We are quickly expanding to more and more universities, spreading the story and mission of EDUN Live on Campus. From time to time, we will profile a university and see what their chapter is up to!
 

UC Berkeley

Interview with leuh Soh, President of EDUN Live on Campus at UC Berkeley

When did you start your chapter?

“We started in Fall 2010.”

How did you first find out about EDUN Live on Campus?

“I did an internship in Guatemala over the summer and wanted to bring something back to the Berkeley campus regarding Social Entrepreneurship. As a business and development studies double major, I wanted to find a way to bridge the two disciplines to create real impact for those in Sub-Saharan Africa. I was referred to Ali Tanker, who was involved in the EDUN Live on Campus program.”

How large is your team currently?

“We currently have 20 members that are divided up into three cross functional teams of design, marketing and sales.”

What is your main focus for this year?

“We want to tighten up our model as well as do much more market research on our customers. Also, we’d like to print around 2,000 tshirts and build customer loyalty around large groups.”

How have you reached students at UC Berkeley with the message of EDUN Live on Campus?

“Social media, announcements, marketing campaigns, etc.”

Where do you hope to be one year from now with your chapter?

“I hope that we can become more marketing oriented instead of sales oriented. That is, I hope that we can start having customers come to us rather than having to constantly outreach. I also want to solidify the partnership that we currently have with our student body senate. Lastly, I believe there is potential to expand the our student run class/hands on business model we have to other UCs in California.”

You’ve been asking for it, and it is finally here! This week, we launched our online store. Our main focus over the years has mainly been working with companies, organizations, and student groups to customize large batches of t-shirts. Still, we always have wanted to give individuals the chance to support and our mission and wear our shirts. The new online store will allow just that. Take a look around – branded EDUN shirts are available, as are some of our new colors. And, as a special thanks to our supporters reading this: enter the promo code EDUN at the check-out for 10% off your order!

We’re excited to announce two new color choices when you are ordering your custom shirts: Dark Sage and Charcoal Gray. Both are available in Unisex, with sizes ranging from Small to 2XL. This addition expands the EDUN Live collection to four Unisex colors: White, Black, Dark Sage, and Charcoal Gray. Take a closer look at both new colors below:

Last year we were treated to an incredible speech by Blake Mycoskie of TOMS, sponsored by the EDUN Live Miami University Chapter. Just weeks ago, on October 4^th, we were again listening to a world-class social entrepreneur: John Wood, the founder of Room to Read. Over 400 students came to hear John’s message of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. John shared how his organization is giving the gift of literacy to millions in the developing world by building libraries, schools, and providing scholarships. He outlined how business savvy has allowed his organization to scale: Room to Read opens more libraries each year than Starbucks opens new stores!

After the speech, excitement continued as students from across the University pledged to open a school in Nepal. Katie Mulligan, Assistant Director of The Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University, noted: “Miami will be the first undergraduate institution to build a Room to Read School.”

EDUN Live on Campus is committed to continuing to bring in leading speakers on social entrepreneurship to reach the college market, and John Wood is a perfect example of an individual we can all aim to learn from.

We made a startling revelation recently here at Miami University: Not everyone knows about EDUN LIVE On Campus. Awful, right? We thought so too. So, we decided to force people to take notice: We blanketed the school. Posters everywhere, shirts hanging from clotheslines, t-shirt racks in buildings, announcements in classes, e-mails to students – you get the idea.

Take a look at a few of the pictures from the day below, and see the full set here.

Miami University Chapter’s President, Danny Sauter, was recently featured in an interview with The Social Entrepreneurship Exchange. In the interview, Sauter talks about his experience with the program, the impact being made, and the great potential for further growth.

“The problem is that Africa has nearly 15% of the world’s population, but just 2% of the world’s trade.  And we kind of recognized – and I think there’s mounting support for this – that perhaps trade rather than aid is the key to ending the cycle of poverty and increasing development in the continent.  So our answer is to increase trade to Africa by sourcing 100% African-made t-shirts, and provide sustainable employment in the process.”

You can read the full interview here.

We’re excited to share a great event that we’ve been planning at our founding school, Miami University. Here are the details:

Doing Good by Doing Well: Social Entrepreneurship
Blake Mycoskie, CEO & Cheif Shoe Giver of TOMS Shoes

February 24th, Wednesday 4:30pm
Miami University Farmer School of Business
Taylor Auditorium

Blake’s energy and his fast-growing company matches up well with EDUN LIVE On Campus, a key reason we asked him to drop by to tell of his journey and the mission of TOMS. Here’s some more on the company:

TOMS’ simple promise to give a pair of new shoes to children in need around the world with every pair sold is revolutionizing the way consumers shop. The One for One business model has encouraged conscientious consumers to purchase and give more than 140,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need in just 3 years. Bill Clinton called their CEO, Mycoskie, “One of The Most Interesting Entrepreneurs I’ve Ever Met.”

Special thanks for the support from Green Oxford, AIESEC, and UNICEF, and the Miami University Center for Social Entrepreneurship for making the event a reality.

We’d love to have you join us for this incredible event. If you are in the neighborhood, drop by. Oxford, home of Miami University, is just 45 minutes north of Cincinnati. If you can’t make it, however, we’ll be sure to snap plenty of pictures and video to capture the excitement of the day.

Have a look…

We love every one of our customers. They’ve made the choice to support a brand that backs ethical practices and social change, so they must be pretty sweet. Every once in a while, however, we feel like it’s time to call one out if they are involved in something extra-ordinary or special. It looks like that time has come, as the Miami University chapter works with Startup Weekend Columbus 2 to provide them with shirts.

Startup Weekend 2 is all about innovation, action, and the entrepreneurial spirit. What’s not to love about that? The idea is that, within the span of one weekend,  it’s possible to launch a business. Crazy, right? Yeah, a little bit – but it’s an incredible practice of bringing together a vast group of people, coming together to work towards a common goal, dedicating long hours and hard work, and seeing if maybe, just maybe, you can put it all together and come out with something really cool by the end of the weekend.

The program is held all over the world, in a series of weekends in different cities. Columbus held their second go-round this April 3rd-5th. Thanks to the support and interest from the participants and sponsors of the event, they all came away with a Startup Weekend Columbus 2 EDUN LIVE shirt, in addition to any gold-mine businesses they happened to create that weekend.

The design was put together by Phil Franks at dynamIt Technologies. Thanks to sponsors of the event : Sun Microsystems, TechColumbus, dynamIt Technologies, Bricker & Eckler, EdgeCase, Sterling Commerce, and Sandbox.