edun LIVE has partnered with Miami University of Ohio to create edun LIVE on Campus (ELOC), a socially conscious t-shirt distribution company that seeks to penetrate the college market. ELOC was created within the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University; the project is an example of a new business model: one that uses for-profit practices to advance a social outcome. Managed solely by the students, the company targets all campus organizations that may need t-shirts. Rooted in the mission of the organization, students not only sell t-shirts but also raise awareness of how to be a socially conscious consumer. Students and organizations are able to support the cause by ordering their customized t-shirts through ELOC. Currently, we are only operating on Miami University’s campus, but it is our goal to expand ELOC to 40 more campuses by the year 2012.

Our Mission Statement

ELOC is a socially-conscious t-shirt distribution program that provides sustainable employment in sub-Saharan Africa with the goal of alleviating poverty throughout the region. In order to be successful, we will strive to deliver not only a product, but also an experience that fuels customer satisfaction, individual expression, and product quality. ELOC seeks to create economic growth and trade through each individual t-shirt purchase.

How it was started

ELOC was started by a faculty member, Brett Smith, and a team of 15 undergraduate students at Miami University in the fall of 2006. The initial goal of the program was to prove that the edun LIVE model would be successful at a college campus. In the first eight weeks of getting t-shirts, the Miami University team was able to fill 24 orders and sell approximately 2600 t-shirts. Now, orders have increased from approximately eight per month to 15 per month and we have sold over 6000 t-shirts. Also, in March 2007, we held our first recruitment efforts, adding 17 new members to our original 15.