CreativeList

In the past two decades, digital technologies have transformed the cultural scene profoundly. New forms of creation, production, distribution, access and participation have revolutionized entire industries, such as book publishing, music and film.

As CreativeList, the problem we are solving is the lack of guarantee in creative hiring in Kenya. For creatives, it is the guarantee of valid employment and pay once the job is done according to the job description provided by the client.

Our solutions are designed to provide this guarantee and access to
paying jobs in content creation through a two sided, curated marketplace
that connects freelance creatives to jobs posted by individuals and
businesses, through a creative skills specific job marketplace that would assist creatives with client networking and management,
access to paying jobs, making connections and with more resources
 for the unestablished creative professionals to upskill their talents.

It is true that we the lack infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and capacity to commercialise its creative sectors, but what' truly at stake is youth employment with more than 11 million young Africans entering the workforce every year. The reality is that the current key growth sectors are unable to create the necessary jobs at the pace required.

Worldwide, the creative industry generates a revenue of $2,250
billion and provides 30 million job but only 547,500 jobs in Africa with
a revenue of $4.2 billion. This is a sector that employs largely women
and youth, the two most vulnerable demographic. With the onset of COVID
19, creative freelancers have declined with this demography suffering
job losses at greater rates than their older and male colleagues.

As CreativeList, the problem we are solving is the lack of
guarantee in creative hiring in Kenya. For creatives, it is the
guarantee of valid employment and pay once the job is done according to
the job description provided by the client.
May creatives get taken advantage of without a recourse for remedy for
fear of being blacklisted, forcing them to go home without pay that they
are rightfully owed.

A Two Sided Marketplace that offers to connect creatives with work opportunities that will provide transparency, price discovery, intent, interaction and ease. A place where artists and content creators in film, music, art and media not only showcase their work but also get their next employment. CreativeList will be the marketplace used for hiring across all creative roles, levels and geographies.

 More creatives will have the opportunity to be hired on merit,
gain more work opportunities, develop their skills and get support to
best showcase themselves, get fair pay and know their rights to their
work.

Data:  Talent & Skills Discovery, Better Matching, Data Driven Curation, Candidate Targeting & Acquisition

Scaling: Employer On-Boarding, Candidate Registration & Activation, Streamlining the Interview Funnel, Additional Hiring Filters (Reviews, Ratings & Recommendations), Feedback Tools

HR Ecosystem Intergrations: Integration with Applicants Tracking Systems, Workflow Management Tools, Real-time Hiring Intelligence

Creatives In Africa in the passion economy and the future of work. For gig workers and side hustlers, the passion economy presents a new
way to capitalise on creativity by connecting these creators with
genuine, engaged communities who share their passions. The niche communities focus on creating and sharing content that resonates with individuals.

The lack of guarantee is the main pain point has contributed to creative hiring being largely done through ‘who you know’ and ‘word of mouth’ and i most cases, merit and skill level don't factor in, limiting the opportunities for deserving creatives to gain employment fairly.

With the state of hiring in this condition, it has placed many creatives at the mercy of their employers when it comes to pay. Seeking viable opportunities has made many creatives prey to the employers who hire them; trade favors with a recommendation to a paying job, a credit in a publication which is already their right to have or forced to take the little pay the employer offers verses nothing at all when the job offer is rescinded. Finding viable and well paying jobs is time consuming and often involves giving kickbacks to connectors.

May creatives get taken advantage of without a recourse for remedy for
fear of being blacklisted, forcing them to go home without pay that they are rightfully owed. Below are a few hashtags Kenyans have used to show
their grievances about being taken advantage of, not being paid for
their work and having their IPs stolen in the name of giving them
exposure:
#KECreativesDeserveBetter #PayKenyanArtists #PayModelsKE
#PayInfluencersKE #PayCreativesKE
#OurWorldWithout is a global campaign launched to support the struggling
creative sector.

