We Care Solar

Laura trained at University of California San Francisco to become a clinical obstetrician-gynecologist. She practiced for 14 years before turning towards global maternal health, obtaining her MPH at University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. As Associate Director of Emergency Obstetric Care at the Bixby Center for Population Health and Sustainability, her research in Nigerian hospitals alerted her to the link between energy poverty and maternal mortality. She founded her non-profit, We Care Solar, to bring clean energy solutions to frontline maternal health centers lacking reliable power. She co-designed a rugged "Solar Suitcase" for maternal health care that has now illuminated thousands of energy-poor health centers. Laura champions clean energy for safe childbirth through her leadership activities with Sustainable Energy for All, UNDESA, WHO, UN agencies, and international NGOS. Her multi-disciplinary programs combine health, energy access, gender equity, and climate action to ensure that no women die giving life. 

Every year over 300,000 women and one million newborns die from pregnancy and childbirth complication. Hundreds of thousands of health centers in the developing world lack electricity for nighttime deliveries and power for medical devices and emergency communication. Clinicians struggle to provide services. Expectant mothers risk their lives giving birth in dark and unsafe conditions and newborns fail to receive timely medical care.

We Care Solar works at the nexus of energy and health to improve the quality of maternal-newborn care in last mile health centers. The We Care Solar Suitcase® makes solar power simple, accessible, and sustainable, providing electricity for reliable medical lighting, emergency communication, fetal heart rate monitoring, and medical devices. Through our Light Every Birth initiative, we aim to give every maternal health center in our target countries “the power to save lives.” By 2030, we aim to provide power to 100,000 clinics globally, saving countless lives.

An estimated 59% of health facilities in the developing world lack reliable electricity, contributing to the 300,000 maternal and 1 million newborn deaths, annually. Most of these deaths are preventable and occur in Africa and Asia. Clinicians in un-electrified frontline health centers attempt to work in near-darkness, forced to rely on the inadequate light of candles, kerosene lanterns, or flashlights. They are unable to adequately diagnose and treat routine and complicated conditions. Without electricity, cell phones lose power, making it impossible to obtain emergency consultations or summon an ambulance for hospital referrals. Without modern energy, electronic medical equipment, such as a fetal heart rate monitor or infrared thermometer, cannot be used. Health workers fear night duty and lack confidence, knowing that their ability to provide optimal health care is compromised. Governments have difficulty retaining rural health workers and keeping off-grid centers open at night. Many impoverished women stay home during labor, rather than venturing to a darkened or empty health center. Others arrive, armed with candles as their only source of light. Emergency services are delayed or below standards of care. Obstetric complications are missed or left untreated, leading to maternal and newborn deaths that could have been prevented.

We Care Solar saves lives by making solar power simple and accessible to last-mile health centers. We systematically address the challenges of health-clinic electrification, by (1) designing a rugged, reliable, easy-to-use, low-maintenance solar electric system for health workers in harsh environments. (2) building local capacity in solar installation and maintenance, (3) training health workers to understand and operate our equipment, (4) partnering with health ministries, UN agencies, and international NGOs to create sustainable Solar Suitcase programs for remote health centers, (5) engaging key policymakers to ensure that reliable electricity for healthcare is on global health and sustainable energy agendas, and (6) leading countrywide initiatives demonstrating the feasibility and affordability of clean energy for all health centers. 

The Solar Suitcase provides health workers with customized LED lights for medical procedures and surgeries, phone charging for medical emergencies, rechargeable headlamps for suturing, electronic fetal monitoring to determine fetal well-being, and power for additional devices.

Alongside We Care Solar’s effective, sustainable programs, our advocacy efforts have stimulated broad initiatives on sustainable energy by highlighting the connection between energy poverty and health outcomes.

Our Light Every Birth initiative is aiming to ensure that every health worker has the power to save lives.

We Care Solar serves expectant mothers and newborns in some of the most impoverished regions of Africa and Southeast Asia. The majority of our programs are implemented in rural communities where families live in extreme poverty. Primary beneficiaries of our work include (1) families in need of frontline health services, (2) vulnerable mothers and their newborns, (3) healthcare workers in remote health centers, and (4) government ministries striving to improve obstetric care. Our initial ethnographic research informed our understanding about the needs of health workers and patients in underserved communities. Our training programs build local capacity in solar installation, operation, and servicing and provide local employment and increased livelihoods. Our Solar Ambassador program promotes women as leaders of our training programs. Our Light Every Birth initiative is equipping all underserved health centers in countries with high rates of maternal mortality, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Ethiopia and Nigeria. We work with community-based organizations to promote local ownership of our Solar Suitcases. By enhancing the quality of care in frontline health centers using clean, renewable energy, our programs promote sustainable development goals for poverty alleviation, health care, energy access, gender equity, and climate action.

We are building awareness about energy poverty in healthcare and driving action by:

1. Leading countrywide programs through the Light Every Birth initiative demonstrating the feasibility, affordability and life-saving impact of solar for healthcare.
2. Conducting research that “makes the case” for decision-makers.
3. Ensuring healthcare is on the sustainable energy agenda and clean energy is on the global healthcare agenda.
4. Convening meetings and sharing learnings to stimulate others to act.
5. Advocating for healthcare electrification and showcasing interlinkages of SDGs through presentations at international meetings, awards, and UN events.
6. Raising awareness through social media, TV and print media.
7. Educating youth solar innovators.

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In 2008, while researching obstetric care in a Nigerian state hospital, I was stunned to see the impact of power outages: babies delivered by candlelight, c/sections conducted by flashlight, critical procedures delayed or cancelled, and hemorrhaging patients turned away at night. Mothers and newborns were dying from a lack of reliable lighting and electricity.

Desperate to solve this problem, I collaborated with solar innovator Hal Aronson to design and commission a robust, low-maintenance solar electric system and blood bank for the hospital. Patient admissions increased, life-saving procedures were conducted around-the-clock, and institutional maternal deaths dropped by 70%. Surrounding clinics began asking for solar light and power, and we began building suitcase-sized solar-electric kits that I could hand-deliver to frontline maternity clinics. Word spread, and we were inundated with requests for our “Solar Suitcases.” We recognized energy poverty was impairing childbirth services around the globe, and assembled a team, improved our technology, conducted field-tests, established a non-profit, and partnered with international organizations to deliver our life-saving technology to un-electrified facilities.

Over time, we became increasingly strategic in our approach to scale-up and sustainability: optimizing manufacturability, adding regional staff, launching countrywide initiatives and training programs, and championing renewable energy for healthcare globally.

As an obstetrician and mother, I always believed childbirth should be joyous. In public health graduate school, I learned 500,000 women die annually from pregnancy complications, mostly in Africa and Asia. I was invited to conduct ethnographic research at a Nigerian state hospital and anticipated the facility would have limited resources. I was stunned that it lacked electricity 12 hours a day. I stayed in the hospital and saw vast numbers of obstetric complications. My medical colleagues struggled to treat critically ill women by candlelight and kerosene lantern, finished c/sections by flashlight, and turned away patients at night. I held mothers who lost their babies, and consoled families who lost mothers. One night, as a woman with severe eclampsia fought for her life in darkness, I wondered why I was bearing witness to these tragedies. I imagined countless lives could be saved with basic resources and wondered how I could make a difference.

That experience changed my life. When I learned energy poverty was a global problem, solving this issue became my life mission. After demonstrating that our simple, compact, replicable Solar Suitcase could save lives, I became determined to build a movement to eradicate energy poverty in health care.

As an obstetrician, I was trained to save individuals during childbirth. I entered public health to address health problems at the population level. I obtained my MPH and then pursued my DrPH, focused on translating health research into action. I conducted qualitative research on maternal mortality in Africa, meeting with medical providers, patients, and government officials to better understand maternal-newborn services in low-resource environments. My research alerted me to the complex factors contributing to obstetric mortality, including the ways in which energy poverty impairs life-saving care. My first project was to design and install a hospital-based solar electric system. Remarkably, institutional maternal deaths dropped by 70%.

