Who are we

Mission:

Our Mission: To build sustainable communities.
The Sirona Cares Foundation (SCF) builds sustainable communities by addressing two of the most damaging and persistent patterns in the developing world: poverty and ecological destruction. Our pilot program, started in Haitian rural communities, establishes a stable economic base through jatropha farming, while supporting the health and education of children; this program is fully scalable and applicable to the great majority of countries in the developing world.

Sustainable Development vs. Charity, the Delicate Balance
Our jatropha farming and our electricity projects are focused upon sustainable development. By putting the power to produce and sell fuel in the hands of the world’s poorest people we empower them, creating a real basis for economic stability. In the meantime however, there is terrible suffering in our communities, and we have made advocacy for those who care for and educate children our focus for charitable donations.

We see so many abandoned projects in Haiti, so many good intentions, and good plans that were never completed. Often what was to be a development project turns into an attempt to meet the needs of the people instead, so the long-term improvement is sacrificed to meet immediate need. Our goal is to link resources to our communities where we can without sacrificing our long-term goals. We believe that a critical component of a sustainable community is healthy, educated children. Therefore we report needs that are purely charitable and connect resources to our partners to assist them.

This model allows us to do both sustainable development and charitable work to the benefit of our communities.

-Michelle Lacourciere
Executive Director, Sirona Cares Foundation

Michelle Lacourciere
Executive Director and Board Member

Michelle Lacourciere is the Executive Director of The Sirona Cares Foundation. She is responsible for over-seeing and advancing the vision of Sirona Cares, ensuring that the international programs are sustainably designed, adequately resourced and achieving the desired results. Michelle works in the San Francisco Bay Area and travels to Haiti every eight weeks.

Christopher Oakland
Deputy Director and Board Member

As Deputy Director of the Sirona Cares Foundation Christopher works with the Director on preparation of budgets, goals and implementation of projects. He works with potential donors to build awareness and financial support of SCF’s work to transform the lives of the rural poor. Christopher’s New York City location gives us a bi-coastal presence.

Angela Koblitz
Director of Special Projects

Angela supports the Sirona Team by assisting with special projects. Her key project is development of the children’s tri-lingual library in Haiti, however her fluency in French and administrative skills allow her to add value to many projects.

Ray Larsen
Partner and Advisor (IEEE Project)

Ray leads the Community Solutions Initiative, a group of dedicated IEEE members, in their quest to bring affordable electricity to the poorest of the poor. By using our in-country experience and the talents of the CSI team we have created a program that will begin lighting the darkest parts of rural Haiti in January of 2011.

Brian Lehnen
Board Member

Brian co-founded the Village Enterprise Fund, an organization that successfully transforms lives in Eastern Africa by developing small businesses. Brian’s wealth of experience in development work makes him a major asset to the Sirona team.

Paul Lacourciere
Strategic Advisor

The Sirona Cares Foundation was formed as a non-profit sister to the Sirona Fuels Company. Both organizations share the vision of “Sustainable Fuel Sustaining Lives”. Paul Lacourciere is CEO of Sirona Fuels and uses his extensive knowledge of alternative fuels and sustainable development practices to advise the Sirona Team as we implement new programs in developing countries.

The world needs clean-fuel alternatives, and by placing the power to create, use and market bio-fuel and solar electricity into the hands of the world’s poorest people, SCF is creating a sustainable solution to poverty and ecological destruction. Our pilot project is in Haiti, yet the project is scalable and replicable internationally, and many of the world’s poorest people can participate.