Community Improvement, Capacity Building

ENGINEERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Design. Educate. Unite.

aka ESW   |   Pittsburgh, PA   |  www.eswglobal.org

Mission

To empower engineers to tackle sustainability challenges.

Ruling year info

2014

Acting Executive Director

Mr. Sohn Cook

Main address

424 Sapphire Way

Pittsburgh, PA 15224 USA

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Formerly known as

Engineers Without Frontiers

EIN

46-3391142

Cause area (NTEE code) info

Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. (S99)

Higher Education Institutions (B40)

Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C. (C99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

The 21st century grand sustainability challenges are only going to get worse. We believe that engineers play a vital role in solving some of the world's most complex sustainability problems. That's why we build better engineers to build a better world.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Resileint CommUnity Design Challenge

CommUnity is a challenge that empowers interdisciplinary student teams to develop solutions to improve access to resources, quality of life, and climate-resistant infrastructure system. We will educate teams in community based learning, guiding them to work collaboratively with organizations to propose solutions to local resiliency challenges. The individual programs support ESW’s “Big Idea” of resilient and sustainable communities. Students can put to use their technical skills while also learning throughout the process in an authentic and hands-on way, thereby gaining valuable experiences.

Population(s) Served
General/Unspecified
Economically disadvantaged, low-income, and poor people

Build Day is a new initiative that aims to create local sustainable change by bringing together local technical expertise and community power. Regular citizens, community leaders, and engineers will work together to design, educate, and build a sustainable solution to a locally pressing issue such as stable food production, clean and equal water access, and urban rehabilitation. Through the Build Day program, we are challenging students to consider and propose new, innovative solutions to tackle energy, water, transportation, public space, and engineering social justice issues to address resiliency and sustainability issues within their communities.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged, low-income, and poor people
General/Unspecified

ESW offers seed grants ranging from $500-$1000 for new and ongoing projects. ESW runs two cycles in the fall and spring during the academic year.

Population(s) Served
General/Unspecified
Students
Budget
$6,500

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of paid participants in conferences

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of competition winners declared

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

General/Unspecified,Young Adults (20-25 years) ,Economically disadvantaged, low-income, and poor people

Related Program

Resileint CommUnity Design Challenge

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

In 2016, ESW held its first Resilience CommUnity Design Challenge. 12 colleges from around North America participated and 3 finalists were chosen in Berkeley, CA at ESWcon16.

Number of participants engaged in programs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

At-risk youth,Economically disadvantaged, low-income, and poor people,People with disabilities

Related Program

Build Day

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of new programs/program sites

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Build Day

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Build Day projects implemented

Total number of organization members

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Charting impact

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Five powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

What is the organization aiming to accomplish?

Design and implement hands-on sustainability projects across the globe. Educate students and practicing engineers on sustainability best practices. Unite people who are passionate about sustainability to create a global network.

Stimulate and foster the growth of a more diverse and networked community of engineers.<br/>Bring together students and professionals of various disciplines to create lasting solutions with immediate impacts.<br/>Infuse sustainability-oriented design into the practice and studies of every engineer through projects, courses, and outreach.<br/>Encourage innovative ideas that promote environmental, economic, and social sustainability.<br/>Increase community participation in sustainable engineering and development worldwide.

We've brought together some of the brightest minds in sustainability and engineering on to our distributed team of volunteers. In just a few short years, we've iterated on our model to grow to over 50 student and professional ESW chapters across the United States and Canada.

We know we're building a better world by not only the number of projects our members complete, but by monitoring the impact of each project.

In 2017, we crossed the threshold and have over 50 chapters designing solutions to local sustainability challenges. We're also re-launching our national flagship program: the Resilient CommUnity Design Challenge, or CommUnity for short. We're challenging the nations' best students to partner with local organizations to design more resilient communities.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is the organization collecting feedback?

    We regularly collect feedback through: electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), paper surveys, focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person).

  • How is the organization using feedback?

    We use feedback to: to make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, to inform the development of new programs/projects, to identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, to strengthen relationships with the people we serve.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    We share feedback with: the people we serve, our staff, our board, our funders, our community partners.

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to: it is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, it is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection.

  • What significant change resulted from feedback

    Our 2019-2024 Strategic Plan was based on feedback from all levels of the organization, from board to individual members.

Financials

ENGINEERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

ENGINEERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Board of directors
as of 3/30/2020
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Kyle Gracey

Data for Progress

Term: 2015 - 2020

Rena Chen

Spark Scholars

Brian Lange

IDEO

Paulo Lopes

Environmental Attorney

Kurt Davis, Jr.

Investment Banker

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 01/24/2020

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Asian American/Pacific Islanders/Asian
Gender identity
Male, Not Transgender (Cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/24/2020

Policies and practices developed in partnership with Equity in the Center, a project that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems within the social sector to increase racial equity. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.

Keywords

chapters, projects, sustainability, education, collegiate, engineering, hands-on, technical, network, professionals, students, civil, mechanical, collaborate, green, environment