www.gobeegroup.com
 

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