The Solar Suitcase was created to address global needs. As a social innovator, I have touched every aspect of this project: designing and building Solar Suitcases, delivering them to remote facilities, leading training programs, managing installations, conducting evaluations, cultivating partnerships, meeting with ministry officials, and overseeing advancement.

I am strategic, creative, energetic, and articulate. I am a consummate problem solver and enjoy multi-tasking. Through my decade of working in international development, I became deeply involved with global initiatives around health and energy. I love engaging all kinds of people and have cultivated relationships with hundreds of rural health providers, technicians, NGO and UN leaders, government officials, and global stakeholders. I speak at international events, including the UN and WHO, meet with UN agencies, and convene stakeholders—driven by a desire to eradicate energy poverty so that women will no longer die giving life.

COVID-19 prompted countrywide lockdowns in Africa, travel restrictions, and cancellations of our donor trips, funding pledges, conferences, and advocacy events. I contacted African MOH officials, implementation partners, and rural midwives to understand local concerns, their COVID-19 response strategies, and equipment needs. Ministers voiced their fear that MCH programs could erode as COVID-19 was prioritized and disrupted essential services. Midwives were personally frightened; they requested PPE and no-touch thermometers. Government officials asked to accelerate Solar Suitcase installations in frontline facilities and described needs for ICU equipment.

·      I obtained government travel permission for our installers and developed safety guidelines to minimize COVID-19 spread.

·      I convened an international webinar on renewable energy and health care, bringing together ministry, UN, and solar experts.

·      I researched infrared thermometers in China, and arranged for these to be included in our suitcases,

·      I wrote articles on the importance of health facility electrification and received invitations to speak on several panels (https://www.sun-connect-news.org/de/articles/off-grid-living/details/african-health-officials-issue-sos-for-solar-power/)

·      I helped the World Bank update an online tool on health facility energy needs (https://poweringhealth.homerenergy.com/).  

By investigating local needs, adapting our programs to COVID-19, and continuing our Light Every Birth advocacy, we identified new funders and advanced our operations.

When the World Health Organization requested 20 Solar Suitcases for Liberia in 2010, I was eager to meet this challenge. My new-found team was afraid of failure; we had piloted prototypes but had never created a standardized product or fulfilled an order. This project had the potential to catapult our organization forward, and I encouraged us to overcome our fear. I began to mobilize volunteer resources. Two engineers worked on a Solar Suitcase design that could be replicated, including an acrylic control panel, durable  cases for wall-mounting, and hardware for rooftop solar mounting. An MIT design team helped us create a friendly user interface, incorporating feedback I collected from African clinicians using earlier prototypes. We sourced foldable solar panels, headlamps, solar flashlights and LED bulbs. We designed a new logo and created our first user’s manual. When ABC News contacted me for a news segment, I invited them to join our team as we traveled to Liberia, carrying all 20 suitcases! We met with Liberian Ministry officials and the Vice President to promote our vision, then traveled throughout the country, leading our first health worker and technician trainings, and conducting installations. What seemed insurmountable initially became our first major accomplishment.

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We Care Solar created a new dimension of performance for reducing maternal and newborn mortality: every maternal health facility must have “the power to save lives.” By providing the first 100 watts of electricity for last mile facilities, WCS ensures the availability of (1) medical lighting for obstetric procedures, (2) charged cell phones for emergency communications, and (3) essential electricity for medical devices. International guidelines (UNICEF/WHO/UNFPA) established for emergency obstetric care require health providers to perform seven critical life-saving procedures including administering antibiotics, resuscitation, and treating hemorrhage and eclampsia. These essential services can only succeed when light, power, and emergency communication are assured.

We support health workers in remote environments, far from the electric grids, supply chains, solar installers or service providers.

