Elizabeth Hausler

Elizabeth Hausler is the Founder and CEO of Build Change, a non‐profit social enterprise, and a global expert on resilient housing, post-disaster reconstruction, and systems change.

Build Change designs disaster-resistant houses and schools; trains homeowners, builders, engineers and government officials to build them; works with governments to develop and implement building standards; partners with the private sector to improve building materials quality and create jobs; and facilitates access to incentive-based capital for reconstruction and retrofitting by partnering with financing institutions and government subsidy programs.

Dr. Hauser's strategic direction and leadership have grown Build Change from a few employees in 2004 to a global team spread across five continents. Since launching, the organization has improved the safety of more than 200,000 buildings worldwide, impacting the lives of one million people and creating 37,000 jobs. Her extensive experience in post-disaster communities, including a Fulbright Scholarship in India, led her to found Build Change to ensure reconstruction efforts would be safe and sustainable.

She is the recipient of many honors, including being named to the Forbes "50 Over 50" list in 2023. Earlier in her career, and together with Build Change, Dr. Hauser was awarded the 2017 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. She was named a 2011 US Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation, and is the winner of the 2011 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability. Along with being a Fulbright scholar, Dr. Hauser is also a 2004 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2006 Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow, and a 2009 Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow. Additionally, Build Change was the winner of a 2008 Tech Award for Technology Benefiting Humanity in the Equality Category for making earthquake-resistant housing solutions available to all homeowners regardless of income level.

Dr. Hausler has headlined top conferences, lectured at eminent universities, and been featured in media outlets including The New York Times, BBC News, Forbes, Elle Magazine, ABC News, and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Dr. Hauser is a skilled brick mason with a BS in Engineering from University of Illinois, an MS in Environmental Science from University of Colorado, and an MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. She was inducted into the UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni.