By Daniella Flores | Vice President
For R4H, the new year is an exciting time. In the past month, our team has conducted extensive strategic planning.
Sam, our President, was in India negotiating a partnership with a local NGO, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and training our newly hired Program Manager, Jibin. His 3 weeks on-site were very productive in terms of training our promising new employee and setting up connections in new villages for future construction. We accomplished a survey of the new village site residents, marking the first pre-tank impact report for 2014.
On the US side, Daniella, our Vice President, traveled to San Francisco to attend a week’s-worth of workshops and networking events at notable places such as Odesk, Salesforce, and YCombinator, ending with a 10-minute pitch to a panel of Venture Capitalists. This conference provided the opportunity to be immersed in the start-up environment and connect with successful entrepreneurs who have gone through (and survived!) the challenging process our team is now facing.
We gained a lot of insights from these experiences, particularly about the future trajectory of R4H and the choices we have in front of us.
This year’s primary goal is to set up an official entity, which will operate separately from the Brown University R4H student group. In doing so, we will be taking the first step in securing the long-term international operation of the organization.
Another key goal this year is the development of new catchment and storage technology that is both cheaper and more efficient. We have been pursuing tank optimization since the project began, but we believe the re-design is more important now than ever if we hope to reduce costs and truly realize our sustainability goals.
An additional priority is establishing a partnership with MSSRF. This NGO’s local presence, credibility, and administrative support will help us get up and running these first few years.
Our team is excited about the months to come, and we thank you for all of your support of our venture so far!
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