Our Approach

How We Create Change

Co-Creating Solutions: Having forged deep roots and built trusting relationships in the communities that it serves, Lifeline works closely with their members to shape and fine-tune its products and services to account for local habits and otherwise meet the realities of the situation on the ground.

Making Long Term Investments: As a mission (as opposed to donor) driven organization, Lifeline takes a deliberative, long-term approach to the design of its product and services – an approach that has enabled Lifeline to learn from its mistakes and maximize its impact over time.

Harnessing Market Forces: Understanding that traditional aid programs have done little to alleviate world poverty and, instead, have frequently fostered a culture of dependency, Lifeline believes that the only realistic way to achieve universal access to clean water and energy is to harness the awesome power of the free market. Lifeline seeks to enable such access by placing cost-effective products and services into the stream of commerce that everyone can afford.

Incubating Social Enterprises: Lifeline believes that the most effective method of securing access to its difference-making products and services is through local entrepreneurship. To that end, once Lifeline establishes that a sustainable business enterprise can be built around one of its products or services, Lifeline identifies and supports social entrepreneurs who can assume responsibility for their production and delivery.

Engaging Government Actors: Lifeline understands that the effectiveness and scaling of its initiatives depend largely upon its ability to secure the support of both local and national government. Accordingly. Lifeline strives to involve government agencies in the implementation of its initiatives and to persuade them to adopt policies that facilitate and sustain them.