Ian Oluoch
Kenya
Ian Oluoch is the co-founder and CEO of Greenchar. Greenchar provides ecofriendly charcoal briquettes and clean cook stoves to Kenyan households. Growing up in rural Kenya, Ian experienced firsthand the devastating effects of using charcoal and firewood to cook on traditional cook stoves. Ian has always believed that those closest to the problem are the closest to the solution.
“There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”
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Bright and talented, Ian joined Kenya’s premier high school, Alliance High School. There, he decided to do something to alleviate this problem for the 90 percent of Kenyan households that use charcoal and firewood as their main source of household energy. He put together a team and researched how they could provide alternative forms of household energy. Fresh from high school, Ian co-founded Greenchar, with the aim of transforming the Kenyan cooking environment.
For his work at Greenchar, Ian has received numerous awards including winning Global Minimum’s Innovate Kenya Competition, SOCAP Scholarship in San Francisco, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program, Sidney Family Foundation Best Pitch Award and the Ye! Community Boost Camp in Amsterdam. Ian is a highly energetic, adventurous and enthusiastic individual, with a range of entrepreneurial experience and passion.
