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OWED SOAP
Our Work
Since January of 2024, Owed Soap has worked on numerous projects to to spread sustainable hygiene to other youth around the world...here are some snapshots...
January 2024
Hi! My name is Lara Leon, and I'm the founder of Owed Soap. Growing up, I was often called a “germaphobe” — hygiene has always been incredibly important to me. Over time, I became aware that many people around the world lack access to something as basic as soap. A simple biology lesson about phospholipids sparked my curiosity, and I learned that scientists have long used used cooking oil to make soap. I realized that by removing just one raw ingredient, the cost of soap could be dramatically reduced — making it more accessible to underserved communities. For the first few months, I experimented with different recipes and variations to perfect my formula.
Feburary 2024
After experimenting with clean cooking oil, I realized it made more sense to use used cooking oil instead. A few weeks of posting flyers around the neighborhood, we finally landed our first partnership — local Italian restaurant, Café Vitale!
March 2024
After much thought, I invited Nao to join the team! She had a strong background in soap making and had spent much of her childhood creating soap and watching tutorials. With her experience and a couple of months of testing, our soap began to turn out great.
June 2024
We continued making soaps with our hopes to donate the soaps to the homeless. However, what I realized was that in order to continue we needed to fundraise to continue production and pay for the raw materials cost of lye and essential oil. We then collaborated with real estate company Keller Williams Peninsula Estates by selling our soaps in hopes to raise money for our future endeavors
November 2024
As we scaled, I realized that we needed to expand our team while also finding ways to get oil. Since his help in May, I added Maaveer Ramamoorthy to the main board to help with our marketing and outreach. Additionally, with the help of Maaveer, we were able to secure our second partnership with South Indian restaurant Madras Café
December 2024
As the year was coming to an end, we created raised over $500 by giving handmade eco-friendly packaged soaps to fundraise to Keller Williams Peninsula Estates.
January 2025
As we continued to make soap locally, we decided to expand our work to other students. We partnered with sophomore (at the time) Kylie Quinn from Berkeley High School and 8th grader (at the time) Autumn from Forth Collins to create their own chapters. Additionally, we realized we needed a bigger location to make our soaps in comparison the my backyard. After lots of searching for a couple of months, we also partnered with the Mountain View Teen Community center!
March 2025
On March 12th, 2025, Owed Soap held it's first ever soap-making workshop at the Mountain View Teen Center. We taught a class with over 20 students on how to make soap using used cooking oil and our work at Owed Soap. Additionally, since the start of his volunteering in June 2023, we added Taichi Kimura to the main team to help with our international chapters.
April 2025
On April 15th, Owed Soap proudly welcomed our third chapter, led by then-sophomore Aya Abina at Great Oak High School.
May 2025
On May 12th, Owed Soap officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit through a partnership with Melanie St. James and the organization Empowerment Works. Additionally, Owed Soap was recognized as one of the top 350 pitch videos in the Blue Ocean Challenge, out of more than 12,000 student submissions.
June 2025
June was a busy month! We hosted two bake sales on June 12th and 21st to support our international chapter outreach efforts, raising an impressive $970 in total. While we had leftover treats after the second sale, we were happy to donate them to the local police department as a thank-you for their hard work and service.We’re also thrilled to announce the addition of our fourth chapter—welcome, Central Valley High School!
July 2025
July - what an excited month! We first started the month by donating 200 soaps to Convenant House - a non-profit organization located in Santa Clara that provides transitional housing for homeless children and mothers. We were also able to donate to Hope's Corner - a local homeless shelter located in Mountain View, Ca - and welcomed our 5th chapter at Fusion Academy in Cupertino! Largest update of them all - Owed Soap is now international! We just started our 6th chapter in Japan with the help of Taichi at Hiyoshigaoka High School.
August 2025
With school around the corner, Owed Soap officially started their 7th chapter at Mountain View High School. Additionally, we started our first ever micro-grant with Fields of Hope in Rwanda! We got to meet with Founder Ghiana Jackson and are excited to work with students at Peace International High School providing resources to make soap to donate to underprivileged villages in the Nyanza district.
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