We had the good fortune of connecting with Lindsey Pluimer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lindsey, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
At With My Own Two Hands, we believe that every person has a fundamental right to clean water, nutritious foods, and economic access. With over 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lacking access to clean water and women and children spending 40 billion hours walking for water each year, this simply is not ok.

This is why we work to create water independence and sustainable agriculture solutions to generate economic opportunities in East Africa. For us, it all starts with water. We work relentlessly to alleviate poverty and gender inequities by eliminating the financial and time burden of sourcing clean water. Our programs are uniquely designed to directly meet the needs of women and girls, build capacity at the leadership level, and create income-generating opportunities to increase economic access.

What should our readers know about your business?
We at With My Own Two Hands Foundation work to create a more equitable world through water and agriculture. My story started on the campus of UCLA. I was an All-American basketball player at UCLA. Inspired by a class discussion, I pledged to visit Africa and work to address inequality there. When I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa, I saw firsthand the immense lack of basic human rights, but I also saw the resilience and hope in the communities I met with.

I was inspired to take action and returned to the states, retired from professional basketball and founded With My Own Two Hands Foundation in 2011 with the commitment to provide people with the basic human rights of water, food and economic opportunity.

At the age of 24, I started the organization and surrounded myself with mentors in the field. I hope people read my story and know that anyone, at any age or experience level, can make a profound difference in the lives of others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well being from Orange County, I would spend our time in the beautiful city of Laguna Beach, visiting local beaches and eating some healthy fresh food spots, including Javiers, Nick’s Laguna Beach, True Foods. On a Thursday night, I would do art walk with them in Laguna and walk through all the beautiful art galleries in Laguna, as Laguna Beach is known to be this quaint art town on the beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout my former UCLA assistant basketball coach, Pam Walker. I had so many important and meaningful conversations about the world in her office, talking about various issues on social justice, gender equality, human rights and more. So much of who I am and what I do was shaped at UCLA and by people like Pam who encouraged me to think critically about the world’s issues and inspired me to take action in my life. Those memories, those conversations and her reading through every one of my papers will always be cherished.

Website: www.withmyown2hands.org

Instagram: @withmyown2hands

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/withmyown2hands

Twitter: @withmyown2hands

Facebook: @withmyown2hands

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