At Global Brigades, impact begins with empowerment
With 20+ years of experience across six countries, our Holistic Model has shown measurable, lasting improvements in health, opportunity, and community resilience.
Every brigade, project, and local partnership fits within this framework, ensuring short-term interventions are an essential part of longer-term, community-led progress. It’s all designed to work together, immediate support, fueling sustainable systems change.
We further this impact by developing scalable year-round solutions that advance livelihoods and strengthen local health and economic systems. We succeed when communities can lead, grow, and sustain progress on their own.
Explore our Holistic Model to see how each program connects to create lasting change
Health & Well-being
We partner with communities to expand access to medical, dental, and preventative care while fostering long-term wellness, education, and psycho social support.
Aligned Programs: Student-led brigades (Medical and Dental), Faculty-led programs (Kambia Nursing and Medical Squads) and community-led initiatives (Community Health Workers) synergistically strengthen local health systems and empower healthier futures.
Sustainability Lens: training local health workers ensures continuity of care, health education during initiatives reduce preventable disease through long-lasting systems, and our clinics integrate environmentally responsible practices that minimize waste and protect community environments.
Economic Empowerment
We create pathways out of poverty by promoting inclusive finance, entrepreneurship, and affordable housing — building stability that communities can sustain for generations.
Aligned Programs: Student-led brigades (Global Business Consulting, Empowered Legal), Faculty-led programs (Kambia Business) , and Community-led initiatives like Eskala and Montemar enable families to access capital, build businesses, and achieve homeownership.
Sustainability Lens: Eskala’s community-owned banks are designed for longevity, Montemar’s eco-friendly homes balance affordability with environmental resilience, and business advising encourages growth strategies that protect natural resources and prioritize circular economies.
Sustainable Infrastructure
We co-create the physical foundations every community needs — clean water, sanitation, housing, renewable energy, and resilient public spaces.
Aligned Programs: Student-led brigades (Global Engineering Consulting, Public Health Brigades and Water Brigades) and Faculty-led programs (STEM Squads and Kambia Engineering) design and implement immediate solutions, while community-led programs like Reforestation & Agroforestry and Montemar expand long-term environmental resilience.
Sustainability Lens: our engineers design climate-resilient water and sanitation systems, eco-housing construction integrates renewable energy and resource conservation, and reforestation restores local ecosystems to ensure that infrastructure development goes hand-in-hand with environmental stewardship.
Our Programs
Impact Stats by Program
Medical Care
Medical clinics and preventative health workshops are implemented in partner communities with the support of student and health professional volunteers. Community members are provided with general medical consultations, OBGYN, vision screenings and other specialized care based on the scope of the health professionals.Dental Care
At our clinics, dental professionals, with volunteer assistance, provide a variety of dental care services to patients including cleanings, fillings, and extractions. Dental education workshops are implemented with children in the community, who are also provided with fluoride treatments.Community Health Entrepreneurs
Select volunteers living in the community are trained by our staff to become Community Health Entrepreneurs (CHEs). CHEs provide basic medical care, monitor chronic conditions, and serve as point persons for urgent care cases year-round. CHE’s also provide access to affordable medication and health supplies for their community, while generating supplementary income for their families.Care for Vulnerable Urban Populations
Our permanent clinics in Tegucigalpa and Athens provide access to a wide variety of subsidized medical and dental services, including specialty care. The clinics aim to serve as a safe, reliable healthcare option for particularly vulnerable populations like those living in urban poverty, refugees, and asylum seekers.Community Banks
Local leaders are identified and trained by our staff and volunteers to organize Community-Owned Banks to provide critical financial services to the community. Local governments recognize these banks as legitimate institutions allowing them to provide access to savings and loans.Access to Capital
Community banks provide access to savings, loans and financial literacy. Through regular trainings, our staff and volunteers work to create a culture of savings in the community alongside the creation of the banks. Saving demonstrates the value of longer term horizons, goal setting, provides for a safety net, and capitalizes local banks with funds available for entrepreneurs to take loans or create micro-enterprises. In addition, access to loans and education on responsible loan usage allows communities to further grow their businesses.Income Growth
Our staff identify business opportunities and facilitate consulting projects between volunteers and entrepreneurs to help small businesses grow. Staff and volunteers help entrepreneurs determine the financial return on potential investments and whether loans are a prudent tool for growth.Investment
Volunteers and donors contribute essential funds for community-owned banks to lend to local businesses for their investments. The funds are repaid and recirculated back into the local economy, exponentially growing the accounts. Commonly, our banks start with just a few hundred dollars but will grow within 2-3 years of having more than $10,000 USD. For communities averaging about 100 homes and making less than $2 it can be life-changing.Clean Water System Design
Water systems are designed, planned, and budgeted with partner communities, international volunteers and the support of our local staff of engineers. Designs take into account accessible water sources and community needs with the goal to provide clean water piped directly to families’ homes.WASH Leadership
Local leaders are identified by the community to serve as the community’s Water Council, which collects monthly water fees from households to operate and maintain the constructed water system. This locally empowered team ensures the future sustainability of the project once construction is complete and receives regular follow-up from our local staff. A Basic Sanitation Committee is also trained to carry out in-home assessments of Public Health projects, such as latrines, clean burning stoves, and water storage units.Clean Water System Construction
Once designed, clean water systems are constructed with local community members working alongside volunteers and local engineers. Systems include the collaboration between community members, government and Global Brigades. Construction may take several months to complete and can include several large scale components, such as dams and storage tanks.Healthy Households
Volunteers, masons and families work together to implement projects to improve health, hygiene and sanitation. Eco-stoves to target respiratory diseases, latrines and water filters to decrease the spread of infectious diseases and parasites, and water storage units and showers to improve hand washing and hygiene. Through collaboration with Community Banks, families save in order to contribute financially to their WASH infrastructure, thus investing in their own health.Our Alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
On September 25th 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Related Programs
- Medical
- Dental
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Related Programs
- Engineering
- Public Health
- Water
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Related Programs
- Business
- Human Rights
Together — students, donors, partners, and empowered communities — we’re building a movement for health, opportunity, and dignity that will last for generations.
Volunteers
Across 500+ university chapters, volunteers are leading the Global Brigades movement by organizing, fundraising, and working alongside community leaders, healthcare professionals, and community leaders creates real, lasting impact. Nearly 100K volunteers have raised over $100M in the past 20 years.
Donors & Grants
Every gift to Global Brigades helps expand programs that communities themselves lead and sustain. Because nearly all overhead is covered by student fundraising, 100% of donor funding goes directly to our projects. Your generosity helps strengthen the systems that keep progress growing long after our teams leave.
Partners
We work hand in hand with governments, universities, NGOs, and local organizations that share our commitment to equity and sustainability. Together, we co-design programs that empower communities to take the lead in their own development journeys. Our partners amplify the reach and innovation of our Holistic Model, helping scale sustainable solutions.
Recognized by Global Leaders of Sustainable Development
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