Innovation: Africa is a New York-based nonprofit that brings Israeli solar, agricultural and water technologies to rural African villages. Over the last 20 years, thanks to Israeli innovation, founder and CEO Sivan Ya’ari and her team have impacted over 1 million lives in the most remote villages of Africa using solar energy to pump clean water and provide schools, orphanages and medical clinics with light and refrigeration to store vaccines and medicines.

Ya’ari was born in Israel, raised in France and educated in the United States with a degree in finance from Pace University and a master’s in international energy management and policy from Columbia University. At the young age of 20, Sivan identified an opportunity for a more sustainable energy solution and developed the groundwork for what would become Innovation: Africa.

Innovation: Africa has received many awards, including the Innovation Award from the United Nations. Most recently, Sivan has been recognized as one of the “40 Under 40 Most Promising Israelis” by Globes magazine, one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Israel” by Forbes Israel and one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Israelis in International Business, Science and Culture 2017.”

For more information on Innovation: Africa, go to www.innoafrica.org.