Econic Earth Foundation

Nicole Watson is the Founder & CEO of Econic Earth, a California-based NGO, and a proud Rotary Exchange alumna, traveling from her hometown of Castlegar, BC to Belgium in 1997–98 through District 5080, an experience that sparked her lifelong commitment to global service. Now based in White Rock, BC, she leads 'WATTS ON: Lighting Students' Lives, delivering solar study lamps to students living without electricity across rural Africa and monitoring educational impact. With 20+ years filmmaking, an MBA in Sustainable Business, and an Explorers Club member, Nicole works at the intersection of renewable energy, and impact storytelling — creating scalable solutions for last-mile communities.

Presentation Title: Turning Sunlight into Opportunity — Lighting Students' Lives Across Africa

About the Presentation:   As a Rotary Youth Exchange student in 1997–98, Nicole Watson traveled from her hometown of Castlegar, BC to a French-speaking community in Belgium through District 5080 — an experience that ignited a lifelong commitment to cross-cultural understanding and global service. Today she leads WATTS ON: Lighting Students' Lives, delivering solar study lamps to nearly 30,000 students living without electricity across Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. Nicole will screen her award-winning 12-minute documentary LIGHT — screened at COP16 and the United Nations — pass around actual program lamps from the field, and share how active Rotary partnerships are helping scale the program to 1 million students by 2030.