Podcast: Kate and Joe Vacanti of Let Them LOL

Kate and Joe Vacanti with hosts Nate Benson and Darren Treadway at 43North.
Kate and Joe Vacanti with hosts Nate Benson and Darren Treadway at 43North.

How do you do some good? There are many ways, and good comes in all shapes and sizes. For Kate and Joe Vacanti, their calling was to help people access water. One in seven people in the world lack access to clean water and 3.5 million people die from water-borne illnesses each year. On the continent of Africa, 40 billion hours are spent each year walking to sources of clean water.

Something had to be done.

This week on the podcast hosts Nate Benson and Darren Treadway talk with Kate and Joe about Let Them LOL, their nonprofit initiative that is building water wells in Sierra Leone. To date, Let Them LOL has built 105 wells, bringing clean water to more than 42,000 people. Why did they choose Sierra Leone? How difficult was digging the first well? Was entrepreneurship always the plan?


In collaboration with 43North and with support from the UB School of Management Alumni Association, select episodes of the Latitude podcast series feature hosts Nate Benson from 43North and professor Darren Treadway, faculty expert from the UB School of Management’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, in discussion with successful leaders who share their insights and experiences.