46 - KickStart International
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Description
“I shouldn’t have been there in the capacity that I was.” KickStart International is an award-winning, nonprofit social enterprise with a mission to lift millions of people out of poverty. They do this  through their “MoneyMaker” human-powered irrigation pumps. These low-cost ($70 and $150) pumps are bought by small-scale farmers who use them to access wells or nearby water sources to irrigate their plots and grow crops year-round. As a result, farmers transform their farms into profitable businesses and this new income empowers families to properly feed and educate their children, afford healthcare and plan for their futures. MoneyMaker pumps are sold in local retail shops in 16 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. To date, more than 215,000 farming families have used MoneyMaker pumps and KickStart estimate that the pumps  have lifted over 1,000,000 people out of poverty. Jenna is KickStart International's Senior Partnership Officer. She has spent much of her career accelerating community-based organisations during their startup phase, helping to launch the Ford Family Program under the Kellogg Institute at Notre Dame and serving as director of groups in Uganda and Liberia. These roles entailed working closely with founding teams and local communities to identify needs and advantages, designing and executing programs, fundraising and communications strategies. Jenna is passionate about replacing traditional charity, with models that empower individuals to be the agents of their own change.
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