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WE CARE Solar promotes safe motherhood and reduces maternal mortality in developing regions by providing health workers with reliable lighting, mobile communication, and blood bank refrigeration using solar electricity. The Problem Maternal mortality worldwide accounts for more than half a million deaths a year; 99 percent of these occur in underdeveloped countries. For every maternal death, at least 20 women suffer severe complications from childbirth. Major causes of maternal death include obstetric hemorrhage, obstructive labor, eclampsia, and sepsis. These emergencies cannot always be predicted, nor are they always preventable. However, with prompt, appropriate and reliable medical care, they are unlikely to result in loss of life. Sporadic electricity impairs the operation of surgical wards, delivery wards, essential hospital equipment, and hospital communication devices. This compromises the ability of health workers to provide safe, appropriate and timely medical care. Labor and delivery nurses cannot quickly notify on-call physicians of emergencies. Midwives and physicians are forced to make treatment decisions without the benefit of necessary diagnostic tests. Obstetric procedures and emergency surgeries are conducted under grossly suboptimal conditions, and can have tragic consequences. Our Background Co-founder Dr. Laura Stachel went to Northern Nigeria in 2008 to study ways to lower maternal mortality in state hospitals. She witnessed deplorable conditions in state facilities including sporadic electricity that impaired maternity and surgical care. Without a reliable source of electricity, nighttime deliveries were attended in near darkness, cesarean sections were cancelled or conducted by flashlight, and critically ill patients waited hours or days for life-saving procedures. The outcomes were often tragic. Laura wrote to her husband, Hal Aronson, a solar energy educator back in Berkeley, California. Together, Laura and Hal co-founded WE CARE Solar to improve maternal health outcomes in regions without reliable electricity. Hal designed an off-grid solar electric system for the hospital Laura was studying, targeting the maternity ward, labor room, laboratory and operating theatre. A Portable Solution Hal created a suitcase-sized prototype of the hospital solar electric system so Laura could show Nigerian hospital workers the LED lights, headlamps and walkie-talkies planned for deployment. When Laura returned to Nigeria toting the "solar suitcase," her Nigerian colleagues immediately grasped its significance and began using this kit to charge headlamps and walkie-talkies while they awaited the larger solar installation. In addition, hospital employees introduced Laura to clinicians in outlying health facilities who begged her to bring solar lighting to their own clinics, too. Our five-year goal is to serve 5 million mothers in remote areas by deploying 10,000 Solar Suitcases to health care facilities around the globe.

The Global Give Back Circle integrates Mentoring, Private Sector Engagement and Government and Local Community Support in a 'Circle of Empowerment' that guides an at-risk girl to complete her educational journey, gain employable skills, transition into the workplace and embrace the joys of Citizenship through Giving Back.

Our mission is to provide technical, financial and intellectual support, assistance, and training to projects and organizations focused on bringing sustainable energy technologies to communities across the developing world. Critically, access to an affordable, distributed, renewable form of energy generation can improve productivity and quality of life in rural villages, clinics, schools, and organizations without increasing their carbon footprints. We are focused on the development of a solar technology that can be locally customized, manufactured, and distributed to local economies and provide local jobs while extending energy access beyond the traditional electricity grid.

To improve access to learning opportunities of high quality for children and young adults in rural and low income areas in China; To nurture lifelong learning habits through programs promoting various literacies related to essential life skills; To serve as a bridge in collaborative efforts to enhance global learning

The mission of Sarvodaya USA is to facilitate individual and community development to meet basic human needs, reduce material, social and spiritual poverty, and enhance the quality of life for all. Values All human beings must have access to resources to meet their basic needs. All human beings have the capacity to give and receive, and in the process, to transform themselves, the environment, and their society. Recognition of all people's common interests and strengths

The Smiles Forever mission is to break the cycle of poverty by vocationally training young indigenous women to be dental hygienists in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We recognize women as the first socialization factor in the family. Enabling them to become financially self-sufficient, we are both creating female community leaders and bettering the lives of their children. Students give back to their community by providing free dental care at the school, burn center and rural communities.

The Appropriate Technology Collaborative creates sustainable technologies that promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for low income people worldwide. We design, develop, demonstrate, and distribute affordable technologies. Working in collaboration with local talent and other nonprofits (NGOs) we create solutions that are culturally sensitive, environmentally responsible and locally repairable in order to improve the quality of life and reduce adverse impacts on the environment.

JustFix.nyc is a non-profit that supports renters (currently in NYC) facing evictions and neglected housing conditions with technology that helps them build well-documented cases and connect with community and legal advocates. Our platform is comprised of two complementary tools: 1. A mobile app that assists tenants in gathering evidence, mediating with their landlord through templated communications, reporting violations to city agencies, connecting with organizers and attorneys, and presenting a "case history" in housing court (currently available at http://www.justfix.nyc/). 2. A dashboard that allows community organizers, legal aid attorneys, and other advocates to communicate with tenants and track data about buildings, landlords, and neighborhoods. It will be integrated with open datasets from a range of city and state agencies (in development). We work with neighborhood based tenant organizing groups as well as major legal service organizations and are committed to a model of community-led development in order to design, build, and distribute our services to those who need it most.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.

At AnitaB.org, we envision a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it. We connect, inspire, and guide women in computing, and organizations that view technology innovation as a strategic imperative. Our social enterprise supports women in technical fields, as well as the organizations that employ them and the academic institutions training the next generation. A full roster of programs help women grow, learn, and develop their highest potential.

To improve human health through innovative genetic research and education.

To conduct scientific research with emphasis on marine mammals of the western North Atlantic and on the coastal and marine habitats and resources of the Gulf of Maine; to promote stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems to ensure their continued viability and biodiversity, through directed research and management strategies; to conduct educational activities and to provide educational resources that encourage the responsible use and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems; and to collaborate with other institutions and individuals whenever possible to advance the Center's mission.