Sharing Nuru At ÜberConf 2015 in Denver Colorado

Last week was a pretty amazing week for me personally, and for Nuru as well! Among the awesome highlights, Jamie and I had the privilege of sharing Nuru with an incredible group of some top notch software developers at ÜberConf. This was the fifth straight year we were invited to share Nuru’s story at this conference, and every year it just keeps getting better.

For some, it seems like a strange connection to be made between software development and ending extreme poverty, but the more time I spend around this group of men and women, the more clear the connection is to me. You see, these men and women who attend the conference believe strongly in integrated approaches, building on best practices, rigorous testing, and using metrics to evaluate the quality and impact of solutions. These beliefs align perfectly with Nuru’s approach to addressing extreme poverty, and because of that, I believe we all end up having a deep respect for one another’s work.

A philosophy, a lifestyle, and a work ethic of continuous improvement, failing fast and adapting and iterating quickly defines this community as well as our culture at Nuru. For me, being able to share Nuru with a room full of like-minded individuals is an amazing gift! The folks who attend this conference, the speakers, and the organizing team have all become incredible advocates for Nuru. In fact, each year, the conference provides attendees with uniquely designed Nuru shirts. It’s pretty amazing to me that the day after the shirts are made available each year, at least three out of five attendees are wearing them. In addition, people who have attended the conference in previous years will wear Nuru shirts from those years during the week as well.

This year was extra special with regard to sharing Nuru because it was my fifth year sharing at this conference. These folks have believed in and supported Nuru from our earliest efforts. I remember sharing with the attendees in 2011 that they had helped Nuru impact the lives of more than 10,000 people. And now, in 2015, I was able to share with the more than 700 attendees that Nuru has now been able to help more than 80,000 men, women, and children lift themselves out of extreme poverty permanently.

The folks who organize and share at this conference have been incredibly generous to Nuru, and they have become some very dear and treasured friends for both me and Jamie. It almost feels like a mini-reunion each year as we share updates from life, vocation, and mission. And this year, the conference is giving an incredibly generous $40,000 donation to Nuru to help further our work in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Every time I have an opportunity to share with the wonderful people who have helped move this mission forward, I am inspired and encouraged, but when I get to share with our friends at ÜberConf, that inspiration goes even deeper. These incredible people have been huge advocates for Nuru and they use the conference to help connect even more people to our life changing mission to end extreme poverty in remote rural areas.