Forced into lockdown, Harry pivoted his crowd-solving venture, Seafreight Labs, toward a new mission: humanitarian work. Partnering with organizations like World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, and the International Rescue Committee through the Pledge 1% Movement, he discovered that the power of the crowd could do far more than optimize shipping containers. It could save lives.
What Is Humanitarian Crowd-solving?
Harry defines Humanitarian Crowd-solving as a tool designed to help large global humanitarian organizations work "better, faster, and cheaper" by tapping into the knowledge and creativity of the global crowd. It's not a magic wand, he's quick to clarify, but rather a powerful way to expand an organization's reach for help beyond their internal teams.
And the results speak for themselves.
The Numbers Tell a Compelling Story
Through Seafreight Labs, Harry has advised on 17 humanitarian challenges with an impressive 88% award rate. These competitions have offered over $300,000 in prize money and attracted 1,167 submissions from at least 82 countries. For innovation managers and government program leaders, these metrics demonstrate something crucial: crowd-solving isn't just theory; it's a proven approach to finding scalable solutions for the world's toughest problems.
Case Study: The Mosquito Challenge
One of the most striking examples is Habitat for Humanity's ventilation challenge. The goal? Design an under-$200 system to reduce mosquitoes and malaria in vulnerable communities. An Indian solver submitted a winning screened tube design that, in a subsequent KEMRI study, showed an 86% drop in mosquito presence.
Success, right? Not quite.
"The output of a challenge like this is an idea that can then be developed and perfected. And that's what Habitat for Humanity is doing now with that challenge. They are working to perfect it. It didn't really work to meet all the needs of the village. And so they went back to the crowd again, and ran a second challenge..."
Innovation Is Never One-and-Done
Here's where Harry's story gets really interesting. The initial design failed in the field, not because of engineering flaws, but because it didn't account for human factors. Villagers disliked the lack of privacy and had concerns about controlling cold air flow. This iterative learning became the foundation for a more sophisticated follow-up competition, now running on HeroX with an even tougher constraint: an under-$60 solution that addresses ventilation, temperature control, and privacy.
The selection process itself reflects this human-centered approach. The five finalists will be presented to the village community, who will help choose the final three designs for testing. This ensures local ownership and adoption - critical factors that pure engineering solutions could miss.
Tackling the World's Hardest Problems
Harry isn't stopping with mosquito nets. He's currently supporting a UN/Wazoku challenge to develop a low-cost device (target: $5,000) to locate underwater mines around the world. From disease prevention to demining war zones, humanitarian crowd-solving is proving it can tackle the world's "big, hard problems."
Beyond Ideas: Finding the Right Teams
One of HeroX's unique strengths, Harry explains, is its multi-stage challenge structure. The prize doesn't just go to the best idea; it goes to "the best idea plus the team that can get it done." Challenges like Watts on the Moon and the Bureau of Reclamation's Seal Team Fix demonstrate how capability statements, CVs, videos, and partnership letters help vet not just concepts, but the solvers who can implement them.
"I've read all the submissions, each one of them. As project advisor, I help weed out the wheat from the chaff and get down to the good ones. And then the humanitarian organization decides on who wins."
Why It Works: Purpose-Driven Innovation
So what makes humanitarian crowd-solving so effective? Harry has a simple answer: passion.
"Crowd-solving for humanitarian efforts is such an added bonus... you have individuals and teams that not only love to solve problems, but they're passionate about solving important problems."
When you give talented people the opportunity to be "part of something bigger than themselves," they bring their full creativity and dedication to bear. That's the secret ingredient that makes the crowd such a powerful force for good.
Ready to see how your organization can leverage humanitarian crowd-solving? Watch the full conversation with Harry Sangree on HeroX to gain deeper insights into designing high-impact, iterative challenges and scaling solutions that make a real difference in the world.
