Samuel Lasiti’s Entrepreneurship and Impact Journey

Samuel Lasiti is one of Tapona’s Accelerator program alumni. He is a co-founder of Leap Empowerment Development Initiative (LEDI-Kenya) and founder of Wakulima Ni Sisi Initiative. He shared with us his empowerment journey and how his enterprise and support from Tapona has enabled him to impact lives. Here is his story:

Background Information

My name is Samuel Lasiti a Kenyatta University graduate having graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Community Resource Management and Extensions. I am an alumnus of Watson Semester Accelerator Program Fall 2021 and Lapid Leaders Africa graduate on the Lead Self Pillar. I am a Co-Founder of Leap Empowerment Development Initiative (LEDI-Kenya) and founder of Wakulima Ni Sisi Initiative.

 I am passionate about farming and driving change in communities as a way of advancing my career and helping in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and also the realization of Kenya’s Vision, 2030.

Location

I come from the Ewuaso Kedong’ community in Kajiado West Sub-County, Kajiado County.

Source of inspiration

I was inspired to start the Wakulima Ni Sisi Initiative by my late dad. I grew up seeing my dad do charity work for my community through Church where he used to get sponsors who offered relief food and initiated resilient projects in our community to counter adverse effects of drought. 

Having pursued a degree in Community Resource Management and Extensions I have gained passion for community work and being inspired by the work of my dad, I’m applying these skills to offer solutions for addressing food security in my community through a professional and more sustainable approach.

How I came across Tapona Accelerator Program

I came across Tapona Accelerator Program through a call for applications sent to me by a friend and I saw it as an opportunity that came at the right time where I wanted to gain more knowledge and address the gaps I had in managing my venture. I went through the application process and was chosen to participate in the program.

The program impacted me in the following ways;

• Mentorship- During the program I was assigned two mentors that were so much helpful in helping me improve on my venture. These mentors have a good track record through their entrepreneurship journey. Since venturing into social entrepreneurship I have never heard a mentor to support my journey hence having them strengthened my network as well as advancing my venture. 
• Training- I was trained on Social Entrepreneurship and Leadership. I went through the Watson classes taught by the well experienced Preceptors, supported by mentors, master course teachers, fellow scholars and from the Watson staff. Through Watson I addressed my gaps in knowledge, got the right tools and the capacity to operate the venture in a sustainable way. I learnt about selling our brand, fundraising and joining a network of global leaders. The knowledge and skills I learnt will not only help me but also my team members. My favorite class was LAB. I really enjoyed Funders Week where we wrote grant proposals for our ventures. I was the top among the five scholars that were awarded seed funding.
• Vulture Development- Watson experience has played an important role in the growth of Wakulima ni Sisi Initiative. Through the Transformative Entrepreneurship class, Lab, Transformative Action, I have refined my venture and my confidence in what I am doing for my community has increased.
• A network- Joining the Watson community has broadened my network. Through one on one sessions with Watson leaders and successful entrepreneurs drawn from different countries I have gained a great network that has been instrumental in supporting our ventures’ growth. 
• Management of non-profits- I joined the program as a venture founder in the category of non-profits. I learnt about spreadsheets, branding, business model components, grant writing, pitching, sales, budgeting, networking and many more topics that are very helpful in the management of nonprofits. As we learnt these topics I  practically applied the knowledge on my venture.

Words for budding entrepreneurs

I would tell my budding entrepreneurs that the journey of entrepreneurship requires self-discipline, self-awareness, resilience and having people that can sharpen you in the process.

Lessons learnt

• I have learnt the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and working on what I’m passionate about.
• I have learnt the importance of being intentional in everything I do
• Understanding why I started the journey and what drives me to do what I do.
• I have learnt to present myself and tell my story to people, doing presentations and many grant applications that don’t succeed. I present my work to investors and organizations and I receive feedback from them. Through this I have learnt to be patient, grateful and take feedback.