A few weeks ago, DomoGeo’s CEO and founder, Hasan Alemdar, was approached by Eidi Cruz-Valdivieso of Poder Civico, who had been hearing about the good work we’re doing. Eidi invited Hasan to apply for their $100,000 Gifted Citizen prize, to be awarded this November. Hasan was reluctant to promote himself as ‘gifted’, but the rest of our team convinced him that to walk away from $100,000 in grant money would be, well, the opposite of gifted.
For those of you new to our organization, we provide hard-working families at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ with an affordable, sustainable, quality house from which they can run a home-based business. Our houses currently cost around US$1000, and the goal is to get that down to $500. Our grassroots entrepreneur clients receive short-term, low-cost loans from our local financing partners, and in as little as five years are able to pay off their house, double their disposable income, and quadruple their asset-building capability. We provide a place to work. A place to live. A place that makes money.
But back to our Gifted Citizen. The application needed to include a five-minute video, presented by Hasan. Problem was, the Indian consulate had misplaced his passport and he was stuck in London until four days before the application deadline. So we’re particularly proud of Hasan, as well as Hari Surendra and his Bangalore-based crew at Highlite, for getting this done.
Check out the video, share it with your friends, and let us know what you think!
(And if you’re moved to invest with us, or support our non-profit partner, the Equality + Opportunity Foundation, we’d be thrilled.)