Screw Birthday Gifts; Let’s Start a Business Instead

Shanley Knox and Florence Okun

Happy to report that Shanley’s campaign was fully funded! Thank you for all of your help!

When your friends are bloggers located on the other side of the country, buying drinks to catch up after a hard day or to celebrate a monumental victory can be, well, impossible. And sending them birthday wishes after Facebook reminds you of their special day is so passé.

Let’s be real, thirty seconds of your time typing out “happy birthday” on Facebook is not meaningful.

A New Kind of Birthday Gift

Meet my friend Shanley KnoxShanley is a writer and social entrepreneur. At 20, she launched her first social enterprise. And this year for her 25th birthday, she’s doing what other 25-year-olds are not: trading in her birthday drinks to raise money for her second social enterprise. This time, it’s to launch Olivia Knox, which aims to change the face of manufacturing through refined East African craftsmanship that will supply luxury and lifestyle designers globally.

Through Olivia Knox, Shanley plans to raise labor standards and provide regular wages for a group of 40 female workers in Uganda, an area of the world where women are often marginalized and abused in professional working environments. Not just one or two, 40.

In her words:

She’s less than $700 away from reaching her goal and has less than four days to reach it; her campaign ends on Friday, January 31st, 2014 at 11:59 PT.

I already bought a round of drinks.  Want to grab the next birthday cocktail or birthday beer

Shanley Knox of Nakate Project

What do you say, shall we contribute a few birthday drinks to Shanley’s campaign?

You can make your donation through her campaign on Indiegogo, here: Have Birthday Drinks with Shanley for Uganda.

Photos courtesy of Shanley Knox 

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