Our product is the ONLY complete, all-in-one, prewired institutional grade solar electric system designed by and for health providers. It is easy-to-use, low maintenance, and durable. The customized 70,000-hour LED lights provide appropriate illumination for medical and surgical procedures (the color rendition index enables surgeons to visualize arteries and veins). These water and break-resistant lights can be washed, re-positioned, and even dropped without damage. The cables and connectors can withstand thousands of connections. The Solar Suitcase is safe, durable, and effective, designed to work day-after-day without failure. 

By engineering a robust product, training local health workers and technicians, and partnering with a network of dedicated partners, we have demonstrated that providing basic lighting and electricity to every remote health care facility is feasible, cost-effective and impactful.

When energy-poor health facilities receive clean solar electricity, they have better lighting for extended hours and power for medical devices, leading to improved quality and timeliness of emergency obstetric care. By replacing fossil fuels (kerosene lanterns and diesel generators), Solar Suitcases improve air quality and reduce pollution. These inputs reduce preventable maternal deaths, improve newborn survival, promote a healthier environment, and ultimately results in stronger families and communities.

Evidence: Qualitative evaluations reveal improved quality and timeliness of care, improved health worker confidence and morale, and improved perception of care by patients (Papers being prepared for submission). Multi-intervention Solar Suitcase programs by Pathfinder International (Nigeria, Tanzania) and AMREF (Uganda) revealed decreased maternal mortality (50 –55%) and perinatal mortality (40–70%) and increased utilization (80%). An RCT in Uganda by Harvard SPH and Innovation for Poverty Action was submitted for publication.

Inputs:

●      Solar Equipment and Medical Appliances

●      Rural Health Centers

●      Partner agencies: Ministries of Health, UN Agencies, NGOs

●      Health Workers

●      Expectant Mothers and their newborns

●      Key Staff: Engineers, Program Managers, Trainers, Logisticians

Activities:

●      Design and Manufacture Solar Suitcases

●      Transport Solar Suitcase to rural communities

●      Cultivation of partnerships with governments, UN agencies and NGOs

●      Identification of energy-poor health centers

●      Training of local health technicians

●      Training of health workers

Outputs:

●      #Solar Suitcases produced

●      #Health centers equipped

●      # Partner agencies

●      #Health technicians trained in Installation

●      #Health workers (i.e. midwives) trained

●      #Expectant mothers utilizing health centers

●      #Hours of medical light provided

●      #Tons of CO2 averted by renewable energy

To achieve the following Outcomes:

●      Improved lighting at health facilities

●      Greater safety and improved quality of care

●      Increased utilization, i.e. more facility-based deliveries

●      Health workers with more confidence and less fear

●      Improved detection of fetal well-being or distress

●      Improved ability to call for emergency help 

●      Cleaner air, less pollution

Impact:

●      Improved MCH care with reductions in maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality

●      Better retention and morale of rural health workers

●      Improvements in environmental health

To date we have installed Solar Suitcases in 5,213 last mile health clinics and have served 5,989,248 mothers and newborns by supporting safer obstetric deliveries. We have trained almost 800 technicians to install and maintain the Solar Suitcase, creating livelihoods in out Light Every Birth countries. We have trained 20,855 health workers on the use of the Solar Suitcase, the use of the fetal Doppler, and will soon be including training on the infrared thermometer.

Each health facility conducts approximately 200 deliveries per year. In one year, we anticipate our Solar Suitcases will support health workers conducting 1 million additional deliveries. This means 2 million beneficiaries (1 million mothers and 1 million newborns) will be directly served by our programs in the next year. In the next five years, with our expanded program growth, we anticipate 16 million persons will be served.

Each health facility has a catchment population of 7,000 - 16,000 people. To date, we have served a catchment population of at least 50 million people.  We know that Solar Suitcases are used for surgical procedures, bandaging, night time vaccinations, night time pediatric care, and an array of primary services. Thus, in addition to directly servicing mothers in labor, our programs are indirectly benefitting 50 million people.

In the next 1 to 5 years, we aim to: 

1.     Expand Our Impact. Advance our Light Every Birth initiative in countries with high maternal mortality rates, collaborating with an ecosystem of strategic partners. Year 1-2: Complete installations in Uganda and Zimbabwe, add logistics support. Year 2-4: Complete LEB in Sierra Leone, select new countries, hire staff in new LEB countries; Year 3-5: Conduct LEB in new countries. 

