Vera has just begun work with our 100th partner organization – an exciting milestone as we prepare to celebrate our fourth birthday.
This week, we were pleased to kick off a project with Tugende, an innovative Ugandan social enterprise. Tugende increases the financial independence of boda boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers through a lease-to-own motorcycle program. After being carefully selected, responsible drivers pay Tugende virtually the same amount they would otherwise pay to a landlord and take full ownership in 18 months or less. Vera and Tugende have started working to build a system that simplifies the customer application process, tracks drivers, and manages customer payments.
In the last four years, Vera has grown to a team of twenty-seven on four continents. Honors include the Social Impact Award from Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise Conference, being named to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of social entrepreneurs, and Echoing Green, Rainer Arnhold, and Bluhm-Helfand Social Innovation Fellowships.
Vera has been fortunate to work with forward-thinking NGOs, social businesses, funders, and research institutions across more than 40 countries. These organizations cut across geographies, sectors, and sizes – from the world’s largest funder of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria programs to social enterprises helping improve health, sanitation, and livelihoods in East Africa. More than 2,000 users actively use these 100 organizations’ systems, and our clients’ systems have already tracked millions of beneficiaries and services.
Our successes over the past four years are in large part thanks to our partners. We are honored to work with some of the world’s most dedicated social innovators. Here’s to the next 100!
