This article by Britni Danielle originally appeared on TakePart on April 11, 2016.
Chuck Slaughter might be the founder of Living Goods—one of the most innovative health delivery organizations in the world—but when he started out, he was a struggling serial entrepreneur. A graduate of Yale University with a degree in architecture, Slaughter initially opened a bike repair shop, but business didn’t take off. Next, he started a company to produce documentary films about social issues, but the venture failed. Then, while flipping through The New York Times one day, Slaughter read a story about Trickle Up, a micro-financing organization that connects donors to small-business owners around the globe. Inspired by the company’s mission, he called and asked for a job.
Trickle Up said yes, an answer that took him to India, Nepal, and Indonesia as its program officer. The experiences provided him with a crash course in how micro-businesses operate and introduced him to the world of social entrepreneurship.
“Life is not a straight line,” Slaughter, 52, says of his early days. “I’m always amazed by what we end up doing that we never planned.”
It would take one more detour for him to end up where he did. His travels inspired him to launch TravelSmith, a direct-mail catalog for travelers. Slaughter helped the company bring in revenues of more than $100 million before selling it to take on more meaningful projects. When a friend told him about a struggling chain of drugstores in Kenya, Slaughter joined the board and volunteered his skills to help turn the business around.
He knew the model was broken: It relied on sick people coming into stores, and the chain didn’t serve rural areas. After learning that beauty giant Avon had started in rural America, Slaughter ordered a kit from the company and became a self-described “Avon lady” in the hopes of learning how the brand’s door-to-door approach could be applied to the health-care sector.
Agents sell to their social networks comprised of neighbors, friends and family members. They are trained to explain the health and economic benefits of each product. (Photo credit: Tine Frank/Living Goods)
The idea took off, and Living Goods launched in Uganda in 2007. Today, the organization operates with an Avon-like approach to delivering health care, training local entrepreneurs to go door-to-door to teach families how to improve their health while selling treatments for malaria and diarrhea and products such as water filters and solar lights.
It has expanded to Kenya, Zambia, and Myanmar and has cut childhood mortality by 25 percent, according to a randomized study by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation that surveyed more than 8,000 families in 200 villages. Moreover, researchers found that drug prices were 17 percent lower in areas where Living Goods agents operated, and counterfeit drugs were 50 percent less common than in regions without the health promoters.
Zamin lives and works in Bwaise, the heart of Uganda’s largest, densest slum. Zamin was trained by the government more than 10 years ago as a volunteer village health worker but the government lacked the resources to effectively support the program. Living Goods allows Zamin to earn an income as she helps improve the health, wealth, and productivity of poor consumers. (Photo credit: Jake Lyell/Living Goods)
For his innovative approach, Slaughter has been named one of six winners of the Skoll Foundation’s prestigious 2016 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, which was announced today and comes with a $1.25 million investment in each awardee’s organization.
Educating mothers about proper newborn care within the first few days of life is vital to reducing child mortality. To promote early identification of newborn children, Living Goods offers all new mothers a free cozy cap for their newborn baby. (Photo credit: Tine Frank/Living Goods)
While the bulk of Living Goods’ funding comes from backers who are willing to give “undesignated funding commitments of $100,000 and up,” the Skoll Foundation’s investment will help the organization dramatically ramp up its efforts. Also, Slaughter says, the Skoll Forum’s recognition of him as a top social entrepreneur will give Living Goods the ability to reach more people.
“It’s an inspiring community of change makers,” he says. “Our focus is change on a large scale, and to be successful at that, you have to be a great influencer, which means mastering communication. Those are the core strengths of Skoll—telling stories, disseminating stories, connecting stories. That’s kind of the special sauce Skoll brings to its awardees to help them magnify their message.”
