Location: Sub-Saharan Africa

Lively Minds

Headquarters: United Kingdom

Country of Operations: Ghana, Uganda
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Lively Minds is a non-profit entity that ensures that children in highly deprived communities in Ghana and Uganda receive quality education and care in their early years. Working through government, the Lively Minds programme builds the skills and confidence of marginalised, rural mothers to run educational Play Schemes, and provide nurturing care for their children at home. This improves the quality of life and life-chances for rural children, whilst empowering parents and communities.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Koola Waters

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Koola Water is a for-profit company that focuses on manufacturing, distribution, treatment and packaging of pure drinking water in Kenya. Its products reduce the time spent by women to obtain clean drinking water in rural areas of Kenya.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Green Girls Organisation

Headquarters: Cameroon

Country of Operations: Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC
Women owned / led: At least 51% owned by women, Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here
About the organization: Green Girls Organization is a non-profit organization that trains women and girls across African rural communities on generating energy from the sun and waste. The entity create markets for these women to sell the solar lanterns and organic fertiliser obtained from the biodigesters. Through its work, the entity helps women make their lives safer, healthier and more secure, by providing access to livelihoods and through the provision of clean energy to customers. Its products reduce the time spent by women on domestic work.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Earlybird Educare

Headquarters: South Africa

Country of Operations: South Africa
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here
About the organization: Earlybird is a social enterprise that seeks to address the shortage of high-quality early childhood development (ECD) services in South Africa. The entity uses multiple delivery channels to provide children from across the socio-economic spectrum with the tools that they need to thrive at school and beyond. Earlybird has helped reduce the career-family trade-off that particularly affects women as 61% of non-working women in South Africa cite ‘family responsibilities’ as the primary factor that curtails their labour force participation.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Aqua Clara Kenya

Headquarters: United States of America

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here
About the organization: Aqua Clara is a non-profit entity that provide communities with affordable, easy-to use filters, so they can access safe water at home. Aqua Clara’s products are used by households, schools and health centres. The entity’s products have reduced care work as families no longer have to boil water over smoky fires to remove impurities. This has not only reduced illnesses but also has reduced the time and money spent on collecting and buying fuel.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Ecozoom

Website: ecozoom.com
Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Somalia
Women owned / led: None
About the organization: Ecozoom is a for-profit company that designs, manufactures and distributes solar lighting systems and fuel efficient cook stoves. Its products reduce the time spent by women and girls on fuel collection. The cookstoves use less than half the fuel of an open fire or inefficient stove which reduce fuel costs by 70%.This company is headquartered in Kenya and its products have reached customers in 23 countries.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduc

D.Light

Headquarters: United States of America

Country of Operations: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, India
Women owned / led: None
About the organization: d.light is a for-profit company that provides affordable solar-powered solutions for households and small businesses in developing countries. Through its hubs in Africa, China, South Asia and the United States, d.light has sold over 20 million solar light and power products in 70 countries. Its solar lanterns and solar home systems provide brighter and safer environment for households, improving quality of life for its consumers, especially women. Its products result in reduced energy expenditure for household and businesses.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Jazza Centre Limited

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

 
About the organization: Jazza Centre is a for-profit social enterprise that trains and places domestic workers in Kenya. The enterprise formalizes the employment process for domestic workers by ensuring that domestic workers and employers sign employment contracts. Jazza Centre increases recognition and reward for domestic workers by negotiating fair terms of employment and skill development. It reduces the burden of care work in households through provision of trained domestic workers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above), Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons), Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve conditions for domestic & care worker
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Eshururu Training Center (ETC)

Headquarters: Ethiopia

Country of Operations: Ethiopia
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: ElleSolaire is a solar social enterprise in Senegal. This non-profit enterprise bridges the gap between international manufacturers of breakthrough solar technologies and those who most need their products in remote off-grid communities. ElleSlaire has developed a woman led distribution network and supply chain for products like solar lamps, home solar systems and clean cookstoves. ElleSolaire’s solutions help reduce the amount of time women spend on domestic work, enable children to study after dark and help families to stay connected by mobile phones. So far, the enterprise has helped over 3,500 people and over 125 children with access to affordable electricity.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reduce

ElleSolaire

Headquarters: Senegal

Country of Operations: Senegal
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: ElleSolaire is a solar social enterprise in Senegal. This non-profit enterprise bridges the gap between international manufacturers of breakthrough solar technologies and those who most need their products in remote off-grid communities. ElleSlaire has developed a woman led distribution network and supply chain for products like solar lamps, home solar systems and clean cookstoves. ElleSolaire’s solutions help reduce the amount of time women spend on domestic work, enable children to study after dark and help families to stay connected by mobile phones. So far, the enterprise has helped over 3,500 people and over 125 children with access to affordable electricity.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce