Earlier today Seven Hills welcomed Paul Lindley, founder of Ella’s Kitchen and Paddy’s Bathroom, into its offices to hear about his third venture and social enterprise, The Key is E.
As an activist entrepreneur and campaigner, Paul Lindley shares the Seven Hills ethos that business should be a force for good. Paul talked the Seven Hills team through the development and ideas behind his latest venture.
The Key is E launched last year, and is on a mission to support young African entrepreneurs, and promote business as the most sustainable way to solve social problems and unlock Africa’s potential.
The idea behind The Key is E arose from the happy meeting of Paul Lindley and co-founder Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier from South Sudan and now internationally acclaimed hip hop artist, at the One Young World 2013 Summit in Johannesburg.
Since then, the two have been meeting entrepreneurs across Kenya in the pursuit of identifying sustainable, scalable business propositions that could benefit from investment and bring positive social change. Paul and Emmanuel then returned to Kenya with a film crew, and have produced a fantastic film documenting their various meetings with inspirational entrepreneurs.
The Seven Hills team was treated to a viewing of the film this afternoon, which gave insight into how entrepreneurs in Kenya are empowering others through their businesses, in particular providing access to education. The Key is E is working towards supporting entrepreneurialism in Africa through helping to form a network of entrepreneurs who have greater access to funding, mentors and a broader business support network.
Paul Lindley is a long-term friend of Seven Hills and also features in Nick Giles and Michael Hayman’s new book ‘MISSION: How the Best in Business Break Through’. To get hold of your own copy, head to Amazon, or to learn more, visit www.mission.business.