The marketplace automated the matching of supply and demand, as well as pricing, to enhance liquidity. The platform is convenient for both the user and the provider: since it takes care of traditional business hurdles like customer acquisition and pricing, they allowed the worker to focus solely on the service rendered.

The digital platform will enable people to earn a livelihood in a way that highlights their individuality. This platform give creatives greater ability to build customer relationships, increased support in growing their businesses,
and better tools for differentiating themselves from the competition. In
the process, they’re fueling a new model of internet-powered
entrepreneurship.

Kenya has many talented individuals in the creative industry. Under-investment has, forced many to migrate to where their talents are better appreciated; a lost opportunity to address the growing youth unemployment rate.

We have an interest in identifying, empowering and ensuring that creatives have an enabling environment to support their talent, in other words, help creatives and those interested in the creative industry build careers and improve their standard of living.

We have tested the B2B Model with 6 brand clients of different budgets in content creation, gaining a revenue of $10,000, and worked with 25 creatives (models, photographers, writers, makeup artist, fashion stylist) to test and validate our concept, also engaging them in user interviews.

We would be the first creative skills specific job marketplace in Africa that would assist creatives with client networking and management, access to paying jobs and making connections. We would focus not only on the established creative professionals but also and with more resources on the unestablished creative professionals.

With platforms such as Behance and Fiverr as competitions, we would
focus on building creative skills communities. A made in Africa or born
in Africa innovation would inspire that community that come together to
personally take on the challenges faced by the creative sector on the
continent and inspire change and growth of the industry.

The solution currently serves 35 curated creatives. In one year, we will increase the number to 100. In five years, we seek to have 1million curated creatives and to work directly with 2,000 creatives on projects by the parent company Be Afrika Media Ltd.

In five years, we seek to serve at least 10 African countries.

The Kenya Film Commission launched a creative skills registry that has more than 100,000 creatives listed in the database. The government has also launched several funds to support creatives into turning their skills to self-employment opportunities, including releasing educational information so that creative best know how to protect their IP.

This change in atmosphere makes this time best suited to launch CreativeList so we may contribute to the development of the creative industry in Kenya.

As an organization, our goals are to:

• Reduce the barriers creatives in content creation meet when it comes to attaining clients through a connecting platform.
• Provide skills development resources to aid creatives to upskill their talents so as to increase their chances to be hired more on merit.
• To expand the creative fields women are able to easily access ( which are fashion design, makeup artistry, fashion and hair styling) to increase frequency in photography, videography, and settle more fully male dominated fields like UI/UX design, animation and graphic design.Use our go to market strategy URBANE to curate, vet and market creative skills in our database to increase exposure online & offline and share their stories to teach creative consumers on their creative processes and how it affects their pricing.

 For partnership goals, we will:

• Create more collaborative opportunities for the users through partnerships eg, events, creative consumer engagements
• To expand client base to provide more opportunities to platform users

• Focus more on the on-boarding of female creatives and job connections

2 full time, 2 on contract.

The rest are creative freelancers we contract on a project to project basis.

Be Afrika Media Ltd founding members are both Creatives in their own right. The company both Consumes and Supplies creative skills.

Marita Lidonde

• Creative Director
• Content Creator & Manager
• Digital Editor & Marketing
• Project Manager
• 4 years in Magazine Publishing
• Author

Rinah Lidonde

• Creative Director
• Digital Editor
• Creative Concept Developer
• Project Manager of two Entrepreneurship Hubs: Creative and Startup
• Author
• Fashion Designer

Our focus has been to build a women run business no matter the age, race, tribe or location (as a marketplace the platform will allow us to hire remote workers). There is no bias here but to encourage the normality of having women leadership and to inspire women to not be afraid and remain stuck in the pigeon hole society has placed them in but to break the barrier and confidently step out and up.

Worldwide, the creative industry generates a revenue of $2,250 billion
and provides 30 million job but only 547,500 jobs in Africa with a
revenue of $4.2 billion. This is a sector that employs largely women and
youth, the two most vulnerable demographic. With the onset of COVID 19,
creative freelancers have declined with this demography suffering job
losses at greater rates than their older and male colleagues.

