Eko Group H20+

Ricardo founded Eko Group H20+ when he saw that while rural homes in Colombia often have rainwater storing systems, residents in government housing projects have very limited space for water storage. In a country where 1.2 million people lack access to clean water, this is an issue of national importance. His Ekomuro H2O solution is a vertical, compact, modular water tank system that reuses plastic bottles to store rainwater for use in the home for cleaning, discharge of toilets or watering gardens. The residents can construct it themselves.

A core development for the organisation was to formalise its operations. Encouraged by the team at Reckitt, Eko Group H20+ moved into a new workspace, allowing them to scale up their operations and professionalise as a company. This has also enabled them to employ 8 young people to form a growing workforce. This increased capacity has led to greater productivity, now developing between 10-15 new units every week compared to 5 at the beginning of the year. The enterprise has developed 6 new strategic alliances with national and international companies and foundations in Colombia.

There have also been significant changes in the organisation’s strategies, particularly in marketing.  The organisation’s elevated profile has also led to a drastic increase in its online audience, growing on its social media channels from 5,000 to 42,000 followers. Reckitt has also assisted with the re-design process that has led to an entirely new appearance and design for the product, making it more appealing to customers. The focus on where these clients come from has also changed, with Reckitt identifying greater potential in shifting to a B-2-B model.

• 8 new young employees enabled 3x increase in production of water tank units
• 80 rainwater harvest systems provided clean water for 15,534 direct beneficiaries

With support and guidance from Julián Padilla, his mentor, and the rest of the team at Reckitt, Ricardo has become more open and communicative as a leader. He sees the necessity for a two-way dialogue with the people he works with, and the need to surround himself with and listen to other young leaders. The partnership has facilitated this with connections to other contacts in Latin America.

“Reckitt provided us with a link to other leaders in Latin America. They connected me to a company in Colombia that has helped us to develop our brand, and promote it not only in Colombia but in Latin America and the international market.”