This will give the 2025 HTB the opportunity to meet, discuss our goals for the year, and establish a working relationship amongst all the team members. I am excited to meet all the members and work on our plan to make the world a better place. 

IEEE’s tag line is “Advancing Technology for Humanity.” This is a guiding principle throughout IEEE but is especially true for HTB, which is specifically in place to ensure we meet this goal. This year, I look forward to working with everyone to increase the activity in humanitarian projects and help make IEEE recognized in the global humanitarian sector as a leader. Each of you has the opportunity to serve the world by participating in any of the HT programs. IEEE’s ability to make an impact in the world is only restricted by the number of people that volunteer to help make a change. This newsletter will help guide you to many of the HT opportunities and events, so I encourage you to stay tuned through the year for announcements.

Sincere regards,
Grayson Randall

Welcoming the 2025 Humanitarian Technologies Board

We warmly welcome the members of the 2025 IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board and express our gratitude to each of them for their willingness to serve on HTB this year! 

• Grayson Randall - Chair
• Lwanga Herbert - Immediate Past Chair; Nominations & Appointments Chair; Partnership Ad-hoc Committee Chair
• Simay Akar Koehler - Finance Committee Chair & Treasurer; MGA Representative
• Sadhana Attavar - Member (serves on MOVE Global Committee as MOVE India representative)
• Loderay Bracero Marrero - HTB Representative to MOVE Global Committee
• Mohamed Essaaidi - SIGHT Committee Chair
• Robert Fish - Member 
• Stephanie Gillespie - Education Committee Chair; EA Representative
• Matthew Imhoff - Tech4Good Committee Chair
• Kalyani Matey - YP Representative (non-voting) & HTB Representative to MOVE Global Committee
• Vikass Monebhurrun - SA Representative 
• Vickie Ozburn - Best Practices Committee Chair 
• Pritpal Singh - Events Committee Chair
• Pia Torres - Project Monitoring Subcommittee Chair
• Adil Usman - Outreach Committee Chair; TA Representative
• Felix Vega - Programs Committee Chair; TA Representative
• Emi Yano - MGA Representative
• Mariela Machado Fantacchiotti - Staff Secretary (non-voting), Senior Director Humanitarian Technologies

Throughout the year, each of these members will contribute their experience, passion, and expertise to carry out the HTB vision of “inspiring and empowering IEEE volunteers around the world carrying out and supporting impactful humanitarian technology activities at the local level.” A short bio for each member can be found on the HTB website.

Be a part of the Empower a Billion Lives (EBL) 2025 Global Community! Registration is now open for teams to compete in this biennial competition on energy access. EBL is seeking solutions that build on technical, business, and regional know-how. Full proposals for EBL 2025 are due 28 February 2025. Registered teams will receive direct information on the process.

Join our EPICS in IEEE mailing list to stay informed and inspired! Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on impactful engineering service learning projects, exclusive resources, program news, and more. Connect with us today!

For more than 50 years, the IEEE Foundation has worked side by side with generous donors and IEEE program partners to unleash exciting, thoughtful and impactful programming that advances technology for the benefit of humanity. Their impact has been shaped by time, talent, and treasure. This year, we are celebrating donor-supported programs that directly benefit students and young professionals. Join us in Igniting the Future on 16 February 2025: IEEE Foundation Day.

IEEE humanitarian- and sustainable development-related event organizers may submit a proposal for sponsorship that demonstrates how the event would align with the HTB vision and contribute to one or more of its strategic pillars. The proposal should also make clear how Humanitarian Technologies would be engaged in the event, such as incorporation into the program, in exchange for its sponsorship. Any event that has received sponsorship/funding from HTB in the past must have completed all prior reporting requirements to be considered for sponsorship. Visit the HT event sponsorship page for more information on funding tiers and how to apply.

At the end of 2024, the IEEE SIGHT Committee announced the new logo for the SIGHT program! This logo is a part of a refresh of IEEE SIGHT's visual and digital identity and will be featured on the new SIGHT website, set to launch in early 2025. All SIGHT Groups are asked to begin using the updated logo and identifiers starting in 2025. Group Officers and members should have received a message with details on how to create their new customized logo, but may also write to [email protected] for guidance.

SIGHT Groups that would like to contribute articles summarizing their 2024 activities or plans for 2025 for the "News" section of the new website may submit their content with this form.

Per the SIGHT Group Operations Handbook, all SIGHT Group Officers serve one year terms, with the term normally lasting from 1 January through 31 December. Consecutive terms should not exceed two years. For Groups that have recently elected new officers please be sure to report them using vTools Officers. Groups should also remember to report their events and activities as well.

Important Dates & Upcoming Events

• January & February - SIGHT Groups to report any newly-elected officers
• 7 February - Process opens to apply for HT Event Sponsorship
• 16 February - IEEE Foundation Day

Visit the HTB/SIGHT calendar for more humanitarian technology events and activities.