Ecosandals

All Ecosandals are made in part from 100% recycled tire tread rubber scavenged from the Korogocho neighborood and surrounding areas of Nairobi, Kenya. Our basic sandals are enhanced with local leathers or denim, beadwork and artistic detail to create the stylish and comfortable sandals our customers are raving about.

Ecosandals are hand-made with loving care by our dedicated Korogocho staff. It takes about 30 minutes for our sandal-makers to make a pair of sandals. And Kenyans, as majority owners of the enterprise, reap all of its profits, allowing them to earn a wage far beyond the expectations of their community.

Ecosandals currently offers four styles of sandals in a range of sizes for both men and women.

We have found our footwear to be popular in the North American and European marketplaces because of its creative use of old tires and our ability to train and employ shantytown youth to become artisan-owners.

Ecosandals has previously reached marketing and sales agreements with Levi Strauss & Co. and Amazon.com, respectively. Shantytown sandal-makers have traveled to business trainings and received awards in North America, Europe, and Africa. Countless media outlets have profiled Ecosandals’ work, including CNN, BBC, Canadian Breakfast Television, and the South African Television Network. The BBC report on Ecosandals won the BBC reporter a 2002 Africa Journalist of the Year Award.

We intend to market the Ecosandals brand widely to make the name of the product a guarantee of quality; this is backed by over 10 years of experience in the sandal making and international commerce.

By taking care of our customers and providing them with the best products at the best quality, we are bringing a whole new dimension into the African sandal making market which will ensure that we gain competitive advantage.

We will continue sales of our sandals through local stores in Nairobi and through our website, www.ecosandals.com. Additionally, we have been successful in promoting our products through word of mouth, the media, and international exhibitions and trade fairs.

Because of the high number of tourists in Kenya, we also plan to introduce our sandals to high-end gift shops and hotels in Kenya. We expect that tourists would like to return with souvenirs with meaning and believe that they will find Ecosandals appealing. We have recently developed a marketing plan which lays out our activities, including visits to local hotels and boutiques, some of which have already expressed interest in carrying our products.

- Unique designs that are attractive to U.S. and European customers
- Comfortable and durable sandals made with high-quality materials
- A social mission that supports the empowement of the sandal-makers
- Interest from environmentally minded individuals who value our use of recycled materials.

Ecosandals is an extraordinary partnership between Korogocho shantytown dwellers, top young Kenyan leaders, and volunteers in the United States.

We recruit enthusiastic and disciplined Korogocho adults, regardless of educational attainment. We provide them a structured enrivonment to design and produce footwear, and invite them to attend an evening secondary school to enhance their ability to work with customers and manage the business. They invest in a savings program, and purchase stocks on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and build wealth for their families.

We recruit top young university graduates to manage Ecosandals and to market the footwear to Kenya and the world.

Our team of committed individuals outside Kenya contact sandal-makers daily and visit Korogocho annually. Such volunteers include market leaders in the American footwear, legal, social work, and technology industries.

Collectively, we have built a unique coalition that enables Korogocho sandal-makers to carve their own niche in the world market.

The funding sought by Ecosandals, in the form of equity investments, loans, and/or grants, will enable the business to retain its community ownership while scaling up in a dramatic manner. Based on unsolicited purchase inquiries received, we believe such investment will provide an attractive return on financial capital to investors and an equally high return on social capital to grantors.

The equity investors will hold, in the aggregate, 30% of the outstanding Ecosandals equity, pro rata to each investor’s contribution. The remaining 70% of outstanding equity will be held by shantytown sandal-makers and project founders, none of whom, individually will own a controlling share of the business.

Ecosandals provides employment for disadvantaged youth and adults by training and hiring them to work as sandal makers. Through our savings matching program, sandal-makers invest in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, enabling them to build long-term wealth. Working in a neighborhood known to be unsafe and hopeless, the project uses electronic commerce, creativity, and hard word to build wealth and dignity.

We also have the Eco-evening adult school which is an informal adult education school where sandal-makers and other youth Korogocho residents get a second chance to continue with their secondary education. In the future, we hope to expand our Eco-evening school through the support of the Government of Kenya by having an ICT centre /computer school to enable the residents of Korgocho exploit the potential that lies in ICT.