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East Africa Fellow
Jay Patel
2017
Jayl is a co-founder and Vice President at Village Energy, a Ugandan startup that is increasing access, affordability, and trust in solar by setting up a rural distribution and servicing network of solar shops, staffed by young rural people recruited and trained as technicians and shop managers in their community. After 5 years at Google in San Francisco on the Small & Medium Business sales team, Jay was inspired to change industries to energy access, resulting in him leaving Google and moving to Uganda in early 2015. Jay passionately believes in the potential of a sustainable solar-based economy that can create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in rural communities, breaking through gender barriers in the process. Jay holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Kampala.Meet the Fellows
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