Build Change Timeline.
12 years: 245,000 People Living and Learning in Safer Homes and Schools
June 5, 2017
Clinton Global Initiative and Build Change hosted an event in New York City detailing our advancements in post-disaster reconstruction using mobile apps and drone technology.
May 8, 2017
The Simpson Strong-Tie Fellowship for Engineering Excellence was announced, and call for applications for the 2017-2018 fellowship began. The Fellowship program is the result of a recent partnership between international nonprofit social enterprise Build Change and global structural solutions leader Simpson-Strong Tie. Complementing the Simpson Strong-Tie goal to find solutions for structures to make them safer and stronger, the fellowship will allow innovative engineers the opportunity to provide impactful contributions to Build Change programs and engineering professional development in developing nations around the world.
May 9, 2017
Surakshit Ghar was officially launched by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) during a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal. Surakshit Ghar (“Safe House” in Nepali) is a mobile application developed by Build Change for the NRA to provide remote technical assistance and safe construction awareness to Nepali homeowners engaged in the reconstruction effort. This application contains official NRA messages along with images, illustrations, audio clips and videos on safe reconstruction. It further contains information and recommendations on how to build earthquake resistant houses, and provides user-friendly access to the two volumes of official Government approved house designs, as well as ward-level contact details of government certified trained masons. It is available for free download at the Google App store.
April 4, 2017
Build Change was selected as one of the Social Design Circle honorees by Curry Stone Design Prize. In conjunction with this honor, Elizabeth Hausler was featured on the Social Design Insights podcast.
March 27, 2017
Build Change was named a winner of the 2017 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship by The Skoll Foundation. The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select group of social entrepreneurs whose innovations have already had significant, proven impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems, and invests directly in the promise of even greater impact at scale.
March 24, 2017
Our 2016 Annual Report is published. This year’s report was dedicated to the power of partnerships as a means to develop lasting change for communities.
March 2017
Build Change was engaged by the World Bank to provide expert advice on home retrofitting alternatives to mitigate disaster risk in Guatemala City. This job is part of the World Bank “Resilient Retrofit of Informal Houses” project, focused on exploring marked based and subsidy approaches to retrofit existing informal houses, defining strategies that can be used to improve their structural performance in order to reduce risks of life and economical losses due to collapse in probable earthquakes in the region.
March 7-10, 2017
Our Director of Engineering, Lizzie Blaisdell Collins was the recipient of the 2016 Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s (EERI) Shah Family Innovation Prize. This prize honors young professionals within the field of earthquake risk reduction for their creativity and innovation. The prize was presented at the EERI 69th Annual Meeting in Portland, OR.
March 6-13, 2017
Our partners at RMS sent a team of their staff to visit our program in Nepal and had the opportunity to meet with our teams and local partners. Hear about their experiences in their own words in their blog entries on our blog.
March 6, 2017
Our 2016 Year in Review video was published, this video included updates such as our earthquake app for Android devices, drone technology and school retrofits; as well as, updates on all of our programs across 6 countries.
February 23-25, 2017
On February 10, 2017, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Surigao Del Norte, Philippines. From February 23-25, our team performed a post-earthquake reconnaissance investigation of the damage and response of school buildings and housing within the area. Our team completed the reconnaissance on February 25, their results will contribute to the development of retrofit manuals.
February 9, 2017
Our Founder and CEO, Elizabeth Hausler joined more than 150 social entrepreneurs in signing an open letter to President Trump, standing in solidarity against the Muslim Ban.
December 19, 2016
After the 2016 Aceh earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 6, our Indonesian reconnaissance team worked right away to assess the damage on-site. The team documented the damage of homes and schools in the Pidie Jaya region through the Build Change blog. The team also met with representatives from the Ministry of Education and organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children while providing technical assistance. The team also took the time to visit homes in the Aceh Besar district, where Build Change had provided technical assistance in 2006; many of the homes in this area had little to no major damage.
November 7, 2016
Our team in Nepal successfully retrofitting a school in the Sindhupalchowk district, thanks to the efforts of local communities and supporters, over 100 children were able to resume their education.
October 26, 2016
The team of engineers who responded to Hurricane Matthew in Haiti published this technical reconnaissance report with their findings.
October 11, 2016
Lloyd’s Charities Trust, the grant-making charity of the Lloyd’s insurance market, supports efforts to relieve suffering and help people rebuild their lives in the face of disaster. On October 11, 2016 we established a new three-year partnership with LCT, which will focus on building climate and earthquake resilience in informal settlements in Metro Manila and reducing seismic risk in informal neighborhoods in Medellín.
August 3, 2016
Today we began one of our first housing retrofits in Bogotá, Colombia after many months of designing, approval processes, and preparation.
July 28, 2016
Elizabeth Hausler Strand and our Latin America team participated in the beginning of a strategy for Medellin – Antioquia to become part of 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. We are working on the project “Strengthening Community Risk Management” alongside the Rockefeller Foundation and ELADES.
September 11-16, 2016
Our partners at RMS sent a team of their staff to visit our program in Nepal and support with projects on the ground there. Hear about their experiences in their blog entries on our blog.
September 6, 2016
The team of engineers who evaluated the west coast of Ecuador after the earthquake there in April 2016 compiled a reconnaissance report detailing their findings, which is now available online.
