Organized to draw everyone to a lifetime commitment to social impact, the first series of the Relinked Social Impact in Action Forum took place on Friday, June 30, 2023, from 2:30 PM to 5: 00 PM. The high-impact forum registered participation of a diverse audience which included final year students from the University of Nairobi, a Masters student from the University of Cape Town, South Africa; young change-makers and young people focused on becoming impact leaders, and individuals drawn from different organizations in Kenya.
The following organizations were represented at the event.
The main aim of this forum, both presently and in the future, is to showcase the works of different change-makers by having them share their stories with a live or virtual audience. This is in a bid to inspire people to act — to bring about change, by learning from the lived experiences of founders of successful social impact initiatives, and leaders with a demonstrated commitment in their areas of practice.
Session Facilitators:
Through engaging sessions facilitated by Dr. Isaac Kalua Green and Mr. Waihiga K. Muturi, the attendees were equipped with ideas and insights they can use to make meaningful contributions to sustainable development. The two facilitators shared about their Social Impact in Action journeys, their trans-formative experiences, and the good practices and principles that have ensured their enduring commitments to their different causes and initiatives.
Dr. Isaac Kalua Green is the Founder and Chairperson of the Green Africa Group and Foundation. He is an environmentalist, a transformative thought leader, and a Business person with a passion for community development. He is an enthusiast of management, policy formulation, and state-of-the-art technology on sustainable mobility, Agriculture, Environment, Conservation, and renewable energy. He has been awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear(MBS) for Environmental Efforts, and the Head of State Commendation (HSC) for Exemplary work in Sports and Environment Management by the President of Kenya.
Waihiga Muturi is a social entrepreneur, innovator, certified digital journalist, and mediator. He has spent over a decade in the incubator/accelerator ecosystem, including PR, communications, media, marketing, and ICT4D, working in over thirty sub-Saharan African (SSA), fourteen MENA, ASEAN, and EMEA countries.
Waihiga K. Muturi helped the attendees to understand how they can make their social enterprise organizations become effective in their service delivery, from formalization, structure, and resource mobilization, and how they can position themselves for long-term impact.
He emphasized the need for everyone to learn how to balance the pursuit of profit derived from their initiatives and the actual impact that they intended to make in the first place, stating that more often than not, some people do get lost in personal gain to the point of losing focus, and the initiatives end up losing track or collapsing altogether, to the detriment of beneficiaries.
The journey to social impact is a process that should not be rushed. It takes time, it takes awhile. It also take different forms but it most of the time requires one to get down into the trenches and get their hands dirty in order to get something done. It is a challenging work that many people shy away from because it involves breaking of new grounds, going to uncharted territories, and going beyond the ordinary expectation, but it has its own very fulfilling rewards.
Throughout his sharing Dr. Isaac Kalua Green, who was also the chief guest in the forum, reiterated the importance of leading a life that is guided by certain fundamental principles, in order for one to embark on a lifetime commitment to social impact. Drawing from his own example, where he has adopted a green philosophy; an attitude that has shaped his character, and informs even his dressing, his life, his name, and everything he does, Dr. Kalua Green shared that treating people kindly, a focus on sustainable livelihoods, and a passion towards environmental conservation, are some of the values he lives by.
On kindness he stated that ‘You should be kind to yourself, kind to others, and kind to the environment’
‘When we talk about Re-linking, I want us to think about what it is that we can be able to do for each other, and what you can learn from each other… ’
Dr. Kalua opined that impact is derived through connecting, creating, and producing something or providing a service that has a direct benefit to the society. This is the essence of RELINKED; to Link, Re-link, and to be Re-linked, with people and opportunities to make a positive impact. It entails learning from others so that you can be able to up your game. Moreover, the impact created should have a personal, community, and international bearing. In his talk he captured very well the RELINKED mission: ‘When we talk about Re-linking, I want us to think about what it is that we can be able to do for each other, and what you can learn from each other… ’
A lifetime commitment to social impact demands that responsibility is assigned appropriately and acted upon diligently. According to Dr. Kalua, responsibility is so important and it is the beginning of success in many things that we can be able to do. There is personal responsibility, corporate responsibility, and international responsibility, especially insofar as environmental conservation is concerned. ‘We need to be personally responsible for whatever we are doing to replenish the earth. ‘
Addressing specifically the young people in the audience, Dr. Kalua Green shared an important tool that he has found working throughout his life; it is called MPR:
The delegates now have a great challenge to create a moment that will increase awareness and activities towards social impact, encourage individuals and organizations within and without their network to associate their brands with a social purpose that is geared towards transforming lives; join forces with others to accelerate delivery of impact objectives following sustainable development goals, and to initiate empowerment programs that will support people to be drivers of their solutions for growth and poverty reduction.
