Laura Stachel

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Dr. Laura Stachel is the co-founder of the non-profit organization “WE CARE Solar.” She and her husband, Hal Aronson, launched the organization to provide sustainable lighting systems to hospitals and clinics in developing countries where mortality rates due to childbirth are high. The “Solar Suitcase” units they have distributed to 27 countries have saved thousands of patients so far, even beyond mothers and their babies. The solar lighting system now enables clinics which lack electricity to continue their business during the night, which was previously an inconceivable feat.

Achievements

Why Laura Stachel is Extraordinary

Dr. Laura Stachel was an OB-GYN in the San Francisco Bay Area for over seven years before a back injury forced her to give up the profession. But rather than cease to be a medical practitioner, she endeavored to join the public health industry. She went to Nigeria as a researcher, and came home a philanthropist; witnessing childbirth with no light but her very own flashlight changed Dr. Laura’s life.

Lighting Clinics with the “Solar Suitcase”

Laura’s husband, Hal Aronson, helped her develop technology to address the lack of electricity in hospitals and clinics. Through their non-profit organization, “WE CARE Solar,” the couple has been able to make “Solar Light” available in 27 different countries. And, with the help of their partners, they hope to reach even the most remote areas where people still live in darkness.

The following are the Solar Suitcase’s key features:

• “Whole System Integration – The lighting appliances and power production components are delivered as one unit, designed for daily use.
• Safety – The sealed batteries can safely be stored inside health facilities; the low-voltage DC system avoids shock hazard and includes overcurrent protection.
• Low Maintenance – There are no fuses to replace, and no regular battery maintenance is required. Battery replacement is estimated to occur every 2 years.
• Durability – Our high quality components are designed for longevity, even in harsh environments.
• Simplicity – One switch turns on the system; another turns on lights and charges devices. The system is plug-and-play and can be installed without need for an experienced solar technician.
• Expandability – The 15 amp modular system is designed for expansion and can accommodate up to 200 watts of solar panels and a 140 amp-hour sealed battery.” (SOURCE: We Care Solar)

Laura has been named a Pop!Tech Fellow, Global Social Benefit Incubator Fellow, the “Our Bodies, Ourselves Women's Health Hero” and one of CNN’s “Top 10 2013 Heroes.” Her work has earned her the “Jefferson Award for Public Service,” the UC Berkeley Chancellor's “Award for Civic Engagement,” the “Global Social Venture Competition Social Impact Award,” the “MIT/DOE C3E Award for Energy, Education and Empowerment in the Developing World,” the “Oberlin Distinguished Alumni Award” and the “UN Association of the East Bay Global Citizens Award.”

We all can learn from Laura's story. Here's what she has to say:

“Be willing to be a consummate learner. Although I knew NOTHING about solar electricity when I started my organization, I was willing to learn. And now, when I travel the world teaching midwives and doctors about solar electricity for their health center, I can say, “If I could learn this…so can you!” (SOURCE: Maria Shriver)

Top Reasons why Laura Stachel is Extraordinary

She co-founded “WE CARE Solar” with her husband.
Since 2009, their “Solar Suitcases” have helped thousands of patients in 27 countries.
She was named a Pop!Tech Fellow, a Global Social Benefit Incubator Fellow, the “Our Bodies, Ourselves Women's Health Hero” and one of CNN’s “Top 10 2013 Heroes.”
She was one of three winners of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s “Half the Sky” contest.
She is a recipient of the “Jefferson Award for Public Service,” the UC Berkeley Chancellor's “Award for Civic Engagement,” the “Global Social Venture Competition Social Impact Award,” the “MIT/DOE C3E Award for Energy, Education and Empowerment in the Developing World,” the “Oberlin Distinguished Alumni Award” and the “UN Association of the East Bay, Global Citizens Award.”
She served as Associate Director of West African Emergency Obstetric Research for the Bixby Center.
She has lectured at the UCB School of Public Health.
She won a $25,000 grant from Isha Koach (Women of Strength).
She is now an esteemed speaker and an inspiration for philanthropists worldwide.

