Hesperian Health Guides

What Hesperian Health Guides does

Hesperian Health Guides is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization founded in 1974 and headquartered in Oakland, California, with a staff of 11-50. The organization develops and distributes plain-language, illustrated health education materials in both print and digital formats, serving community health workers, midwives, Peace Corps Volunteers, and underserved communities in low-resource and marginalized settings worldwide. Its flagship publication, 'Where There Is No Doctor' (1977), is described in the source material as 'arguably the most widely used public-health manual in the world.' Hesperian operates across nine top-level health topics including general health, women's health, children's health, disabilities, workers' health, health worker training, environmental health, health rights and advocacy, and mental health.

The organization's product surface spans three formats: (1) print books and booklets distributed via the store.hesperian.org e-commerce storefront, with titles ranging from foundational health manuals ('Where There Is No Doctor,' 'A Book for Midwives,' 'Disabled Village Children') to specialized guides on environmental health, workers' safety, and mental health; (2) the HealthWiki, a free online platform hosting Hesperian's content in 44 languages; and (3) three free mobile applications for Android and iOS covering safe pregnancy and birth, safe abortion, and family planning, collectively downloaded in over 155 countries. Distribution is hybrid: direct e-commerce sales, free digital channels, and a partner-driven model that leverages the U.S. Peace Corps, the People's Health Movement (60+ countries), and hundreds of community-based NGOs.

The revenue model combines (a) modest book and booklet sales, (b) individual donations, foundation grants, and workplace giving (the primary funding source, with monthly contribution and legacy giving options), and (c) the Gratis Book Program, a donation-funded initiative that ships free physical books to community leaders who cannot afford them, with each distributed book reaching over 50 people. Hesperian has no outside investors or parent company and is governed by a board of directors; the only disclosed funding transaction in the source set is a $10,000 grant from Intel and Ashoka Changemakers in November 2012.

Name

Hesperian Health Guides

Legal name

Hesperian Health Guides

Website

https://hesperian.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hesperian Health Guides is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1974 that develops and distributes plain-language, illustrated health education materials in print and digital formats to community health workers, midwives, Peace Corps Volunteers, and underserved communities in 44 languages across more than 155 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Education Publishing

NAICS

Health Care and Social Assistance (62), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical & Clinical Reference (Physicians, Nursing, Allied Health) (EDAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Multilingual, Accessibility & Health Literacy Enablement (HLACAEAN), Healthcare & Clinical Professional Development (CME/CE) (EDAGANAJ), Health Sciences & Nursing (EDAGABAF)

Keywords

• Community health education
• Public health manuals
• Health worker training
• Maternal health resources
• Environmental health guides

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Book and Booklet Sales: Revenue from sale of printed books and booklets through the online store (store.hesperian.org), including titles such as Where There Is No Doctor, A Community Guide to Environmental Health, Workers' Guide to Health and Safety, and Promoting Community Mental Health.
2. Donations and Grants: Primary funding source from individual donors, foundations, and workplace giving programs. Monthly contributions and legacy/planned giving options are offered. The organization is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3).
3. Free Digital Distribution: HealthWiki and mobile apps are distributed free of charge, funded by donations and grants rather than by the digital products themselves.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Hesperian Health Guides develops, publishes, and distributes illustrated, plain-language health education materials in both print and digital formats. The core catalog includes flagship books such as 'Where There Is No Doctor,' the free HealthWiki digital platform in 44 languages, and free mobile applications (Safe Pregnancy and Birth, Safe Abortion, Family Planning), serving community health workers, midwives, and underserved populations worldwide.

Product overview

Hesperian Health Guides operates a multi-format health information portfolio consisting of print books, booklets, and digital platforms. The core offerings include foundational health guides such as 'Where There Is No Doctor' (their most widely-used publication globally) and 'Where Women Have No Doctor', alongside specialized guides for children's health, disabilities, environmental health, workers' safety, and mental health. Their digital offerings include the HealthWiki platform (free online health information in 44 languages) and mobile applications including the Safe Pregnancy and Birth, Safe Abortion, and Family Planning apps. The product line follows a platform-plus-format model where major book subjects are made available as both printed materials and free digital content through the HealthWiki, with mobile apps providing focused health tools for specific needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HealthWiki

