Funk and the Tuthill Porsche team have assembled a formidable trio of experienced drivers plus three Porsche 911s to carry the Race4Change banner in the East African Safari Classic Rally in November. Local rally legend Patrick Njiru is coming out of an eight-year retirement to drive for Rally4Change, alongside Bjorn Waldegard, an experienced campaigner, and American sensation Travis Pastrana, a motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and nine X-Games gold medals. This all-star lineup promises a real treat for extreme motorsport fans.

Funk grew up on a farm in the rural Midwest state of Iowa, and then pursued a career in oral surgery. But  a regular 9-to-5 job seemed a less than appealing career path for this free-spirited farm-boy. A chance meeting with Canadian entrepreneur Nelson Skalbania at a cocktail party offered him an escape to something completely different. Working for dynamic, enthusiastic entrepreneurs appealed to Funk’s innate frontier spirit and taste for the unknown.

Funk tells how, on his first day working for Skalbania, he was given the books for a hotel the company was involved in and didn’t have the faintest idea about balance sheets. But the steadfast and pragmatic approach he developed during his medical studies stood him in good stead and he managed to make some sense of it all.  “If you don’t know what you are doing, sometimes in business it is better to keep quiet,” he told KenyaBUZZ at the Norfolk Hotel during a visit to Kenya to spread the message of Race 4Change and their mission to empower women and help them build economically viable lives and communities.

Funk went on to build three successful businesses, including the largest fund management business in Canada and a major real estate firm. He is still involved in private debt and equity investment as well as several philanthropic endeavours, with a particular interest in microfinance.

He is a founding director of Unitus, founding shareholder of Unitus Capital, a dedicated microfinance merchant bank, a co-founder of the Dignity Fund as well as the founder of Race4Change. He is also a private pilot, a marathoner, squash player, off-road motorcycle enthusiast and much more.

Funk describes the East African Safari Classic Rally as “one of the toughest, most challenging and beautiful rally races of all time.” He says Race4Change will support and empower the energy that exists around the race.

“This is a sport that goes to the people, and takes the affluent to the doorsteps of poverty. The poor can smell, see, breathe excitement and gain the feeling of respect and opportunity. They can have the dignity and knowledge of our message to them: You are worthy, you can be helped and you can help yourself to improve your life, that of your children and those around you,” he says.

The three Race4Change cars will carry logos promoting the charity and microfinance initiatives. Tuthill Porsche, a respected rally car builder, will supply the vehicles and provide technical support.

“Using rally cars to drive social change and attempt to end poverty is the opposite of effortless but it is sure going to be a whole lot of fun!” Funk said.

And he does not rule out a win for the Race4Change team.

“With world class drivers and world class cars, a Race4Change victory … is not outside the realms of possibility, but it all comes down to your definition of winning. Crossing the line in a time less than the rest is one definition but changing the lives of thousands of people, maybe even hundreds of thousands, is another.”

Any money raised will be donated to Kiva, Women’s World Banking and Kenya’s own Jamii Bora and they will be working together to reach some of the most remote areas the rally will pass through to bring about a real change in the lives of the locals. The rally provides a platform for the team to interact with the surrounding communities on their stops enabling them to have a first-hand vision of the lives they will be changing.

“This is a great way of bringing the wealthy to the needy in a dignified way,” Funk told KenyaBUZZ.

The East African Safari Classic Rally will take place from the 19 - 28th of November. The 10-day rally starts and finishes in Mombasa after a journey through Kenya and Tanzania.  We’ll definitely be cheering on Funk and his team.

Ahmad Suleiman

http://www.race4change.org/