Biography

Biography of Laura Stachel

Date of Birth: | Born in: / Nationality: United States of America

Based on the World Health Organization’s statistics on maternal death, about 800 mothers die during childbirth every day, and nearly all of these deaths (99%) take place in developing countries. Most of these tragic losses of life could be prevented if only the practitioners had access to equipment and facilities. The fact that most of the women who die during childbirth are from countries which lack basic necessities is quite telling of a need which funding can easily address.

But a woman like Laura braved to do more, having seen how a lack of electricity could result in death. She first saw it happen in Nigeria while observing how midwives and doctors deliver babies. When the lights failed to hold up in the middle of the procedure, Laura was horrified. She’s an OB-GYN with over seven years of clinical practice; as a professional, she knows about the importance of good lighting during any medical procedure. The mother’s life hung in the balance, and all she could do was help hold the flashlight.

Laura did not get around to doing social entrepreneurship in Nigeria, as she was there for research as a Ph.D. student of Public Health. But the human being within her was screaming for justice. She could not go home after seeing the plight of mothers in countries which struggle to provide adequate electricity, even to health care facilities.

As destiny would have it, Laura is now married to Hal Aronson, a solar lighting expert who was more than eager to fashion a power system for Laura’s Nigerian colleagues. Described jokingly as “Iron Man’s suitcase” [although it was not designed to impress], it left the Nigerian clinic’s medical staff awestruck. The demand increased quickly, and the couple soon found themselves immersed in humanitarian work.

Laura is now more than just a doctor, as Hal is more than an engineer; they have become game-changers and true heroes, and their good deeds has taken them all over the world. With WE CARE Solar’s Suitcase, the couple is reassured that doctors are always in and ready where they are needed.

Education and Early Medical Practice

Laura Stachel completed her B.A. in Psychology with Highest Honors at Oberlin College in 1980, and then pursued Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She became a full-fledged doctor in 1985. In 1995, she started practicing her specialization as an Obstetrician/Gynecologist at East Bay Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her illustrious medical career took off as she began creating a name in the field of obstetrics/gynecology; in fact, she has become so good that she could facilitate a caesarean birth in only two minutes.

As her reputation grew, Dr. Laura Stachel would face an overwhelming physical challenge that no doctor, even of her caliber, could properly address. One time, while administering a complicated childbirth procedure, she felt terrible pain from her back course through her right hand, and it was too great to dismiss. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) result showed that degenerating discs in her neck were pressing on particular nerves, which then affected her arms.

With her physical limitations, Dr. Laura could no longer administer childbirths; she couldn’t even sit down for too long. She mourned the end of her career. For two years, she wondered what awaited her as her work as a professional OB-GYN was just about over.

Musings soon led her to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley to pursue a Master’s in Public Health. Little did she know it would usher a new beginning for her, but this time bigger and much more fulfilling.

Developing the “Solar Suitcase”

In 2008, Laura was invited by her professor to join a research team in Nigeria to determine the cause/s of the high mortality rate of mothers giving birth. She was excited to share what she knew about delivering babies.

At the time, Nigeria had one of the highest childbirth mortality rates in the world. Upon arriving, Laura was shocked by the dilapidation of the clinics and hospitals. There was hardly any privacy in the delivery rooms; worse, they didn’t have electricity. Not having electricity was tantamount to not being able to use necessary equipment, like a blood bank refrigerator.

This meant that if a patient experienced hemorrhage, the doctors had to find blood which matched the patient’s, and the delay often contributed to the patient’s [preventable] death.

While observing a team of Nigerian professionals administering childbirth, the lights suddenly went out. Laura was dumbfounded not to hear any exclamation of distress over losing power; to her horror, the doctors carried on – in total darkness! She volunteered to share her flashlight. As the woman gasped for air in what Laura believed to be a case of eclampsia, she feared that the mother would not survive.

Shaken by the experience, Laura wrote her husband an emphatic e-mail detailing what she had witnessed. Hal Aronson happened to be an engineer who specialized in solar power, so he reassured his wife that he could design a contraption for them and got to work immediately. When Laura returned from her trip, the two collaborated to design a solar-powered blood bank refrigerator, among other basic types of medical equipment. As they awaited funding to realize their initial plan, Laura flew back to Nigeria with a yellow suitcase in tow. She recalled:

“Hal made me a demonstration solar kit to bring on this journey – a suitcase packed with compact solar panels, a control board, a sealed battery, high-efficiency LED lights, headlamps and walkie-talkies.

