ABOUT US
EWB-USA collaborates with community partners to design and build sustainable engineering projects. Our projects are implemented through a community-driven model based on full partnership with host communities. EWB-USA chapters make a minimum five-year commitment to work with the community, including continual monitoring and an evaluation at least one year after completing the project.
EWB-USA has greatly invested in building a legacy that matters here at home, too: the creation of the global engineer. Our education initiatives lay the foundation for all EWB-USA programs. From the classroom to the field, they offer our members transformative experiences that enrich global perspectives and create responsible leaders.
SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION
Engineers Without Borders, Santa Barbara - Ventura strives to provide basic human needs to disadvantaged groups living beyond our geographic borders. We all need to recognize that there are disadvantaged groups living within our own communities who are lacking basic human needs. The work we do internationally should not be seen as disparate from the work being done by civil rights groups within our country; this work is complementary and equally important. We are all members of this organization because we believe it is important to look beyond borders and assist those who are struggling. Borders are drawn in many ways; we urge you to also look beyond cultural and socioeconomic borders and find ways to assist in the struggles of people everywhere.
Our chapter has acknowledged that we have more to learn from the communities we help than they from us. It is time we speak up and stand in solidarity with black and indigenous people of color. It is time we fully address the systematic racism and inequality engrained in our society. We pledge to report on our own active listening, the gaps we see, how we're going to change as a chapter and as individuals to the inequitable home we live in today. We've been called to action to examine our own hypocrisies and reflect on the teachings of Tanzanian and Ecuadorian friends about how to have impact every day, every moment and every interaction with others of different backgrounds in our communities.