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 Build Change is a 501(c)3 international non-profit social enterprise based in San Francisco, CA with programs in Aceh and West Sumatra, Indonesia. We design and train builders to build earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries. Our Mission.Our mission is to greatly reduce deaths, injuries and economic losses caused by housing collapses due to earthquakes in developing countries. Build. Change.We work with international agencies and local engineers, architects, builders and homeowners to promote and build with low-cost, earthquake resistant construction methods that will continue to be used once we leave the village. We leave in place a permanent change in construction practice. A Bridge and a Reality Check.We bridge the gap between academic research and construction practice by identifying needs and developing appropriate training and construction manuals. We work with the academic community to evaluate, develop and test innovative, low-cost methods for building and strengthening houses using locally available materials and skills. Avoid Wheel Reinvention.We collect and spread best practices and lessons learned from post-disaster housing construction programs. Theory of ChangeIf building standards are not enforced, earthquake-resistant construction will become common only if the right technology is locally available, widely known, and culturally accepted. Plus, the cost must be competitive with existing and commonly used (but vulnerable) building methods. Build Change's Founder Dr. Hausler has an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado. She is a 2004 Echoing Green Fellow and a 2006 Draper Richards Fellow and was a Fulbright Scholar to India in 2002-2003. She is a skilled brick, block and stone mason and has lectured on sustainable, disaster-resistant construction in five countries. She served on the 2002-2003 National Research Council committee to develop a long-term research agenda for earthquake engineering, which successfully put the earthquake engineering issues that plague developing countries on the agenda. Before graduate school, she spent five years in the engineering consulting industry, working for Peterson Consulting LP in Chicago, IL and Dames & Moore in Denver, CO. On 10 March 2006, Elizabeth was featured by the US-based evening news program abcNEWS World News Tonight as Person of the Week for her work rebuilding houses in Aceh. Board ChairpersonDr. Martin J. Fisher is the co-founder and executive director of KickStart, a non-profit organization that develops and markets technologies that are bought by entrepreneurs to kickstart profitable small businesses. Over 38,000 new businesses have been started using manually operated irrigation pumps, hay balers, and oil seed presses, generating over $37 million per year in new profits and wages. KickStart was founded in 1991 and employs over 80 staff in Kenya, Tanzania, and San Francisco. Martin and his partner, Nick Moon, are 2002 Schwab Social Entrepreneurs, and were named "European Heroes" by Time Magazine in 2003. ApproTEC International has won the Beacon Prize for Creative Giving, AGFUND International Prize for Development Projects, and the 2002 San Jose Tech Museum Award for Technologies Benefiting Humanity in the Accenture Economic Development category. Martin has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Board Secretary and TreasurerM. Timothy Louis is a financial consultant to the software and telecommunications industries. He is currently employed by Verizon Telecommunications, supporting its corporate sales group. Tim has over 15 years experience performing complex financial analysis in a number of settings. For 9 years, Tim worked in the litigation support arena, providing economic analysis and expert witness testimony on commercial litigation matters. Prior to that, Tim focused on the financial valuation of independent and alternative energy plants, and since then Tim has focused on determining and effectively communicating the economic impacts of certain technologies in various environments. Tim earned his MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and his BS in Finance from Miami University (OH). Tim makes his home in Marin County, California. BoardmemberAnne Marie Burgoyne is the Portfolio Director for the Draper Richards Foundation. Before joining Draper Richards, Anne Marie was the Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate where she undertook a successful financial and operational turn-around and program merger. Prior, Anne Marie was a Roberts Enterprise Development Fund Farber Fellow at Community Gatepath, a non-profit that provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities. During her time with the agency, she doubled the capacity of the children's center and grew the agency's client-staffed business enterprises. Before entering the non-profit arena, Anne Marie was the Vice President of Service at Digital Impact, a publicly-traded email marketing company, and an Associate at Robertson Stephens, where she did investment banking with emerging market clients. Anne Marie received her Master of Business Administration and Public Management Program certificate from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and was selected by her peers as the recipient of the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and its Wharton School, respectively. Indonesia StaffClick here to meet our Indonesian Staff. Advisory CouncilWe are in the process of forming an advisory council, which consists of experts from across the globe in the fields of earthquake engineering, low-cost construction, post-disaster reconstruction, builders' training, housing finance, and income generation. Check back soon for more information.
Now, we need your support for our new programs in China and Peru.
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May 12, 2008: Devastation in China January 28, 2008 : On Video! |
The major driving force for the founder, Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, is the repeated, avoidable loss of life during earthquakes in developing countries. Elizabeth is compelled by the failure of current approaches to permanently change construction practices, and motivated by the lack of opportunities for poor people to make money - if they had enough money, they could build a house that is earthquake resistant, as shown clearly by the low number of fatalities in recent earthquakes in the developed world. But we can’t afford to wait for economic development – people are dying today. 
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