Sector Directory

Organization

Global Brigades

Mission

To empower volunteers and under-resourced communities to resolve global health and economic disparities and inspire all involved to collaboratively work towards an equal world.

Organizational Expertise

Adoption / Behavior Change, Capacity Building, Climate/Environment, Finance / Investment, Gender / Womens Empowerment, Health, Heating, Livelihoods, Marketing, Microfinance, Monitoring and Evaluation

Other Organizational Expertise

A key organizational expertise of Global Brigades (GB) is its design and implementation of a holistic model for rural community development. GB, through its local, in-country teams, partners with rural, marginalized community members to achieve the holistic development of their community with a focus on health, water and sanitation (WASH), and economic development programs. The goal of GB is to build the capacity of the community members as owners of the projects and community entities formed (e.g., water council, community bank, community health workers network, etc.), empowering the members to own and lead their community’s development even after GB sustainably transitions into a support role, providing ongoing follow-up, training, and education assistance. GB implements the holistic model via a mix of market-based and philanthropic approaches and carries out monitoring and evaluation activities throughout all phases of its partnership with the community.

Technologies & Fuels

Crop residues, Wood

Clean Cooking Activities

A central aspect of the holistic model is the construction and financing of clean cookstoves. Working with household members and local construction teams, GB facilitates the construction of efficient and clean cookstoves, resulting in fuel savings and health benefits. Financing is through the local community bank – formed and trained by GB – which provides lending services to the household at affordable rates and appropriate repayment terms, and, when necessary, subsidies through donor funding. In combination with clean cookstoves, households typically purchase other WASH products such as water filters, latrines, and concrete floors.

GB currently is implementing a project, Healthy Household Initiative (HHI), with the IDB that is a market-based initiative designed to increase the accessibility, affordability, and use of health products, such as clean cookstoves, by households in rural Honduras and involves working with the community banks to enable consumers to purchase products through low-interest consumer loans. The focus is on strengthening the capacity of social entrepreneurs and other supply chain actors to manufacture, source, and distribute products to these vulnerable communities. In addition to health benefits, GB hopes HHI will result in the necessary ecosystem for the sustainable delivery of health and non-health related products and financing to under-resourced rural communities throughout Honduras and in the long-term Panama, Nicaragua, Ghana and beyond.

Partnership

Global Brigades envisions its participation in the partnership with GACC and other GACC members to include:
- Participation in global, regional and local cookstove industry networking events and workshops, with availability to serve as host institution for events in Honduras
- Sharing best practices and lessons learned through GB’s on-the-ground experience with other GACC network members in such areas as:
- Clean cookstove construction and financing within marginalized rural Honduran communities
- Logistics required to reach rural communities where limited access has prevented involvement of other government and non-government actors
- Integration of clean cookstove program within larger holistic model with explanation of how other community challenges (e.g., lack of financing, water, healthcare, etc.) are interconnected and create larger systemic challenges that must be addressed holistically
- Securing funding opportunities for both the financing of community bank loans and the development and capacity building of the WASH and economic development programs
- Use of and contribution to toolkits and other resources of the GACC network
- Leveraging global network of present and past brigade participants to raise awareness regarding the positive impacts of clean cooking solutions
- As part of the HHI project, advancing GACC’s mission by supporting the development of an ecosystem for the sustainable delivery of cookstoves and financing to under-resourced rural communities throughout Honduras and in the long-term Panama, Nicaragua, Ghana, and beyond.

Regions Operating In

Latin America and Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa

Country Based In

United States

Address

220 2nd Ave S.

Seattle, WA 98104

Website

https://www.globalbrigades.org

Primary Point of Contact

Name: Mr. Steve Atamian

Title: Chief Empowerment Officer

Email: steve@globalbrigades.org

Phone: +001-213-434-0410

Secondary Point of Contact

Name: Mr. Gerardo Enrique Rodriguez

Title: Chief Executive Officer - GB Honduras

Email: quique@globalbrigades.org

Phone: +504-2230-5581