Sebastian Africano, Deputy International Director at Trees, Water & People (TWP), has been chosen to receive a $25,000 scholarship to the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™) at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. Mr. Africano is one of twenty social benefit entrepreneurs from around the world who have been chosen to receive full scholarships to participate in the GSBI™. The projects developed by participants will provide essential goods and services to the poor, and often act as catalysts for economic growth.
- The Zanmi Pye Bwa cookstove, developed by Sebastian Africano and International Lifeline Fund (ILF), will be used in Haiti.
Sebastian’s project is based on TWP’s work in Haiti, where they have established that poor urban families spend between 40% – 60% of their $1/day (USD) income on cooking fuel and are consuming biomass resources at a rate much faster than they are replacing them. After 12 years of developing and disseminating locally appropriate cookstoves in the region, TWP has built the experience to balance fuel savings, durability, scalability, and value in a stove design for Haiti. Simple modifications to a popular, commercially available cookstove, when produced at scale in Port-au-Prince, will provide Haitians with a local solution that performs on par with expensive imported cookstoves, but at 30% – 50% of the cost.
The Global Social Benefit Incubator empowers socially-minded entrepreneurs to build sustainable, scalable organizations and to solve problems for people living in poverty around the world. This experiential skill-building program combines online and in-residence exercises with training and mentoring from academic leaders and Silicon Valley visionaries over an intensive 8-month period. This year, the in-residence program will take place on Santa Clara’s campus August 7-19, culminating with a business plan presentation on August 18, 2011.
To learn more about the GSBI please visit http://www.scu.edu/sts/gsbi/.
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Livelihoods 