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Woman-Led Change

Barefoot College International puts skills and technology in the hands of marginalised women who become entrepreneurs, train others, and live sustainably.

We are Barefoot College International UK 


At Barefoot College International-UK, we exist to increase economic mobility by making vocational and educational opportunities accessible to women and girls from the most marginalized communities around the world.

Mwaka Haji Mohammed

Solar Engineer, Zanzibar

“The money I have earned has allowed us to improve our life, improve our house and we can pay tuition for my children to go to school. My oldest child is able to go to university." 


Barefoot College International (BCI) is a global NGO that equips rurally remote communities with the tools and knowledge they need to become self-sufficient in clean energy, educational and economic resource access.

BCI does this by training women with the support of their communities as Solar Engineers, Educators and Entrepreneurs, and then equips them to fully solar electrify their communities, and to implement educational and economic uplift programs.

Our solar solutions combat climate change. Women and children are most affected by the negative aspects of climate change, and communities living in rurally remote poverty are often prevented from taking control of their development by their reliance on costly, environmentally harmful fossil fuels that also impact human health.

BCI’s programs are delivered through Regional Training Centres and their staff, on both a local and regional scale, and operate in nearly 100 countries worldwide.

At BCI we excel at transforming the lives of our beneficiaries for good, and our programs address 15 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We have more than a decade of experience implementing our uniquely fast, innovative upskilling model.

Visit Barefoot College International

Our Mission

Barefoot College International has harnessed the power of women to create lasting change globally since 2015. With the goal of increasing resilience and adaptability in the face of climate change, our programs have the capacity to foster resilience in communities that are the most vulnerable. Our solar, livelihood and ENRICH initiatives support the prosperity, opportunity and innovation that is innate in all women. With roots in India, Barefoot College International has now operated in nearly 90+ countries worldwide and has trained thousands of rural and indigenous women.

In alignment with the McKinsey study, we recognize the opportunity for women and girls to be the solution the world has been looking for. Often overlooked, their untapped potential is a boundless resource that lies at the center of all the work we do.

Our Approach

Energy access is the foundation for health, education, economic mobility, and community resilience. BCI tackles interlinked barriers to prosperity by combining: 

• Reliable, self-sufficient clean energy access
• Education that enables communities to convert energy into development
• Vocational, financial and entrepreneurial training that accelerates long-term self-sufficiency
• Community-driven engagement, where women are selected and supported by their own villages
• Local and international partnerships that make programs sustainable and scalable

Our Approach: Solar

BCI’s approach ensures communities gain not just electricity, but the skills, confidence, and agency to drive their own development. We engage our beneficiares through this proven process:

Step 1

Selection

Women are selected for training with the full support of their communities. Each project is supported by a local ground partner and one or more international partners. 

Step 2

Training

Full Solar Engineering training takes place residentially for 3 months at the nearest BCI Regional Training Center. ENRICH is taught parallel to Solar Engineering so they can leverage clean energy into developmental growth.

Step 3

Installation

Women graduate and return home, where BCI fully equips them with all tools and solar parts for electrification. This takes 1-2 months and accounts for 50 homes electrified per Solar Engineer.

Step 4

Growth

Self-sufficient resource control means that BCI programs have an unparalleled long-term success rate. 

Our Approach: ENRICH

ENRICH is designed to empower marginalized individuals, especially women and youth by building the confidence, knowledge, and practical skills needed to unlock their potential, improve their lives, and lead positive change in their communities. ENRICH training is integrated into all BCI programs, including Solar Engineering and livelihood training, and is also offered independently as a stand-alone program when needed.

Leadership Skills

Social Equity

Financial Literacy

Health & Wellness

Digital Skills

Sustainable Living

Entrepreneurship Skills

Manu Singh

Global Lead, Life Skills ENRICH

When individuals feel safe, seen, and valued, they begin to unlock their true potential. My ambition for the Life Skills (ENRICH) program is to nurture that inner shift- to create spaces where mindset becomes the starting point for economic empowerment, climate consciousness, leadership, and social change that lasts for generations. To guide people from self-doubt to self-agency, from silence to Leadership.

Regional Centers: Training Aspirations Into Reality

Brenda Geofrey

Country Director, BCI-Zanzibar

“At Barefoot College Zanzibar, innovation fuels our impact. From training women as solar engineers to launching sustainable enterprises in sewing, beekeeping and regenerative agriculture we are creating income pathways and transforming rural communities.
With support from the Apple Academy, we have introduced educational mobile apps expanding access to knowledge across East Africa. This past year has been a journey of purpose, progress and powerful partnerships.”

Ny Sanda

Executive Director, BCI-Madagascar

“We took the time to truly listen to the women living around our training center: to observe their daily lives and understand their priorities. While continuing our mission to reach rural women in some of Madagascar’s most remote areas, we strengthened our field presence. These encounters gave deeper meaning to our work: a mission built with the communities themselves, now guiding our next strategic directions.”

Brenda Geofrey

Country Director, BCI-Zanzibar

“At Barefoot College Zanzibar, innovation fuels our impact. From training women as solar engineers to launching sustainable enterprises in sewing, beekeeping and regenerative agriculture we are creating income pathways and transforming rural communities.
With support from the Apple Academy, we have introduced educational mobile apps expanding access to knowledge across East Africa. This past year has been a journey of purpose, progress and powerful partnerships.”

Ny Sanda

Executive Director, BCI-Madagascar

“We took the time to truly listen to the women living around our training center: to observe their daily lives and understand their priorities. While continuing our mission to reach rural women in some of Madagascar’s most remote areas, we strengthened our field presence. These encounters gave deeper meaning to our work: a mission built with the communities themselves, now guiding our next strategic directions.”

Our Organization

BCI’s organizational structure relies on highly effective, decentralized and vertically integrated architecture.

All fundraising and funds are handled by BCI USA (501c3), BCI UK (Registered Charity) and BCI Switzerland (Registered Swiss Association) guaranteeing maximum tax efficiency for donors, and therefore maximum value for money to beneficiaries on the ground.

Ground operations and project implementation occur through the BCI Regional Training Centers which act as hubs to train women from all over the world whom BCI travels to and from their communities so that they can learn.



Staff on the ground are primarily local and supported by world class experts and BCI’s global staff in project implementation

Executive oversight is provided by the vertically integrated Global Advisory Board, drawn from all levels of the organization



Our Board

Tracey Balch

BCI Board

Dr Marion Gluck

BCI Board

Ashanti Hettiarachy

BCI Board

Shevaun Haviland

BCI Board

Natalie Binnie

BCI Board

Michael Lindsay-Bayley

BCI Board

Take Action 


We are actively seeking new corporate and philanthropic partners to help us power up new initiatives for 2025 and 2026. 

Contact US
To donate and support our mission, please click here:
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It's been a lot of fun for me, and being with older women has taught me a lot. I now have ideas to open my own business because having my own money is important. I can charge other villages for charging their phones, just like our village used to do before we had solar.
Mama AissataSolar Engineer Senegal
Mama Aissata
I never got to finish school, but the desire to learn never left me. When I found out there was a training program open to women my age, and completely free, I said yes immediately. It was finally a chance to pick up where everything had stopped. 

MamizenaSolar Engineer, a mother of six, in Madagascar
Mamizena
In this way I have found my super power. I don’t feel like a woman who is put down. I am empowered to do more and more. I can speak to anyone at any time and share how they can make their lives better. I am confident. Before, I never spoke to anyone before.
Fatma Juma HajiBCI Global Ambassador
Fatma Juma Haji

Ashanti Hettiarachy

Ashanti is the Founder and CEO of Legacy Concepts. She has worked in the sports and events industry over 11 years and has successfully built and sold businesses both in the UK and Europe including being a media owner and working with many high-profile sports personalities.

