Skills Venture
Skills Venture organises mentoring assignments in Africa for UK and US business people. Spend anything from one week to one year providing practical, one-to-one support to local entrepreneurs in Kenya. Use your skills and business acumen to help new businesses to overcome challenges and create jobs and wealth for local communities. Combine this with a safari or other holiday in one of Africa’s most beautiful countries, and stay in a peaceful and comfortable rural lodge while you work with local entrepreneurs.
Member since: 25 Jun 2008
How the minimum criteria of the responsible travel standard was met...
Economic responsibility
Our core service provides a boost to the local economy by supporting the growth and development of small businesses through mentoring support and skills transfer, creating jobs and sustainable incomes in the process.
Skills Venture employs local people as mentoring facilitators, logistical support staff, and administrators.
We work with local suppliers (such as accommodation owners) who operate a similar policy, and ensure that all of our suppliers are supplying us with quality goods that have been sourced or grown locally wherever possible, are paying their own staff fairly, and are not requiring their staff to work excessive hours or to participate in any dangerous practices.
Environmental responsibility
Skills Venture minimises unnecessary environmental impacts in its UK operation by disseminating materials electronically wherever possible, and by recycling all appropriate waste materials.
Volunteers are thoroughly briefed, and asked to sign up to a code of conduct, on how to minimise their impact on the environment (for example, by avoiding taking baths to reduce water consumption, and using solar power alone wherever possible).
Social responsibility
Skills Venture assignments have an innate positive impact on local communities.
All staff are given a thorough briefing in local customs and values and current political, social and economic situation in their destination country, as well as a copy of a book on local cultural values.
They are also briefed on how (and why) to purchase goods and services locally, how to bargain in a way that is appropriate and does not deprive people of much-needed income, and how to relate to their entrepreneur mentees in a way that avoids any hint of perceived cultural or social superiority.
