PLATINUM2023

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

Executive Director

Mr. Thomas Loughlin

Main address

424 Sapphire Way

Pittsburgh, PA 15224 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

Engineers Without Frontiers

EIN

46-3391142

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-N.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Register now

Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

With the increasing imminent threat of climate change, especially for underserved and vulnerable communities, we need changemakers to tackle tough sustainability challenges facing us today, so we can be prepared in the future. To accomplish this, we unite engineers and local communities to build a more sustainable world together. Creating thriving communities is crucial for low-income residents and people of color as they are most affected by economic and environmental burdens. Issues such as food scarcity, natural resource depletion, native/natural landscape degradation, clean water, healthy air, public open space, and economic disparities disproportionately affect marginalized communities as they lack the resources to prepare and recover from sudden shocks and extreme weather disasters. The best solutions come from the people who live closest to these issues.

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
Adults
Economically disadvantaged 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 people
Adults

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
Adults
Students

Where we work

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
Population(s) Served

Students, Adults

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

ESW didn't host a paid conference in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ESW hosted its first digital conference that was free in spring 2020.

Number of competition winners declared

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

Adults, Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Competitions include design challenges at conferences and virtual events (e.g. hackathons).

Number of participants engaged in programs

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

At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, People with disabilities

Related Program

Build Day

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Campus and community space closures prompted lower participation numbers in 2020-2021.

Number of new programs/program sites

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

Low-income people, Students, At-risk youth

Related Program

Build Day

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Build Day projects implemented and Project Grants funded

Number of free participants in conferences

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

Students, Young adults, Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

ESW hosted virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021.

Number of students who feel their program structure provides opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary work

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

Students, Young adults

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

The number of students reflects active student engineers and project participants who engaged in interdisciplinary project work and scopes. In 2020/2021, campus closures led to less active students.

Number of volunteers

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

Students, Young adults

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Estimates for 2021 are during our current fiscal year FY22, which ends in June 2020, and will be updated when our fiscal year ends.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

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

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

We've brought together some of the brightest minds in sustainability and engineering to our distributed team of volunteers. In just a few short years, we've iterated on our model to grow to 47 student and professional ESW chapters across the United States and Canada.

For three years, Build Day has improved the sustainability of seven underserved communities in the Tri-State and NorCal area by providing funding, resources, and community volunteers to build a solution within six months. Build Day alone has impacted over 1,200 community members and provided over $30,000 in pro-bono services. This year, ESW will expand this program to impact underserved communities in the South and Midwest regions.

For the past eight years, Project Grants have offered more than $16,450 in funding for 31 projects to student teams furthering the sustainability field through research, outreach, and small projects. Lastly, ESW launched a pilot mentorship program this year that pairs professional engineers with young engineers to provide project help, career advice, and networking.

Since its founding, ESW chapters have implemented 320 projects in 24 states and provinces and 12 countries. By 2023, we plan to implement over 400 projects globally. Past projects have included a self-contained living unit and design studio for mobile deployment in disaster areas; an affordable solar-powered lamp for Haiti citizens; and a hydroponic system for a local food pantry to produce fresh low-cost food.

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 your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    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

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    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, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

ENGINEERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our 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.

Operations

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

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.

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 06/30/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Kyle Gracey

Data for Progress

Term: 2015 - 2023

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 1/21/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/21/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • 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.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.