Enda shoes, proudly made in Kenya, Africa
Founders Navalayo “Nava” Osembo and Weldon Kennedy
It all begins with a passion for what you love doing in order to make a change and positive impact on the world; and Enda is doing just that. Founders, Navalayo “Nava” Osembo and Weldon Kennedy created Enda Sportswear over a mutual interest to increase the visibility of Kenya’s reputation as one of the best in running. Lawyer and accountant, Nava is born and raised in Kenya. Weldon is a social activist and “running shoe nerd”. Both wanted to find ways where Kenya can be positioned to help its communities. While Enda is not 100% Black-owned, its shares are majority owned by Kenyans, it is Kenyan founded and majority funded by Kenyan investments, which is absolutely a major reason why you should support the brand. In short, you will be supporting Kenyan workers and communities.
Enda is the first high performance athletic shoes in Africa and is it on a mission to create economic development, support local communities, reduce environmental impact, and change how others view Kenya. Here’s a look at Enda’s purpose and commitments.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Creating jobs by producing new product segmentation that have never been made in Kenya before. As a result, this increases skills and results in higher wages.
SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES
A portion of the purchase price of each pair of shoes goes towards social good initiatives in Kenya called Enda Community Foundation that includes global communities of Enda runners in deciding which projects to support.
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Enda is the first Climate Neutral Certified company in Africa, and the first climate neutral road running shoes. In addition, they are reducing their carbon footprint by reducing waste in packaging and production by,
Working with Climate Neutral to measure their total carbon footprint.
Buying carbon offsets for the entire amount Enda generates as a company, not just CO2 resulting from each pair of shoes.
Planning to reduce emissions from corporate travel by 60%, reduce freight emissions by 80%, and reduce company wide use of paper by 70%.
CHANGING THE WAY THE WORLD SEES KENYA
According to Enda, this is the hardest to measure, but is may possibly have the most impact in the long run. The whole world need to know the creativity and skill that can be found in Kenya. When you see Made in Kenya on a tag, it should automatically mean quality and contemporary style.
Enda Sportswear states it will always work to find ways to improve their social impact and reduce their environmental impact. I don’t know about you, but that’s a great company that I would love to back and create a sustainable more lean environment for generations to come. How about you?
Follow Enda @endasportswear
source: endasportswear.com