Francis and the Light Bulb
Josh Tetrick
Founder and CEO, 33needs
We can go on (and on) about the diffusion of the internet. And we can talk about the power of the social web to convene thousands around a cause, a project, or a company. And in coming posts, we will, because both are central to galvanizing a new form of fundraising; a form driven not by large donations and investments, but one driven by thousands of ordinary people interested in funding change.
For a moment, though, let’s step back. Let’s step back and take in a story about a company, Angaza Design, and a friend, a young man named Francis.
Lesley Silverthorn, CEO of Angaza Design, has her own bright idea: make clean and affordable electricity accessible to all. Angaza, based in California, is one of a growing number of social enterprises harnessing the crowd for funding. Angaza distributes a light specifically for the needs of off-grid families in the developing world. One of their products, called the SoLite, eliminates kerosene usage in homes and helps to end families’ dependence on lung (and planet) polluting fuels.
Long-term, sustainable impact is what matters to Lesley and the Angaza team, and for them, raising $10,000 on a crowdfunding platform is simply one means to that end. From their pitch on 33needs, one of the crowdfunding platforms we highlighted in a previous post:
"You make an investment and enable us to manufacture these life-changing products. We sell our lights and chargers to NGOs, solar distributors, and directly to the customers. Families and businesses in the developing world are able to eliminate dim and dirty kerosene from their lives and lift themselves out of poverty. You get repaid and get to move on with life knowing you’ve directly enabled a family to have clean, bright light in their lives."
Now, Lesley doesn’t know my friend Francis, but her world-changing vision touches many just like him in Sub-Saharan Africa. Francis is one of the two billion people living in the vice grip of energy poverty — without light, without heat, without a single electron of power. He was 7-years-old when he was ripped from his family, school, and community to fight in Liberia’s diamond-fueled armed conflict. When I met him, five years had passed since the end of the civil war, and Francis was now my appointed security guard in Monrovia, Liberia.
My friend Rachel, who lives in Monrovia, recently told me two bits of news about Francis. First, he has a girlfriend. Second, he has a light bulb. She added that the city of Monrovia now has street lights, too. The good: light stimulates energy and enterprise, learning and more dynamic livelihoods. The bad: Francis’ light bulb and Monrovia’s street lights — both powered by coal — form a piece of the seventy million tons of global-warming pollution that are collectively dumped into our atmosphere. We live on a young and urbanizing planet. What if every Francis (and Francoise) had a light bulb?
Al Gore, Jonathan Lash (President of the World Resources Institute), and others have pressed the case for a "unified earth theory": an approach that links solutions to extreme poverty and the environmental crisis. Economist Nicholas Stern estimates the Global South will need $100 billion per year by 2030 to meet the challenges of ecological and social restoration. How can we harness the dynamism of business, the convening power of social networking, and countless other planetary leverage points to ensure people and the planet thrive simultaneously?
We need more people powered funding approaches to unleash this investment; more people powered funding to drive reality-bending models of zero-emission communities across the Global South. We need thousands of companies like Angazi and, importantly, millions of supporters and investors powering their growth.
We know Angaza gets it, but what’s your story? How can crowdfunding serve as a means to your impact-filled end? Let’s discuss!
