Original post by Mike Yeomans, August 2026.
A decade after Pitt gave him room to chase an idea, Samir Lakhani (A&S ’15) is making an impact and helping the next generation do the same
Pitt graduate and social entrepreneur, Samir Lakhani, founder and executive director of EcoSoap, photographed in the Big Idea Center holds a bar of of his soap. Lakhani is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the company’s founding. Photos by Aimee Obidzinski.
When Samir Lakhani (A&S ’15) noticed a mother scrubbing her baby with harsh laundry powder during a study abroad trip to Cambodia a decade ago, he suddenly lost interest in the trip’s original purpose. He quickly researched the global hygiene problem and became obsessed with it.
His advisors didn’t try to rein him in. They gave him space to explore the problem and the solution he had begun to formulate – recycling unused soap scraps via a network of primarily women-operated production facilities in developing nations and then distributing the repurposed product through regional and global nonprofit agencies.
Ten years later, he has reached more than 20 million people with 80 million soap bars and counting while providing 180 life-sustaining jobs to women in developing nations. And he is doing it all from Pittsburgh, where he is exploring new ways to grow his social enterprise, EcoSoap, and seeking additional philanthropic support as he expands distribution in Western Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S
He is also sharing his entrepreneurial experience with Pitt students as a mentor for the Big Idea Center, Pitt’s hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship, which was in its infancy during his time at Pitt, and now serves more than 1,500 students a year through its programs, events and competitions, helping them explore their own ideas for changing the world.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP