Our solutions can be implemented locally, are scalable, and we partner with on-the-ground organizations to deploy them. This ensures the long-term sustainability and success of underserved communities, particularly women and children, around the world. We call these solutions Low-Tech, High-Thinking.
There are five principles that inform our "Low-Tech" thinking:
>> LOW-COST:
The solution should be affordable to the end-user.
>> SIMPLE:
Anyone, regardless of education level or expertise, should be able to develop and implement a solution with minimal instruction.
>> FLEXIBLE:
Every community is different and has different resources available to them; solutions should be flexible enough to adapt to varying local conditions.
>> LOCALLY-SOURCED:
100% of the materials, tools, and labor should be available locally.
>> OPEN-SOURCE:
Solutions should be freely available to anyone who would like to utilize them.
Our "High-Thinking" approach is informed by our belief that it takes just as much (if not more) creativity and ingenuity to create low-tech solutions that can have meaningful impact on a global scale. It's not always about the newest app or high-tech gadget. High-thinking requires examining and understanding a problem and its underlying causes; a vital part of this process is listening and learning from the people directly affected.
Our process is a form of design thinking and our approach is similar to IDEO’s Human-Centered Design which is a creative approach to problem solving. It's a process that starts by engaging with the people you're designing for/with and ends with new solutions that are tailor made to suit their needs.
Our utilization of a volunteer coalition of technical, social, and commercial innovators and entrepreneurs, which includes community members in the areas we work, shows we’re an organization on the cutting edge of social innovation and using design thinking for good.