ben keene
ben keene
- IdeasCurrently working on...
TribewantedLive differently for a little while. Off-grid community tourism experiences in Umbria, Bali & Mozambique.
BaliEscape the European winter. Build your startup from Bali. Make an impact. Piloting Jan 2015.
RoostMapping & showcasing treehouses around the world. London popup 2015.
HibernateHelping people take back control of their tech. Tech-Fasts & Digital Detoxes
LaplandHow might we re-imagine Lapland as a place of wonder, openness and endless adventure for independent travelers?
The Escape FestivalThe career shift, startup & well-being festival. Piloted in 2014
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tool-kit
Creative / Design Driven Projects
Crowdfunding & Social Campaigns
On/offline Community Building
Kickstarting Lean, Impact Startups
Career Change Inspiration & Mentoring
Event Hosting, Speaking & Workshops
Copywriting & Brand Creation
- ProjectsStartups & organisations I've worked with.
At Tribewanted we have crowdfunded, built and operated three off-grid community-led tourism projects in Fiji (2006), Sierra Leone (2010) and Italy (2013). Our successful and pioneering approach to sustainable tourism has built a well known and respected brand. We've had success in promoting our projects including a 5-hour award-winning BBC Documentary, a published book, National Geographic cover story and coverage across many international media networks. I lead Tribewanted online, in Sierra Leone and with our team on future development opportunities.The Sunday Times
Escape the City is a global community for people who want to 'do something different' with their careers, helping talented people escape or avoid corporate jobs. Since speaking at the Escape launch party in 2010 (where I met my wife!) I've stuck close to this brilliant start-up which now has over 150,000 members.I've led workshops on how to build a career around your passions and led 'escape trips' to Umbria and the first ever career-change microfestival: Escape to the Woods. I'm delighted to be part of the faculty at the newly established Escape School in London.
Virgin StartupI'm a business advisor at Virgin StartUp, a not-for-profit organisation that helps entrepreneurs with the funding, resources and advice they need to make their business idea a reality.Having learnt about the ups and downs of getting a business off the ground and the importance of securing the right kind of funding I jumped at the chance to help others kickstart their ideas.
Over the last three years I've been part of an exciting new creative leadership school in Amsterdam - THNK. This has given me access and insight beyond start-ups into the push and pull world of big brands and Governments who want to engage in the innovation impact space. I've discovered there is a healthy appetite to make a difference but a lack of good ideas (what do we do with big data?) As a founding participant I play a part in the school's international development as well as frequent returns to Amsterdam.Blog Post: The Class that never Graduated
Instead of focusing on the traditional development model of a small impact on a lot of people, Right to Dream's mission is to unleash a new generation of role models for Africa. It does this by offering young talent the opportunity of a world-class sporting, academic and leadership education.I've been lucky to work with Right to Dream in Ghana and Sierra Leone, developing new academies and programmes (Craig Bellamy Foundation, Parasports). I'm proud to be a Trustee of the UK charity.
- "If you doubt whether a website could be socially relevant to the real world, this story offers an account of how it can and was brought about."
"Ben has something of Richard Branson's boundless, relentless enthusiasm." The Guardian
- Power tower
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![Vorovoro Island, Fiji]( "Vorovoro Island, Fiji")
![Power arrives on Vorovoro]( "Power arrives on Vorovoro")
![Tribe Life on Vorovoro]( "Tribe Life on Vorovoro")
![Talanoa]( "Talanoa")
![John Obey Beach, Sierra Leone]( "John Obey Beach, Sierra Leone")
![Ultra Running, Northumberland]( "Ultra Running, Northumberland")
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![The Escape Festival, 2014]( "The Escape Festival, 2014")
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Bio
Ben is passionate about building experiences & communities that inspire positive change.Ben is the founder of Tribewanted (off-grid experiences) and was behind the success of building an online and on-island community on Vorovoro, Fiji. Ben wrote a book about Tribewanted which was also filmed for an award winning BBC series: Paradise or Bust. Tribewanted is currently in Sierra Leone, Mozambique & Umbria.Ben has also worked with Right to Dream (leadership development through sport in West Africa) and Escape the City (Unleashing frustrated corporates into fulfilling careers), hosting the first career-change 'Escape Festival' in 2014. Ben is a regular speaker and host on startups, travel and social enterprise, a mentor to escapees and first-time entrepreneurs, a Founding Participant at THNK: The Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership, and a business advisor at Virgin Startup.In 2014 Ben has been exploring digital detoxes, curating a global treehouse community, creating new tourism concepts in Lapland, and is currently hosting a winter startup retreat in Bali.
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