About Our Chapter

Engineers Without Borders - USA San Francisco Professionals (EWB-SFP) was established in September 2004 as the first professional chapter of EWB-USA. Our mission is to support community-driven development programs worldwide through the design and implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while fostering responsible leadership.

We currently work with communities internationally in Fiji, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and domestically in the U.S. to deliver necessities such as clean water, clean energy, and sustainable agriculture.

We have nearly 200 members and an even larger (3000+) Bay Area network. Our EWB-SFP community believes in our mission and work to:

  • Build capacity in developing communities through appropriate engineering solutions

  • Fundraise to provide equipment and supplies required for implementing our projects

  • Mentor Bay Area university chapters through project partnerships

How We Work

Engineers Without Borders - San Francisco Professional Chapter collaborates with remote, developing world communities in countries usually off the radar of larger aid organizations as well as domestically in partnership with the Community Engineering Corps. Professionals and students from a variety of professions including engineering, health, and business, make up our volunteers.

EWB-SFP makes a minimum five-year commitment to each developing world community we work with to design, implement, and maintain low-cost, small-scale, replicable and sustainable water, sanitation, renewable energy, and other projects - while respecting the community’s wishes, history, culture, and way of life.

The local communities around the world recommend the projects. Throughout the project process, EWB-SFP volunteers train local community members, NGOs on the ground, and others to monitor and maintain the projects, while developing managerial, technical, and entrepreneurial skills.

Our Values

The EWB-SFP Executive Council has established the following values as being fundamental to our operations and the execution of our mission.

Accountability: We hold each other accountable to the highest standard of quality in the pursuit of our work. We say what we will do and then do what we say.

Community: We firmly believe the whole of our membership is greater than the sum of its members. Fostering a collaborative membership leads to improved outcomes for the developing communities we serve.

Empowerment: We hold that our engineering work is fundamentally a means of empowering our partner communities to meet their basic human needs and equipping our members to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

Service: We contribute our time and expertise for the intrinsic value of being of service to others. There is no higher purpose.