2008

Sam Baker ’08 and Brian Belcher ’09 are making their mark as environmentalists and businessmen in El Salvador. Baker is founder and director of Computodos, a San Salvador-based company that sells high-quality computers at low cost to low-income sectors, primarily students, schools, nongovernmental organizations, and the poor. Baker majored in finance at Santa Clara University, with an interest in making a difference in the world rather than landing a job on Wall Street or with an investment firm. After graduating, he traveled to over a dozen countries before starting an internship in El Salvador with microfinance organization Kiva, which specializes in giving small, low-interest loans to cottage industry entrepreneurs. Baker recognized that a big problem for students and others was access to computers. Baker is partnering with fellow Santa Clara grad Brian Belcher, and the two researched and found out about InterConnection, a Seattle-based Microsoft Registered Refurbisher of computers. Buying and importing computers with licensed software from Interconnection.org, they are able to sell a complete computer package for $180, hundreds less than what was available in El Salvador and a superior product to computers and pirated software available through less reputable sources. "We are able to meet a need and help people cross the digital divide, while also keeping hundreds of discarded computers out of landfills," Baker told a reporter recently. 

29 Oct 2018