Five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say?

At every Ignite, 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities will take the stage to answer this challenge.

Location:

Washington, D.C. 20001
RSVP | Map and Directions

Ignite DC #5

Richenda Van Leeuwen

Would you say no to a candlelit dinner in the Caribbean?

Sounds romantic doesn't it. But the reality is that millions of families in Haiti and other developing countries sit down to eat dinners cooked on primitive cookstoves using wood and other biomass producing smoke emissions that kill more than a million people per year. They eat by candlelight not because they want to, but because they don't have better affordable options. Or do they? Richenda's talk will highlight new approaches to bringing affordable clean cooking and small scale renewable lighting solutions to Haiti and the many other parts of the world still lacking access to modern energy services.

About Richenda Van Leeuwen :

Richenda is Senior Director at the UN Foundation leading their work on Energy Access. She has a diverse global background, worked until early 2010 in renewable energy venture capital, and spearheaded a new solar lighting initiative in Haiti following the earthquake in January this year. In her earlier career she has gone to Timbuktu (really) where she led an organization creating micro business opportunities for Tuareg women living in the Sahara among other places.