ILLAC ANGELO DIAZ

lllac Diaz is a social entrepreneur working in the ASEAN region empowering communities through the use of sustainable construction and appropriate technologies.

In 2005, he introduced non-traditional construction practices in Asia by using more affordable indigenous (rather than fully manufactured) construction materials to build schools and clinics in rural areas. Through his foundation (MyShelter Foundation), several pioneering programs in the region has begun with construction using rammed earth, bamboo, and P.E.T plastic bottles. In 2011, the construction of the first Bottle School in Asia was completed in Laguna, Philippines, using Illac's sustainable architectural design.

Illac's latest venture is a sustainable lighting project called "Liter of Light," which aims to bring green, zero carbon, no electricity lighting to homes at a low cost by distributing Solar Bottle Bulbs made of plastic bottles to communities worldwide. (Watch Video)

Illac is the lead convenor of the Walk For Light movement in Boston.

~ Illac is a Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He also completed the Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has a Master in Entrepreneurship degree from the Asian Institue of Management. He was recognized by the World Economic forum as one of The Young Global Leaders for 2008. He was awarded by Jaycees International as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World in 2006, and was selected as an Ernst and Young Innovation Entrepreneur for 2006. He recently won Harvard's Green Carpet Award.