Stunned by the poor conditions in which Nigerian doctors were working, Laura Stachel created We Care Solar to offer hospitals “Solar Suitcases” that fuel reliable lights. Stachel earned her medical degree from University of California, San Francisco, in 1985 and began working as an obstetrician. She received a master’s in public health in 2006. In 2008, after an eye-opening trip to Nigeria when she observed doctors conducting C-sections and midwives delivering babies in the midst of frequent blackouts, Stachel began working with her husband, Hal Aronson, to develop a portable solar electric kit for maternal health care. Their innovative Solar Suitcases provide efficient medical lighting, phone chargers, and a fetal monitor, allowing health workers to provide round-the-clock emergency care for mothers and newborns. As of 2021, We Care Solar had distributed more than 6,500 Solar Suitcases to health centers in over 20 countries, including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nepal, the Philippines, and Tanzania, and the organization was awarded a million-dollar grant by the UN. While running the organization, Stachel taught at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health from 2009 to 2011, served as associate director for emergency obstetrical health at UC Berkeley’s Bixby Center from 2009 to 2012, and chaired an international working group on energy and health for the UN Foundation from 2011 to 2014. Since 2009, she has been an editor of the UC Berkley Wellness Letter. She has won numerous awards and prizes for her work, including the 2024 AARP Purpose Prize and the 2012 United Nations Association Global Citizens Award.  

Laura Stachel is a grantee of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York (JWFNY), and is featured as part of a partnership between JWA and JWFNY spotlighting Jewish women social entrepreneurs.