Build Change

Founded in 2004, Build Change is a non‐profit social enterprise whose mission is to save lives in earthquakes and hurricanes. Build Change designs disaster-resistant houses and schools, trains homeowners, builders, engineers and government officials to build them, works with governments to develop and implement building standards, partners with the private sector to improve building materials quality and create jobs, and facilitates access to incentive-based capital for reconstruction and retrofitting by partnering with financing institutions and government subsidy programs. Build Change started its work in Aceh, Indonesia after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami and has since expanded to include programs in China, Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal, and the Philippines. Build Change has trained more than 25,300 people on earthquake-resistant design and construction techniques, guided 31 organizations in using homeowner-driven design, created almost 12,000 jobs and provided technical assistance for more than 48,700 safer buildings, impacting an estimated 245,026 people.