Quantifiable outcome

• Safe Pregnancy and Birth app downloaded over 24,000 times in 155 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• People's Health Movement (PHM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000PHM is a global network with a presence in over 60 countries. Hesperian has played an active role since its founding in Bangladesh in December 2000. Hesperian's publications grew out of and became the practical handbooks for the Primary Health Care movement, and the organization was asked by the PHM steering committee to help organize a People's Health Movement in the U.S.
• Local Solutions (Mongolia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Solutions is an NGO based in Mongolia and a close partner of Hesperian. Together they are working on toilet improvement projects in Ulaanbaatar's ger (yurt) districts to reduce groundwater contamination and soil erosion, with classes teaching bio waste management and soil improvement.
• Estamos (Mozambique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstamos is a community-based organization in Mozambique bringing latrines to rural villages and reducing the impact of HIV through health education. Founded by musician and 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Feliciano dos Santos. Hesperian worked with Estamos to develop A Community Guide to Environmental Health and Helping Children Live with HIV.
• Latino Health AccesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBased in Santa Ana, California, Latino Health Access (LHA) provides culturally appropriate health-related services and trains community members to be promotores, enabling them to deliver essential health information and reduce health inequities through community mobilizing. Their book Recruiting the Heart, Training the Brain is available in Hesperian's bookstore.
• OHS Initiative (Bangladesh)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe OHS Initiative was formed by 6 Bangladeshi workers', womens' and public health organizations, with support from Hesperian, MHSSN, and OHS programs at UCLA and UC Berkeley, in response to the deadly 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse. They have developed occupational health and safety curricula in Bangla to help community trainers run workshops with workers on topics such as gender-based violence and harassment and workplace safety hazards.
• Compañeros en Salud (CES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA sister branch of Partners in Health operating in Chiapas, Mexico — one of Mexico's most marginalized and rural regions with a maternal death rate four times the national average. CES field-tested Hesperian's Safe Pregnancy and Birth mobile app with community health workers, midwives, clinic staff, and community members.
• SEAHEC (Southeast Arizona Health Education Center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEAHEC serves migrant and border communities in southeast Arizona through advocacy, research, and action. They provided feedback on key chapters of Hesperian's Promoting Community Mental Health during its development.
• UCLA OHS ProgramsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOHS programs at UCLA partnered with Hesperian, MHSSN, and Bangladeshi organizations to form the OHS Initiative following the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, supporting development of occupational health and safety curricula in Bangla.
• UC Berkeley OHS ProgramsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOHS programs at UC Berkeley partnered with Hesperian, MHSSN, and Bangladeshi organizations to form the OHS Initiative following the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, supporting development of occupational health and safety curricula in Bangla.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Last Mile Health: Last Mile Health trains, equips, and supports community health workers in remote regions, with a similar mission to Hesperian of expanding access to health knowledge in last-mile communities.
• BRAC: BRAC runs one of the world's largest community health programs, training and equipping community health workers across multiple countries with educational materials and tools — a comparable scale model to Hesperian's CHW focus.
• Pathfinder International: Pathfinder International develops reproductive and community health curricula and works with community health workers in 20+ countries, directly comparable to Hesperian's reproductive and community health content portfolio.
• Living Goods: Living Goods supports networks of community health entrepreneurs with digital tools, training, and supervisory content — overlapping with Hesperian's CHW training and digital content focus.
• Medic (formerly Medic Mobile): Medic builds open-source digital health tools used by community health workers in 100+ countries, comparable to Hesperian in its mission of equipping frontline health workers with practical, mobile-first health guidance in low-resource settings.
• AMREF Health Africa: AMREF Health Africa is a leading African health NGO that develops health education materials and trains community health workers across the continent, mirroring Hesperian's focus on accessible, multilingual health content for underserved communities.
• Dimagi: Dimagi's CommCare platform powers frontline health worker workflows in 130+ countries — directly comparable to Hesperian's mobile apps in serving community health workers with portable, field-tested health content.

Broad incumbents

• UNICEF: UNICEF develops and distributes multilingual child and maternal health education content globally — a larger, well-funded publisher with overlapping topic areas in women's, children's, and community health.
• Partners in Health: Partners in Health operates comprehensive healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings and is the parent organization of Hesperian partner Compañeros en Salud — a closely aligned global health actor in CHW-driven care.
• World Health Organization (WHO): WHO publishes global health guidelines, training materials, and reference content in many languages — the most established global public-health content publisher and a key reference/competitor in multilingual health reference.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HesperianHealthGuides
• Xx.com/hesperian
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/74574

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hesperian Health Guides