She is a highly qualified and experienced in business development and sponsorship. Her core interest is in event management and strategy with extensive commercial contacts globally across sport and music and she has worked with global brands such as Barclays Bank, the SAS, various print media owners BBC and ESPN Sport.

Michael Lindsay-Bayley

Michael is a financial services professional with 10 years of experience working in reinsurance, banking, and audit. Michael is currently the Sustainability Lead at new start-up bank Perenna and is focused on developing new products and services which can help homeowners to decarbonise their properties. Before joining Perenna, Michael worked for Elementum in Bermuda. Elementum is an alternative investment manager specialising in collateralised natural event reinsurance investments. Prior to this he worked in audit at PwC Bermuda.

Natalie Binnie

Natalie is a consultant and helps national government, infrastructure and transport agencies and private sector organisations tackle their unique and complex strategic and operational challenges. She has extensive experience across both the public and private sector and enjoys helping her clients translate ambitious strategies into action. She is passionate about using infrastructure to drive sustainable and inclusive change and working collectively to meet the UN SDGs.

Dr Marion Gluck

Dr Marion Gluck is one of the world’s leading practitioners of bio-identical hormone therapy (BHRT), and author of the book ‘It Must Be My Hormones’, with a highly acclaimed medical career spanning more than 30 years. She has long been a champion of women’s rights and supporter of Barefoot College and now sits as a board member for the charity.

Since founding the UK’s first clinic for BHRT, The Marion Gluck Clinic, Dr Gluck has spent her professional career and much of her personal life helping to better the health of women and has received global recognition for her work.

Reproductive and hormonal health are at the centre of Marion’s work and she is therefore ideally placed to help Barefoot College achieve our many goals for women in the developing world.

Shevaun Haviland

Shevaun has been Director-General of the British Chamber of Commerce since April 2021. Shevaun was formerly Head of Business Engagement at Number 10 Downing Street and was at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office as Head of the Inclusive Economy Partnership. Shevaun started her career in consultancy in London and New York. She then moved to the Walt Disney Company in strategic planning before joining Disneyland Paris, opening the second theme park. Shevaun then joined the agency world, running global accounts for Millward Brown, Mindshare and WPP. Following this, she became a partner in a start-up digital innovation agency and venture builder, Independents United, where she also became an Advisor for the Danson Foundation. Most recently, Shevaun was the New Ventures Director for Avado, building new businesses in Edtech and founding the Academy of Digital Business Leaders.

Shevaun has a passion for business as a force for good. A Trustee of Barefoot College International UK, Shevaun also sits on the Boards of BCC, the Women of the World Foundation (WoW) and the International Chambers of Commerce UK (ICC UK).

Tracey Balch

Tracey Margaret Balch, RGN RSCN, developed a global worldview and fervent support for education from an early age. Tracey volunteered at a Round Square school in India and then in the Mother House, Destitute and Dying homes and orphanages for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, during her Gap year. During her time there she spent an evening with Mother Teresa discussing various paths and opportunities offered in India. Mother Teresa encouraged Tracey to continue her education and obtain her nursing qualifications. Mother Teresa said, “This would be a skill that is beneficial and needed and if it is meant to be, life will go full cycle, and you will return. Life has a way of working out if it is meant to be,” and Tracey followed that advice.

Tracey trained at St. Thomas Hospital, became a Nightingale Nurse and then qualified in Paediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children in London with a specialisation in cardiac surgery, intensive care and heart and lung transplants. Her career path led her to posts as director for several organisations, including Cobham Hall in the UK for 10 years and as a trustee and on the Executive Board of Round Square for 13 years before joining the board of Barefoot College International UK. Tracey served on Aiglon College Parents Ambassador Council, and she is a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society and a life member of the RSA in addition to being a member of the Royal Academy. Tracey is also a Director of G J Duncanson Ltd., a farm in Kent looking to the future. Tracey works with BCI in what is perhaps a reflection of the words Mother Teresa once said to her – she has come full circle back to helping the most needful and left behind communities on earth and giving them the knowledge they need to fulfil their true human potential with dignity.