TONY JOY, NIGERIA
Tony lives in Imafon where she is the founder of Durian whose mission is to empower people with the necessary skills and confidence to become self-sufficient with a focus on transforming local waste into value for the community. With support from the Sathi Fund, she realized her dream of creating an eco-village training center made entirely of bamboo and salvaged materials. Since 2018, the new center has served as a model entrepreneurial hub in the community. In 2017, she completed the prestigious social change maker residency at the Kanthari Institute in Kerala, India. Her statement of purpose: “Our world can become a better place if we begin to show kindness to all. And it begins with me.”
AJI KUMAR, INDIA
Aji is from Trivandrum. He became a paraplegic in 2002 after a fall from a tree while working as a laborer. After his accident, he became quite depressed, but eventually joined a patient rehabilitation program and learned to make umbrellas, cleaning products, and bags. In 2018, the Sathi Fund provided support for Aji to lead an income generation team of patients with disabilities at Pallium India, a palliative care and advocacy health NGO. Aji’s team produced several types of products to sell in the local markets using upcycled and reclaimed materials. His statement of purpose: “I want to show how people with disabilities can live in dignity and can be economically self-sufficient."
SAMUEL ADEWOLE, RWANDA
Born in Lagos, Samuel was a Sathi when he lived in Kigali and was the co-founder of Nile Farms, an African-owned social enterprise focused on helping farmers. His team won several pitch competitions, including the Hult Prize Rwanda National Winner, CU New Ventures Social Impact Prize and the MIT Water Innovation Prize. He was a Watson Institute scholar in 2018 and a fellow with the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. Now based in Denver, Samuel is the founder of OnePurse, a fintech start-up focused on facilitating cross-border money transfer between Africa and the U.S.
Alhassan Muniru, Ghana
Al is the founder of Recycle Up Ghana! whose mission is to co-create local solutions to solve the waste challenge through youth empowerment programs. Sathi Fund helped him establish a new innovation center in Kumasi to incubate new technologies and interventions. Al has a background in materials science, was a Global Citizen Fellow at the Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens, and was a finalist in 2018 at the World Bank Youth Summit Competition. He was a Watson Institute scholar in 2018. His statement of purpose: “I want to solve the problem of waste plastics in my country and do so through new innovations which put young adults into gainful employment.”
MAYA ZAKEN, SOUTH AFRICA
Maya studied economic science, philosophy, and politics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and is fueled to contribute to human and sustainable development. In particular, she is focused on the advancing the circular economy and reducing food waste and promoting sustainable agriculture, with a special focus on insect and black soldier fly farming. She is the co-founder of Philafeed, which aims to transform waste into wealth, create jobs, and build a dynamic food ecosystem.
NAPHTALI OBED AKUDUNG, NIGERIA
Naphtali is the founder of Climate Change Renewal (CRenew) based in Jos Plateau, a social enterprise that offers solutions to climate change by combating pollution particulates. His vision is to be a leading eco green solution provider of alternative building materials from upcycled plastic waste, and practicing sustainable agriculture towards building a resilient future in Africa. He has a dual background in physics and engineering, and was a Watson Institute scholar in 2021. He completed graduate studies as a national award scholar at the Nigeria Institute of Technology & Management.