2.     Ensure sustainability. Expand our training programs to strengthen local capacity in solar installation and maintenance. Advance women’s leadership through our African Women’s Solar Ambassador Program. Implement our Light Every Birth Sustainability Plan to ensure effective long-term use of Solar Suitcases.

3.     Enhance performance. Build upon our successful version 3.0 Solar Suitcase, by implementing remote monitoring, assessing additional medical devices for compatibility with our power platform (year 1: vaccine refrigerators), and adapting our solar technology for a wider range of humanitarian applications.

4.     Engage influencers. Continue to champion energy solutions among global health and education stakeholders, particularly in light of COVID-19. Amplify messages around Light Every Birth. Promote healthcare electrification among global health and sustainable energy stakeholders.

5.     Educate and Inspire Youth. Expand our We Share Solar educational program to engage more U.S. and African youth in solving energy poverty challenges worldwide. We Share Solar is a service-learning program that empowers youth to learn about solar electricity, build Solar Suitcases, and share this technology with unelectrified schools, refugee community centers, and orphanages. (www.wesharesolar.org)

Immediate barriers: As COVID-19 continues to spread in Africa, there are likely to be pandemic-related difficulties for our program. Air travel restrictions from the U.S. limit the ability of our U.S. staff to travel to our existing program counties or conduct landscape analyses in new countries. We can no longer attend conferences in Europe and Africa; we have already canceled seven engagements since the pandemic began. Program implementation may be affected by national lockdowns, concerns about infection spread to our staff and others, fewer air cargo shipping opportunities, and the inability to assemble for large events.

Long-term barriers: There are additional challenges to our programs due to contextual factors of the low-income nations in which we work. Most have inadequate infrastructure, cash economies, and insufficient budgets.  The public health facilities we serve lack equipment, personnel and supplies. They would benefit from an array of medical devices that could be solar powered using our technology. The communities we serve exist in geographies where the terrain is difficult and inclement weather can make roads impassable: just reaching last-mile health centers can pose a challenge. Maintaining functional technology in disparate remote health centers is even more challenging. Our remote monitoring is designed to facilitate the support of our equipment but has yet to be rolled out at scale.

Additional technology barriers: The 12VDC Solar Suitcase will have greater impact when it can be paired with other medical devices, such as suction devices, oxygen concentrators, ultrasound, and microscopes. 

Lockdowns:  We have confirmed in writing with national and local governments that installation of Solar Suitcases for health facilities is considered an essential medical activity even during lockdown. We have government authority to continue conducting Solar Suitcase installations.   

Infection Spread: We have developed a detailed set of COVID-19 guidelines (frequent hand washing, disinfecting equipment, social distancing, wearing masks, using gloves, etc.) to reduce the chance of our staff/contractors becoming infected or spreading coronavirus between health facilities.

Limited Air Travel: We are anticipating delays in some cases. We are in contact with humanitarian shipping agencies offering to partner with us if commercial flights are unavailable. 

Program implementation challenges: We will continue to build local capacity and cultivate strategic in-country partnerships. Both require considerable relationship-building, networking, oversight, training, and management by our in-country staff and U.S. directors.

Local Contexts: After working in more than 27 countries and equipping thousands of health facilities with Solar Suitcases, we have learned to apply various frameworks, tailored for different circumstances in each country. We are adaptable and flexible. We must prioritize the safety of our staff and are developing remote on line trainings to extend our reach to challenging regions.

Technology: We aim to create an online platform to display our remote monitoring results and coordinate local service provision. We aim to expand the array of high-efficiency medical devices for our Solar Suitcases, working in partnership with biomedical engineers. We have started testing the Solar Suitcase with vaccine refrigerators working with PATH. 

