Livebarefoot Foundation

Dulma Clark, 29, is Head of the newly established Livebarefoot Foundation by Vivobarefoot, a family-run company creating regenerative footwear and experiences that literally bring people closer to nature. The Foundation is set to reconnect people and the planet by fostering research, collaborations and innovation. The Foundation centralises all social and environmental projects that Dulma has simultaneously led as a social entrepreneur over the past 6 years. In 2017 she launched a shoemaking production line in Ethiopia, providing training and jobs, value adding on locally sourced materials, with designs celebrating natural movement and culture, supporting community projects from income from sales and collaborated with indigenous communities around the world. Dulma is also a Trustee at JAClark Charitable Trust. Born in Siberia, she previously supported with set up and management of Siberian farmers’ cooperative and an environmental organisation Save Baikal. LSE graduate in Human Rights, Champion of Russia in archery.

Footwear production worldwide reached 24.2 billion pairs in 2018. Our sedentary cushioned lifestyles are making us and planet sick.It is imperative that footwear industry adopts innovative circular economy and regenerative solutions, supported by appropriate business models. We believe that nature is the path to human-wellbeing and that’s why we must set goals to restore and regenerate it. 

Vivobarefoot is incubating Livebarefoot Foundation as a philanthropic part of the brand as a step towards becoming an example of a social business of the future with radical transparency and regenerative mission at its core. The Foundation would be evolved into an independent entity fostering research, preserve indigenous cobbling and drive innovation in footwear manufacturing and super-natural material development, where externalities become opportunities for value creation, all resources are perceived holistically and stakeholders become collaborative partners to build just world for generations to come and inspire healthy lifestyle with less padding, more feeling.  

Footwear production worldwide reached 24.2 billion pairs in 2018, accounting for 8% of the world’s GHGs (World Footwear Yearbook 2019, (MFR, 2018). Of all shoes produced, ~40% of them has fitting problems (Volumental data) and ~300mil pairs are thrown away each year (Useagain, 2013).  The unsustainable production/consumption generates massive toxins, a huge amount of post-consumer shoe waste and inefficiencies like long time constraints during prototyping period, huge product by product investment and distance from traditional supply chains. And working conditions and business standards is drastically lacking transparency and accountability.  Moreover, the craftsmanship of the indigenous cobblers is being hugely undermined and being lost. 

The health of people directly related to healthy natural movement. Modern footwear fashion industry sold us a lie literally reshaping and deforming our feet. Perfect shoe should be perfect for feet.  Mass ‘average’ shape footwear will never be able to functionally serve all feet the same.

As society continues to exceed tipping points for human-induced ecological and societal collapse, we can no longer accepts setting sustainability goals that simply facilitate business growth, whilst doing a little less harm.

It is imperative that the footwear industry adopts innovative circular economy and regenerative solutions, supported by appropriate business models. 

More than ever the world needs transparent, accountable social businesses and regenerative brands balancing trading, philanthropy and impact investment at scale. We incubate Livebarefoot Foundation as a philanthropic arm of the brand positioning Vivobarefoot as a social enterprise run business of the future and evolving Livebarefoot Foundation as independent philanthropic entity. 

The Foundation will co-create and fund research projects advancing knowledge pool on foot health and natural movement; collaborate with the indigenous communities to preserve shoemaking craftsmanship, sharing wisdom traditions knowledge to the world; evolve Vivobarefoot manufacturing unit into regenerative hubs  to regenerate and restore natural resourced and communities involved and trial first fully 3D-printed data-driven barefoot shoe to potentially revolutionise design, manufacturing and recycling practices; invest into R&D of super-natural materials for shoemaking like kelp and mycelium and create collaborative products for cause-related storytelling. 

The Foundation has currently has a commitment of ~300-400K GBP from the Vivobarefoot company through cause-related campaigns and enterprise projects selling shoes and innovation grants. Moving forwards, the aim is to build strategic partnerships with international non-profits, foundations, brands, individuals to expand our reach, influence and impact+ roll out recoverable loan program for social entrepreneurs to build a case to future impact investment fund. 

Livebarefoot Foundation serves people and planet. We want to enable our community feel more human and connect with nature through education, advocacy and empowerment projects to enhance health and wellbeing like our Shoespiracy documentary, podcast, health retreats and community activism by creating a movement for a more sustainable and healthy future. Vivobarefoot as a brand has a growing community of a million people and we believe there is a massive need for information and awareness raising on healthy movement and lifestyle. 

On the manufacturing level, we would'll incorporate regenerative principles to grow natural and social capital to build thriving climate positive supply chains and materials, incorporating rewilding humans and nature experiences. Farmers, growers, workers on our supply chain would directly benefit by having safe, transparent and accountable partners. From R&D perspective, with additive manufacturing trial, we aim to revolutionise design and manufacturing, business models and product end-of-life management via pro-active/reactive strategies: 3D-printing, made-to-measure barefoot shoes, repair/re-commerce &rental, recycling. 

From the indigenous shoemaking perspective we collaborate with indigenous cobblers through Future Footwear Foundation to set up social enterprise projects to preserve their traditional craftsmanship enabling them to generate income and enabling them to share wisdom traditions to the world. 

Livebarefoot Foundation project elevates complex footwear manufacturing  issues by building awareness and driving practical action in form of researching and trailing circular economy solution, philanthropic educational campaigns, partnerships with NGOs and collaborating with communities around the world where Vivobarefoot operates. 

Livebarefoot Foundation elevates understanding of responsible production and consumption, health and well-being, changing people's attitudes by encouraging 'pirate' thinking, questioning beliefs on footwear fashion, human and planetary health and responsible purchasing behaviours.  

Having studies Law and Human Rights, I was involved in grassroots activism, philanthropy and charity that led me to social entrepreneurship and social business and impact investment space. I learned a lot from my late father-in-law, Lance Clark, who started a shoemaking charity project in South Africa as part of Clarks company's SCR program. He supported 18,000 children with their education needs through the sales of the shoes and generated 2 million USD in wages. The operation folded in 2013 due to unreliable supply chain and Lance's old age. Inspired by Lance's work, I visited factories in Africa and wanted to start the project as a social business with new strategy and vision. I founded the company in the UK in 2014 and began working on it full time in 2015 after my university graduation. After launching the factory and getting involved in shoemaking innovation and indigenous programs, I made an agreement with Vivobarefoot to evolve all social and environmental programs into Livebarefoot Foundation. 

I was born in a farmers family, in Siberia. In a tribe of Buryats, a buddhist and believers in spirits of nature and ancestral line. I studied law, human rights and social business and was married into a family of Quaker cobblers who have been involved in the intersection between business and social change for nearly 200 years. Our forefathers were involved in the abolition of slavery, the end of apartheid, prison reform, the suffragette movement and many other social justice causes to make society a more peaceful and fairer place for all. On my shoemaking journey, I was lucky to go deep into the Kalahari Desert to meet the San people, our oldest human ancestors to learn their wisdom and support their work. My cobbling journey also led me to start a whole new sustainable manufacturing unit in Ethiopia, the cradle of humanity, with the sole design inspired by the Laetoli footprints (discovered 3.7m years ago). We are all connected through our common ancestry, those footprints left in the rift valley, and today, through our two feet on one earth. I believe it is possible to build more equitable and just world through responsible, regenerative businesses, however small. 

My family background, moral values and ethics engraved from my childhood gave me good fundamentals what does it mean to be a compassionate human being. I've seen poverty and understand the value of hard work, education, innovative thinking and resilience. Having lived and visited over 30 countries around the world, having 2 small children (7yo and 3yo old), having lost my mentor in unexpected death and having a husband suffering from extremely aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis, influenced my perception life, value of nature and time.  I've seen with my eyes how shoemaking industry urgently needs change and having a family background in shoemaking motivates even more and give a sense of a moral obligation at the same time. I've believe in power on collaborative partnership and through all projects and programs I've been working on so far, I was able to achieve quite high level of collaborative work considering lack of human and financial resources. I've successfully piloted new products for adults and kids on the international market launching product designs co-created with the Kara people of Ethiopia, as well as a design collaboration with Somali nomadic supermodel Waris Dirie in support of her Desert Flower foundation and have upcoming projects in collaboration with re-known American artist Jean-Michele Basquiat and Olafur Eliasson. I have enthusiasm, power of imagination and friends and family to help me on my journey for which I'm very grateful for. 

Ethiopian production line was very complicated project that took almost 3 years of trials and fails to come up with a sustainable solution. Since I started the Soul of Africa project in 2014 (now being evolved into Livebarefoot Foundation) I studied many African countries, focusing on Ethiopia as a strategic area as it's going through fast-paced industrial revolution and following Rana Plaza disaster, it felt crucial to create most sustainable, ethical and transparent shoemaking program, even at small scale, to showcase that it's possible to do so.  After trying 6 small and big existing manufacturers in Ethiopia during 2 years, the decision was made to parter with one of the tanneries in Ethiopia to set a shoemaking unit from scratch zero. I had help with Masters students at LSE to make a business plan as I had no 'proper' business experience, then went through over 50 interviews and pitching sessions to raise first capital. For me, shoemaking turned into a development tool to provide world-class knowledge transfer, sustainable jobs and material innovation. There were quality issues, red tape, lack of human resources, shipment delays, civil unrests in the country, now COVID, but the project is still on and growing. 

In 2016 I managed a successful Kickstarter campaign raising funds (£92k) to set a workshop for the Sun Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the oldest cultures on Earth, to save their traditional sandal making craft. Due to hunting restrictions in the conservation area where the Sun live, they nearly lost their way of making sandals they designed thousands years ago for persistent hunting, a rare skill, using a combination of tracking and endurance running to pursue an animal until it collapses from exhaustion. I engaged and brought a filmmaker, an anthropologist, recruited project manager, led a marketing campaign engaging with Kickstarer and Vivobarefoot community and at the end, worked in 30-40 degree Celsius desert to set up a permanent centre for artisans saving the craft that was known by only one old man in the village. Now, the project makes 1,000 pairs of sandals for the world and the local community. 

Foster research, collaborations and innovation to create regenerative footwear and experiences that literally bring people closer to nature. Holistic approach, life-long commitment and barefoot knowldge angle makes the proposition unique. 

We have an active community of a million people through Vivobarefoot. From the indigenous side, we have 2 communities in India and Namibia involving almost 20 cobblers. From Ethiopian manufacturing perspective we have 130 people employed directly and enabling further 500 people to sustain along the supply chains. 

Set up Livebarefoot Foundation as international NGO, registered in the UK and the US with solid advisory board and minimum annual endowment of 1 million USD.

Financial needs and human resources. 

Research partnerships: 

• Future Footwear Foundation 
• Harvard University 
• University of Liverpool 
• Nothumbria University 
• London Fashion School 
• Carlow University 

Material and manufacturing partenrships: 

• Pittards Plc 
• Innovation 4.4 
• Devon environmental foundation 
• Biome algae
• Bloom 
• Woolmark 
• Rewilding Britain 

Community partnerships: 

• The Conduit Club 
• Extiction Rebellion 
• Jean Michele Basquiat Estate 
• Little Sun by Olafur Eliasson 
• Hatch Enterprise 
• Small Steps Project 
• MakeSense 

Indigenous partnerships:

• the San people of the Kalahari 
• cobblers of the Atani village  

Shoe sales, grants, fundraising campaigns, brand partnerships. 

Elevate Vivobarefoot core funding commitment by bringing strategic core funders with 3-year funding commitment, recruit full-time project managers and fundraisers. 

Vivobarefoot Contribution: 

Grants - 50K GBP 

Enterprise projects income - 264K GBP 

I need to raise $200K in average beyond Vivobarefoot to grow the reach and impact of Livebarefoot project. For instance, to trial 3D project fully requires $150-200K.  

Research - £40K 

Community - £50K 

Indigenous project - £72K 

Planet programs: production and materials - £153K 

• Remake with the Native American tribe original moccasins using regenerative bison leather from the US in collaboration with http://www.turnerfoundation.org 
• In the ground beneath your feet there is natural internet that allows plants to communicate and help each other out. It’s made of fungi.
  Like the bodies nervous system most of their bodies are made up of a mass of thin threads, known as a mycelium. We now know that these threads link together and act as a kind of underground super-net, linking the roots of different plants. Mycelia binds together everything natural that we know about – now a team engineers, biologists, production specialists and material scientists is bringing the first Fine Mycelium™ material, Reishi™, to the world and your feet. A% from sales would support Foundation to start regenerative mushroom farming. Launch in collaboration with the Fatastic Fungi and Paul Stammet, see video. https://www.madewithreishi.com
• High-performance plant-based material on a high performance plant-based footwear.https://madewithmirum.com
• When biology and nature combine the possibilities of bio based footwear that lets you move naturally are limitless. AlgiKnit Inc. is a biomaterials company integrating science and design into textile production.  AlgiKnit is creating durable high performing kelp based yarns that are also rapidly degradable. A % from sales will let the LBF to start kelp farming along the Devon coast and finance further R&D in bioplastics. Launch in collaboration with Oxygen project https://www.theoxygenproject.com/our-story ) and possibly with Prosperity Coalition. https://www.algiknit.com