I have worked as a creative supplier and consumer for years and I know the challenges this industry is facing in Kenya. Creative professionals are taken advantage of when it comes to not being paid for their work and IP rights. What's worse is that this underdeveloped industry has become our only avenue to address the growing youth unemployment in the country. Though recognized as such, the government is very lax in the urgency in which the broken and nonexistent structures need to be fixed and built to create an enabling environment for sustainability.

Kenya’s creative sector is a vibrant one, brimming with talent and
possibility,
especially when looked at through the opportunities it affords to the
youth of the country, we just lack the infrastructure, regulatory
frameworks and capacity to commercialise it.

We would like SOLVE to help us break the financing barrier as this sector isn't very popular when it comes to gaining investments by not just financing but by connecting us with the right people who share our vision and support our cause.

We would like SOLVE to help us break the financing barrier as this

sector isn't very popular when it comes to gaining investments by not
just financing but by connecting us with the right people who share our
vision and support our cause, as investors, partners, and donors.

Advertising Agencies, global and local- Provide unbiased short term employment to freelance creatives in content creation.

Nestle- Creative Industry research that focus on Hiring, Interaction with the formal sector in Kenya and Data collection on the creative industry in Kenya.

Kingston College- and others like them that can offer Creative Entrepreneurship degree courses online.

British Council- As the arts and creative patron in Kenya.

Government of Kenya- Developing the creative industry to address the growing youth unemployment rate.

We wish to work with organizations and initiatives that will help us realize our mission.

Our mission is to create infrastructure and inspire policies for creatives to commercialize their talent. The objective is to develop the resources and the infrastructure that are necessary to create the maximum probability for commercial success, to inspire financial sustainability.

We are a resource center for African creatives with quality features and images. Our aim is to encourage, educate and empower creatives on the importance of being true to oneself and crafts.

We have an interest in identifying, empowering and ensuring that creatives have an enabling environment to support their talent. The
creative generation and creative sector has made huge strides in its
contribution to Africa’s economy, and we would like to promote that
through collaboration.

The platform will not only provide job matching but also skills
development and an opportunity to be hired by merit and without bias-
equal opportunity.

Our main agenda is to enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment creatives no matter the location, gender or race.

The digital platform enable creatives to earn a livelihood in a way that highlights their individuality. The platform give creatives greater ability to build customer relationships, increased support in growing their businesses,
and better tools for differentiating themselves from the competition.

This is a sector that employs 547,500 African creative professionals of which largely are women and youth, the two most vulnerable demographic. With the onset of COVID 19, creative freelancers have declined with this demography suffering job losses at greater rates than their older and male colleagues.
As a women lead project by company with an all female founders, the platform will not only provide job matching but also skills
development and an opportunity to be hired by merit and without bias-
equal opportunity. At launch the project will focus on creative fields
predominately female focused namely, makeup artists, models, fashion
stylists, photographers and women in film by matching them with job opportunities. The goal is to enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.

The passion economy has supported the creation of more self-made, women led companies that any other, giving women the best chance to monetize their individuality to become self-employed and connecting directly with their audiences.

As a job matching platform, we will use data entered by creative skills suppliers and consumers to match the two groups for the best fit according to their specifications. The marketplace will provide transparency, price discovery, intent, interaction and ease.

For example, there are multiple fields in the creative sector and instead of searching through endless data to find the right creative for you, the platform will allow you to enter the field, skill level, experience in terms of years/projects, location and price to find the right creative for you. it will also recommend other creatives depending on the type of project the creative skills consumer is looking to produce.

We will also use tech to analyze creative profiles and suggest additional training and resources that will help them upskill their talents and make them more attractive to be hired by merit.

The marketplace automates the matching of supply and demand, as well as
pricing, to enhance liquidity. The platform is convenient for both the
user and the provider: since they took care of traditional business
hurdles like customer acquisition and pricing, they allowed the worker
to focus solely on the service rendered.