For Immediate Release | June 1, 2026
Contact: Michele Mitchell, Founder & CEO | michele.mitchell@ubuntuvillageusa.org | +1 (347) 920-7477
Ubuntu Village & BrightLife Partner to Bring Solar Power to Rural Uganda
East Harlem Nonprofit Expands Access to Clean Energy for Families, Schools, and Health Centers — Centering Women’s Leadership and Community Agency
New York, NY (with operations in rural Uganda) — Ubuntu Village Inc., an East Harlem-based nonprofit dedicated to community healing, dignity, and sustainable empowerment across the African diaspora, today announced the official launch of its Solar Power Initiative in partnership with BrightLife. Beginning this summer, the initiative delivers clean, reliable solar energy to off-grid families, schools, and health centers in rural Ugandan communities where, until now, the day simply stopped when the sun went down.
The partnership with BrightLife — a Uganda-based social enterprise founded by FINCA International that pairs access to finance with access to energy — positions Ubuntu Village to scale its first successful solar installation into a community-wide movement. With over 100 families already powered by solar and 300 more slated to receive access, the initiative prioritizes women-led households as the anchor of community transformation.
Courtesy of BrightLife.
“Energy access is not a technical problem — it is a human rights issue and a spiritual one. When we bring light to a family in rural Uganda, we are honoring the belief at the center of everything we do: I am because we are. More than 400 families will have reliable solar energy this year — that is not a statistic, that is 400 futures expanded. This partnership with BrightLife is proof that when communities are centered and dignity leads, real change follows.”
— Michele Mitchell, Founder, President & CEO, Ubuntu Village Inc.
“At BrightLife, we believe that access to clean energy is the foundation upon which everything else is built; stronger families, healthier communities, and brighter futures. Our partnership with Ubuntu Village reflects a shared conviction that lasting change happens when trust, dignity, and local leadership guide the way. Together, we are not just lighting homes; we are expanding what’s possible for hundreds of families across rural Uganda, and we are just getting started.”
— Sydney Ogada, CEO, BrightLife
What This Initiative Makes Possible
The Solar Power Initiative directly addresses critical gaps in education, health, and economic opportunity across rural Uganda:
- Education: Solar-powered lighting allows students to extend their study hours well beyond sunset, reclaiming time long stolen by darkness.
- Healthcare: Rural health centers gain the capacity to operate after dark, refrigerate vaccines, and power medical equipment around the clock.
- Economic Agency: Local entrepreneurs — from shopkeepers to farmers — gain reliable energy to grow their businesses, reduce food waste, and build steady income for their families and communities.
Ubuntu Village’s approach is grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu — I am because we are — investing in the leadership, brilliance, and agency already present within communities rather than imposing external solutions.
About Ubuntu Village Inc.
Ubuntu Village Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in East Harlem, New York, working across the African diaspora in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States. Through programs spanning renewable energy, public health advocacy, digital literacy, and ancestral wisdom, Ubuntu Village centers the voices and decisions of the communities it serves. ubuntuvillageusa.org
About BrightLife
BrightLife is a Uganda-based social enterprise that pairs access to finance with access to energy to unlock productivity and wellbeing for the poor, while building pathways to financial inclusion for the unbanked. Operating in Uganda, BrightLife offers access to solar home systems and efficient cookstoves, selling, financing, installing, and providing customer support for each device making clean energy safer, cleaner, and ultimately more affordable than the open flames many communities previously relied upon. brightlifeuganda.com
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For press inquiries or interview requests, contact:
Michele Mitchell, Founder, President & CEO
michele.mitchell@ubuntuvillageusa.org | +1 (347) 920-7477