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  • To strengthen the team is to grow as a team – An account of the Persistent team retreat held in Limuru, Kenya, in March 2022

To strengthen the team is to grow as a team – An account of the Persistent team retreat held in Limuru, Kenya, in March 2022

April 13, 2022
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The Persistent team gathered in March for a team retreat held at the Brackenhurst center in Limuru, Kenya. Our 20 team members traveled from nine different countries to the idyllic location outside of Nairobi, to enjoy three days of team building, workshops and company insights, surrounded by pure nature and conservation forests.

Although Persistent has offices in Nairobi and Zurich, the team mainly works remotely, operating out of six different countries in three continents. With the addition of nine new team members in the last six months, having all the team members in one place was special and filled the air with excitement. All days were balanced, starting with an impactful morning, loaded with company updates, partner company insights and workshops, followed by a social activity and opportunities to socialize.

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Some of the relevant topics discussed over three days included the challenges and lessons learned to bring the off-grid solar sector in Africa to the next stage; an overview of the e-mobility sector and the opportunities across the continent provided by Toukam Ngoufanke, together with insights on the rising Kenyan market and the visit paid by the Ecobodaa Founders, Kim Chepkoit and Juma Stephen; and our innovation around Carbon Credit markets led by Tobias Ruckstuhl. On the organizational development side, some of the key sessions put the focus on enhancing the Investment Process, strengthening our ESG and Impact framework, raising the company awareness on various topics led by Wairimu Karanja and reflecting on where Persistent came from and where it is planning to go in the future.

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Starting with early yoga sessions, led by Venture Builder Eva Stolz, with a late afternoon guided walk in the surrounding forest and tea fields or an adventurous High Rope Course, the team enjoyed a good dose of social/team building activities as well, ending with evening gatherings around a bonfire with delicious food.

One of the highlights was the Strength Journey workshop based on the results of the Gallup Test to identify individuals’ top strengths. During our last day, we had a four-hour joint session with the Strength Journey coaching team which explored our complementary strengths, helping us understand each other better and leverage our individual talents when working together.

 

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To conclude, we celebrated Persistent’s 10 year anniversary, with Co-Founder Chris Aidun cutting the cake. A decade of Climate Venture Building has grown a fantastic and diverse team, all driving to have a positive impact on the climate in Africa: 11 women and 10 men with 15 nationalities represented.  The team left the retreat energized about Persistent’s mission and the work ahead, looking forward to venture building and supporting Persistent´s partner companies. During our time together we had many reasons to celebrate and be thankful for such a great, strong team, and to be excited for the positive impact we can create in the next coming years.

Cheers to that!