GreenLamp Wins LIT Lighting Design Awards 2025 Spotlight Prize
GreenLamp has been awarded the 2025 LIT Lighting Design Awards Spotlight Prize, a special honour given to organisations that deliver remarkable work in their communities through lighting solutions. The Swiss nonprofit’s achievement highlights how thoughtful lighting design can address critical health challenges. GreenLamp’s sustainable solar energy systems now provide reliable illumination and power for remote clinics in Ethiopia, ensuring safer births and better health outcomes. In the words of GreenLamp’s president, Joanna Boyd:
“We are deeply honoured to receive the 2025 Spotlight Award from LIT Lighting Design Awards. This recognition shines a light on the importance of reliable, sustainable energy for women’s health. With every solar system we install, we help ensure that women can give birth safely, midwives can work with dignity, and communities can thrive. Thank you, LIT Lighting Design Awards, for supporting our mission to create brighter futures for women and babies in Ethiopia.”
Left – Solar panels on health-centre roofs // Centre – GreenLamps’s yellow solar suitcases powering lights and equipment // Right – Portable ultrasound unit in use
Since 2014, Greenlamp’s LIGHT Program has funded over 325 solar systems, illuminating maternity wards in rural and remote Ethiopian health centres and providing essential light for over 1.3 million births.
These projects are implemented in partnership with Solar Energy Foundation and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to build capacity, ensure sustainability and local ownership.
At the same time, GreenLamp’s LEARN and LEAD programs support midwives through education, training, and leadership development. On the ground, the difference is clear: as one trained midwife recounts, “No more babies are dying because there is no light at the Health Centre.”
GreenLamp also invests heavily in empowering midwives and community leadership. The organisation provides scholarships and training for women from rural areas to become certified midwives who then serve in their home communities. The Hamlin College of Midwives is one of the training centres for these students. Through its holistic “Learn” and “Lead” pillars, GreenLamp ensures that graduates are mentors and role models in their villages. By combining solar lighting with midwife education, GreenLamp creates long-term, community-led impact across generations.
The Spotlight Prize funds will support GreenLamp’s expansion into two additional rural clinics that currently have no lighting. Each new solar lighting package includes:
_ 100-watt-peak solar panels (appropriately sized for each clinic)
_ A solar-powered refrigerator for delivery medicines like vaccines and oxytocin
_ An LED lighting kit (several 7-watt lamps and a 10-watt floodlight) for delivery and examination rooms
_ A fetal Doppler monitor to check unborn babies’ heartbeats
_ Patient thermometers and a refrigerator temperature monitor tag
_ Headlamps for midwives (portable lighting during procedures)
_ Installation, maintenance, and training support for the new equipment and staff
Left – New LED lighting system for examination and delivery rooms, with solar power that lasts longer and performs reliably in rural settings // Right – Headlamps with portable solar units provided to newly graduated midwivesThese components, including panels, fridges, lamps, and diagnostic tools, come with complete installation, maintenance, and midwife training support. This ensures the systems remain operational long-term and that newly graduated midwives are equipped with all the gear they need to deliver care safely.
“Supporting GreenLamp with the Spotlight Prize is exactly why we created this award,” said Astrid Hébert, Co-Founder of the LIT Lighting Design Awards. “It’s a privilege to recognise lighting initiatives that go beyond design: that save lives, empower women, and uplift entire communities. We are proud to stand behind this important work.”
Members of GreenLamp’s Ethiopian and Swiss teams met in October 2025 to deliver training and visit several supported rural health centres
GreenLamp’s Board members and volunteers at the AGM in March 2025
The Spotlight Prize will be formally presented to GreenLamp at the LIT LightingDesign Awards ceremony in early summer 2026. This global awards gala will celebrate GreenLamp’s achievement alongside other winners, shining a light on innovations that improve lives. The LIT Awards team congratulates GreenLamp and looks forward to showcasing this life-changing work on the world stage.Photos Courtesy of GreenLamp