Programs: We Care Solar works with ministries of health and local partner organizations to implement Solar Suitcase programs. Together, we plan the location and scope of our programs. If funding is not already available from our partner, We Care Solar determines potential funding sources and develops a formal contract delineating roles and responsibilities. Programs include the following key activities, divided between We Care Solar and our partners:

1) Identify appropriate health facilities for electrification, 

2) Engage national and district health departments in our programs,

3) Coordinate Solar Suitcase trainings and Installations, 

4) Identify local technicians to participate in our Solar Suitcase trainings, 

5) Distribute Solar Suitcases to remote health facilities, 

6) Develop maintenance protocols in partnership with local health authorities,   

7) Support our efforts to monitor and evaluate our programs

We are currently working with the following partners:

Liberia 

- Smart Energy, EnDev, AfriCare, UNFPA, UNICEF - Ministry of Health and Social Welfare

Sierra Leone - CUAMM - Save the Children - Horizon Energy  - Ministry of Health and Sanitation - Ministry of Energy - CARE - GOAL - IRC - UNFPA

Uganda - All in Trade - Brick by Brick - CUAMM - Ekide - Feni & Team - Healthy Child Uganda - IntraHealth - AVSI - Ministry of Health

Zimbabwe - Eletech - ZImEnergy Eco Foundation - Engineering World - Ministry of Health and Child Care

Advoacy: We partner with many organizations to advance our mission including UN Foundation, UNDESA, Sustainable Energy For All, and Power for All.

We Care Solar has a vertically integrated value chain from product design to manufacturing to distribution to international logistics to distribution and installation, to after-sales service and finally, program evaluation. We have expertise in product design, engineering, public health, education, solar electricity, international development, and research. We outsource manufacturing to a contract manufacturer in Colorado and outsource shipping to a 3rd-party logistics firm.

Our key beneficiaries are health workers, expectant mothers, and newborn babies.

We bring value to our beneficiary population through our key activities of creating a compact, scalable solar-electric system for health facilities in underserved communities to enable health workers to have reliable lighting, and 12VDC electricity for charging phones and small medical devices and provide around-the-clock OB emergency care. We design educational programs to build local capacity. We stimulate systems change by advocating for energy access for health care.

Our key resources are solar technology, our staff of engineers, designers, program managers, fundraisers, researchers, and advocators.

Our key business partners are NGOs, Ministries of Health, and international agencies who provide access to health centers, linkages to district health organizations, and monitoring and evaluation capabilities. Individual funders and philanthropic organizations provide revenue streams to cover costs for Solar Suitcase hardware, product development, shipping/logistics, trainings, research/evaluation, marketing, and advocacy.

With a focus on electrifying public health centers in low-resource communities, We Care Solar cannot rely on a functional market. We are addressing an unmet public need: energy access for public health institutions. Our beneficiaries (public health workers) are not the same as our consumers (foundations, governments, bilateral agencies).

We Care Solar has cultivated a diverse funding stream to support health facility electrification in rural communities, including (1) philanthropic support from institutional funders, family foundations, individual donors, (2) awards, and (3) earned income from purchases by UN agencies and iNGOs. To date, we have raised more than $25 million, allowing us to develop new products, conduct field research, lead international trainings, and oversee Solar Suitcase programs.

Revenue growth has been the result of:

●      Increasing recognition by governments in developing economies of the importance of the Solar Suitcase

●      The United Nations’s endorsement of the Solar Suitcase for promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals

●      Solar Suitcase purchases by various UN agencies

●      Dedicated institutional funding for research, product development, and program scale-up

●      Bilateral agencies seeking to expand our programs

●      Individual donors cultivated through media campaigns, TED talks, and awards

In the last 12 months, We Care Solar has raised a total of $6.7 million, including multi-year grants. Most of this funding has been pledged for our Light Every Birth initiative. Details about specific grants are available upon written request. Major funders include:

●      Silicon Valley Community Foundation (grant funding)

●      UBS Optimus Foundation (grant funding)

●      Wells Fargo Foundation (grant funding)

●      Music for Relief Foundation (grant funding)

●      Zayed Future Energy Prize (award funding)

●      Gilead Foundation (grant funding)

●      Pathfinder International (product procurement)

●      Starr International Foundation (grant funding)

●      Segal Family Foundation (grant funding)

●      MacFarlane Family Foundation (grant funding)

Over the next 3 years we are seeking $10 million in grant funding to complete our Light Every Birth initiative in Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone. To complete an additional two Light Every Birth countrywide programs, we seek an additional $9 million.

