EWB-USA’s unique grassroots approach requires that all program proposals come directly from the communities themselves. To maximize the likelihood of success, projects strive to meet several criteria:
- Community Involvement: Each project is driven by the needs and constraints of the community that will make use of it. We look to solve an existing problem; we do not design a solution and then search for a problem it can solve.
- Long-Term Commitment: The EWB-USA chapter partners with the community for at least five years. We are involved in all phases of the project, from initial planning, to implementation, to operation and maintenance, to education and training. We continue to monitor the program after implementation to ensure it is successful.
- Engineering: Each EWB-USA projects is related to engineering in some way. Our focus is on providing engineering expertise to solve existing infrastructure problems.
- Sustainability: We seek to deliver solutions that will be sustainable by the community for many years. The community must have the necessary financial, technical, and administrative resources to maintain the facility by themselves over the long term.
If you’d like to get involved with a project, you should start by emailing our Executive Board here. They will help you get started and help determine which project is the best fit for you. We also ask new members to fill out our new member survey, which you can find here.
Click on the links below to read more about our current projects.