Providing an online retailer of socially conscious products handmade in East Africa
Founder: Joy Anena Odongpiny
Venture: Lamwaka
What happened: Joy accepted a full-time job after she graduated but is still continuing to incubate Lamwaka.
Dan Heath: “Joy has a strong personal link to this work—her mother and grandmother were micro-entrepreneurs in Uganda. She spent the summer after she graduated in Uganda meeting suppliers and figuring out how the supply chain could work. She tracked down some beautiful products, like a wine rack custom made from Mugavu wood, while never losing sight of the social mission. Timing was short for Joy, since she was a second year who had a job lined up before winning the prize, but she’s continuing to invest in Lamwaka when she can. It’s great stuff — check out her online catalog at lamwaka.com.”
Joy Anena Odongpiny: “The Launch Pad prize was such great validation for my belief that Uganda and East Africa in general had something to offer the US market. This proposal was founded on the fact that the US consumer cared about the products they bought, the stories of these products, and the impact their purchases made on the creators and the environment. What felt like a idea in my head suddenly started to take shape through this seed prize. Additionally, the advisory support has continued to be invaluable with some of the challenges in the process. The Launch Pad prize continues to symbolize a belief in me, my home-country and its people, and the potential that business has to make a positive social impact.”
Read more about past Launch Pad winners and explore our Scaling Pathways series to learn more about the journeys other impact enterprises have taken to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.