In alignment with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Maternal Health), 7 (Clean Energy), 5 (Gender Equity), 13 (Climate Action), and 17 (Partnerships) we will continue our efforts to ensure rural communities have access to reliable, renewable energy so mothers and newborns survive childbirth (and thrive) and every health worker has the tools needed to save lives. Working with a coalition of partners, we have the goal of reaching approximately 100,000 health facilities with solar electricity by 2030. This ambitious initiative has an estimated cost of $300,000,000.

Estimated Expenses for 2020

Employee Related Costs

$1,522,832

Contract Services

$715,200

Product/COGS

$2,984,285

Office Expenses

$29,200

Information Technology

$10,800

Occupancy

$57,800

Meetings and Conferences

$6,800

Travel

$196,800

Outreach and Promotion

$16,020

Other Business Expenses

$15,915

Depreciation Expenses

$5,000

Total Expenses

$5,560,652

No woman should die giving life. We want to eradicate energy poverty in health centers by 2030. We have a proven technology and scalable approach. Now we need a coalition of innovative problem solvers who can help us advance our mission. Our partners will  resonate with our Light Every Birth initiative and share our belief that (1) All women have the right to safe childbirth, (2) All health centers are entitled to electricity, and (3) Clean solar energy offers an immediate and sustainable solution to this global problem.

Through the Elevate Prize, we are eager to work with innovators, technical experts and funders to help us advance our technology and accelerate our Light Every Birth initiative. We are seeking partners to develop 12VDC energy-efficient medical devices for our power platform that will increase the effectiveness of health workers in remote regions. We hope to be linked to engineers who can help advance our remote monitoring, creating an online platform to enable our technicians to identify and address performance issues as they arise. We are eager to network with others in the Elevate Prize community who are working in global health care; we are seeking to cultivate new implementing partners to expand our work to new regions of Africa. And finally, we are hoping that additional media and conference exposure from the Elevate Prize might help us expand our network to funders who wish to join us on our journey to "Light Every Birth."

We are interested in partnering with biomedical engineers who can develop an array of energy-efficient 12VDC medical devices that can be paired with the Solar Suitcase. High-efficiency medical devices that can be directly powered with solar energy will be effective in an array of low-resource settings where solar power is the only electricity available. They will have additional applications in humanitarian settings in need of a portable power pack, and even in industrialized countries where compact, portable medical devices can have great utility. Specific medical devices include surgical cautery, suction, oxygen concentrators, and sterilization equipment.

We would like to scale our programs throughout Africa and Asia. As we expand our Light Every Birth initiative, we are seeking international and local healthcare NGOs working beyond our current target countries. We are also seeking funders and board members to support our growth, and media opportunities to advance our advocacy efforts. 

Energy-Efficient Medical Devices: We are interested in meeting with faculty/students at the MIT Design Lab. We would be interested in discussing our ideas for energy-efficient medical devices.For the development of energy-efficient medical devices, we would seek to meet with the instructors and students involved in the MIT medical device design course.

Designing a Better Humanitarian Suitcase: The MIT Design Lab would be a good place for us to partner on optimizing the Solar Suitcase for humanitarian settings (e.g. post-disaster). Hundreds of our version 2.0 Solar Suitcases have been used in disasters (Philippines, Nepal, and Puerto Rico) and our newest version 3.0 has yet to be adapted for this application. 

Light Every Birth expansion: For program expansion, we would reach out to the MIT medical global health and humanities initiative, particularly those working in rural health care. 

Remote Monitoring of Solar Suitcases in the field: To develop our remote monitoring platform, we would like to work with computer scientists who can help us collect and display data that is provided by the Solar Suitcases in the field. This will allow us to track performance and maintain our technology in good working order.