I unpacked the case in the maternity ward. A doctor flipped the switch and the lights turned on, bringing wide smiles to the hospital staff. The light was bright enough for a delivery or an operating room.

The rechargeable walkie-talkies meant that a surgical team could be assembled in minutes instead of hours, avoiding lengthy searches for doctors and OR technicians on the hospital grounds.” (SOURCE: Maria Shriver)

Launching the “WE CARE Solar”

The solar kit never made it back to the U.S. The medical team in Nigeria was so taken by the contents of the yellow suitcase that they asked Laura to leave it with them. The legend of the “magic suitcase” soon reached other clinics, which also began requesting them to help administer medical procedures at night.

Laura would bring a suitcase or two whenever she returned to the country, and realized that the demonstration kit itself could do wonders. With Hal’s help, she set up “WE CARE Solar.” First, they had volunteers help them assemble the kits, but after receiving funding from the MacArthur Foundation, their non-profit began receiving help from ambassadors of countries in disseminating the kits and teaching how to use them properly. As the technology and design have improved over time, every “Solar Suitcase” contains:

"The system includes high-efficiency LED medical task lighting, a universal cell phone charger, a battery charger for AAA or AA batteries, and outlets for 12V DC devices. The basic system comes with 40 or 80 watts of solar panels, and a 14 amp-hour sealed lead-acid battery. The maternity kit comes with a fetal doppler. An expansion kit is available for utilizing larger batteries." (SOURCE: We Care Solar)

Thanks to grants from the MacArthur Foundation, Starr International Foundation, the University of California’s Blum Center for Developing Economies and the Segal Family Foundation, “WE CARE Solar” has provided over 400 kits in 27 countries worldwide.

Looking back, saying goodbye to her original practice only gave Laura more time to focus on what’s really important, and become extraordinary in a whole new way.

Organizations and Programs Supported

We Care Solar
West African Emergency Obstetric Research
Berkeley Wellness Letter
UCB School of Public Health
The Blum Center for Developing Economies
The MacArthur Foundation
World Health Organization
Liberian Institute for Biomedical Research
Practitioners Group on Energy and Health
UN Foundation
World Health Foundation
Starr International Foundation
Segal Family Foundation

Awards and Achievements

1995 - 2002: Served as East Bay Obstetrics and Gynecology Obstetrician/Gynecologist
2003: Left private practice to pursue Public Health
2009: Co-founded “We Care Solar” with husband
2009 - 2012: Served as Associate Director of West African Emergency Obstetric Research for the Bixby Center
2009 - 2011: Lectured at the UCB School of Public Health
2010 - 2011: Co-investigated emergency obstetric care in Northern Nigerian hospitals
2010: Named “Pop!Tech Fellow,” “Global Social Benefit Incubator Fellow” and “Our Bodies, Ourselves Women’s Health Hero”
2010: Received “Jefferson Award for Public Service,” UC Berkeley Chancellor's “Award for Civic Engagement” and “Global Social Venture Competition Social Impact Award”
2011: Received “Nokia Health Tech Award,” “San Jose Tech Laureate Award” and Elle Magazine Innovative Women’s “Green Award”
2011 - 2013: Served as Co-Chair of Practitioners Group on Energy and Health
2012: Received “MIT/DOE C3E Award for Energy, Education and Empowerment in the Developing World,” “Oberlin Distinguished Alumni Award” and “UN Association of the East Bay Global Citizens Award”
2013: Named a “Hero” by CNN
Serves on the Editorial Board for the Berkeley Wellness Letter
Holds an M.D. from University of California, San Francisco
Holds an M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health from University of California, Berkeley
Received “Our Bodies, Ourselves Women's Health Hero” award
Named one of three winners of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s “Half the Sky” contest
Won a $25,000 grant from Isha Koach (Women of Strength)