The Power of One Make It Real Foundation

Galen co-founded Jibu in 2012 and under his leadership Jibu has quickly become one of the world’s largest social franchise networks, providing affordable access to drinking water and other essential products to hundreds of thousands, and creating hundreds of new businesses across East and Southern Africa. Jibu combines financing with a franchise model for the provision of essential services. Galen’s achievements at Jibu have been recognized by BBC World, Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Guardian, Fast Company, the Franchise Times, and by Forbes (30 under 30). In addition to Jibu, Galen is part of the ExCo of the Africa Great Lakes YPO chapter, is an Aspen Institute Ideas Festival scholar, a mentor (and prior fellow) at Shona, and serves on several start-up company Boards. Previously, Galen worked as a field manager for Colorado’s Public Interest Research Group, for HEAL Africa in Goma, DR Congo, and for the Peace Corps as a Health Educator in Morocco.

As a naturally curious and confident person, Linda Kamau is no stranger to trailblazing. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of AkiraChix, an organization that provides practical, hands-on skills training to young women and prepares them for existing opportunities in the labor market. For 10 years working as a software engineer, she found herself being the only woman of color in a leadership position working with people from over 10 different countries and it’s with this inspiration that she co-founded AkiraChix whose mission is to provide hands-on technical training and mentorship to young women and girls to increase the number of skilled women in technology. She holds a Bsc. in Business Information Technology from Limkokwing University and Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship through the Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. With her passion of championing diversity and inclusion as well as advocating for girls and women, she sits on the advisory board of WISER Girls School, a high school that empowers girls to overcome poverty, HIV/AIDS, and gender-based violence through education and health. Linda is part of the Inaugural class of Obama Leaders: Africa as well as a returning leader 2019. She is also a Segal Family Foundation African Visionary Fellow and a 2019 Builders of Africa’s Future Awardee. As the leader of an organization at the forefront of getting more women in technology, Linda continues to champion the inclusion of women in the technical workforce. With skilled women, you are assured not only of economic changes, but also a shift in societal norms. When she’s not donor-mapping, developing strategy or trying out the latest technology, you can find her watching a Manchester United game or watching Formula 1, she is an avid Mercedes AMG and Lewis Hamilton fan.

Welcome to the Power of One podcast, by the Make It Real Foundation, featuring interviews with ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
 
Isaac Wolman the CEO of Make It Real, founder of the Make It Real Foundation and the host of the podcast, discusses the new world post-COVID and the opportunities that it presents for each individual to have a meaningful impact.
 
Also, learn how you can engage today in making a difference in the lives of underprivileged young women around the world.