Lava Mae

What Lava Mae does

Lava Mae, doing business as LavaMaeˣ, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013 by Doniece Sandoval in San Francisco to provide mobile hygiene services to people experiencing homelessness. The organization pioneered the use of mobile shower buses and trailers to deliver showers, handwashing stations, and integrated "Pop-Up Care Village" events to unhoused populations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County from 2014 through June 2023. Its service approach, branded as Radical Hospitality®, treats the manner of service delivery — emphasizing dignity and compassionate care — as a core operational differentiator alongside the physical hygiene services themselves. LavaMae has accumulated documented impact of 50,000+ people served and 20,000 showers delivered via a corporate partnership with Kohler.

The organization's product portfolio transitioned in 2023 from direct service operations to a content-and-community model centered on LavaMaeˣ Connect, a free global community platform offering pre-recorded training events, a self-paced e-learning curriculum, and three downloadable DIY toolkits (Mobile Hygiene Toolkit, Pop-Up Care Village Toolkit, DIY Handwashing Toolkit). It maintains a registered trademark on "RADICAL HOSPITALITY®" and operates an affiliate model with active partner organizations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, South Africa, and the Philippines. The stated goal of the network is to reach 100,000 people served by 2024.

As a tax-exempt nonprofit, LavaMae generates no revenue from service delivery — all services are provided free of charge to end users. Funding comes from individual donations, corporate grants, and foundation support, with two material documented institutional relationships: a strategic partnership with Kohler (announced October 2022) and a $110,000 grant from the Starbucks Foundation (announced December 2022), a portion of which was sub-granted to four U.S. affiliates. The organization is headquartered at 1701 Monarch Street, Suite 200, Alameda, California.

Name

Lava Mae

Legal name

Lava Mae (doing business as LavaMaeˣ)

Website

https://lavamae.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lava Mae (LavaMaeˣ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that developed mobile shower and hygiene services for unhoused populations and now distributes free DIY toolkits and training through a global affiliate network spanning five countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services / Homeless Services

NAICS

Business Support Services (5614), Remediation and Other Waste Management Services (5629), All Other Miscellaneous Waste Management Services (562998)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Organizations (HLAJAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Solutions (BPAGALAI), Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) (BPAGABAC)

Keywords

• Mobile hygiene services
• Mobile shower programs
• Nonprofit humanitarian services
• Homeless services
• DIY toolkit resources

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Nonprofit funding through individual donations, corporate grants, and foundation support to fund mobile hygiene operations and affiliate programs

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lava Mae (doing business as LavaMaeˣ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides mobile shower and hygiene services to unhoused individuals, along with DIY toolkits, training, and a global affiliate community platform for replicating mobile hygiene programs. The organization pioneered the first mobile shower bus in San Francisco in 2014 and developed the "Radical Hospitality" service philosophy. Following the June 2023 closure of direct operations, LavaMaeˣ now operates primarily through its LavaMae Connect platform, distributing toolkits, e-learning curriculum, and grants to affiliate organizations worldwide.

Product overview

LavaMaeˣ is a nonprofit organization operating as a portfolio of mobile hygiene resources and community programs rather than a unified software product. The core offering is LavaMaeˣ Connect, a global community platform that provides training materials, DIY toolkits (Mobile Hygiene Toolkit, Pop-Up Care Village Toolkit, DIY Handwashing Toolkit), and e-learning curriculum for launching mobile hygiene programs. The organization previously operated direct mobile shower services (2014-2023) but has transitioned to supporting affiliate organizations worldwide. The products consist of downloadable toolkits and a community platform, with a service philosophy called 'Radical Hospitality' underpinning all programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LavaMaeˣ Connect A global community platform that provides pre-recorded training events, DIY toolkits, community discussions, and self-paced e-learning curriculum for individuals and organizations starting mobile hygiene programs. Membership is free.
• Mobile Hygiene Toolkit A comprehensive do-it-yourself toolkit for communities and organizations looking to launch and operate a mobile hygiene or shower program. Distributed as a free downloadable resource.
• Pop-Up Care Village Toolkit A toolkit for establishing a Pop-Up Care Village, a community-based event model that brings multiple hygiene and care services together in a single coordinated setting.
• DIY Handwashing Toolkit A do-it-yourself toolkit providing instructions for creating handwashing stations for unhoused communities, distributed as a free downloadable resource.
• Mobile Shower Services Mobile shower bus service that provided showers and care services to unhoused neighbors in San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County from 2014 to 2023. Service has been discontinued as of June 2023.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50,000+ people served with hygiene services from 2014-2023
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• KohlercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 October 2022Partnership between Kohler and LavaMae delivering 20,000 showers to unhoused population across communities in the United States. This was a significant corporate partnership focused on expanding mobile hygiene access.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Glide Foundation: San Francisco-based nonprofit providing meals, hygiene, housing, and dignity-focused services to unhoused and low-income populations; operates showers in the same Bay Area geography where LavaMaeˣ previously served.
• People Assisting The Homeless (PATH): Established homelessness services nonprofit operating housing, hygiene, and outreach programs across California. Comparable target population and service mix, though broader program portfolio.
• Project Homeless Connect: San Francisco nonprofit that organizes one-stop-shop service events for people experiencing homelessness, sharing LavaMaeˣ's 'Pop-Up Care Village' ethos of consolidated hygiene and care services.
• The Drip Mobile Shower: Mobile shower nonprofit directly comparable to LavaMaeˣ in model and target population; received a $15,000 grant from LavaMaeˣ in Feb 2023, confirming shared methodology and mission alignment.
• The BeHeard Movement: Direct service peer operating mobile hygiene and dignity-focused programs for unhoused populations; LavaMaeˣ grantee ($20,000 in April 2023) and affiliate-network member.
• Mobile Loaves & Fishes: Austin-based nonprofit that pioneered mobile service delivery (food trucks) to people experiencing homelessness. Shares the mobile-vans-to-the-unstably-housed model with LavaMaeˣ.

Broad incumbents

• charity: water: Large WASH nonprofit with strong brand and donor base. Comparable hygiene/water mission framing at global scale; much larger organization but adjacent in the WASH nonprofit category.
• WaterAid America: Major international WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) nonprofit operating globally. Comparable WASH mission framing, though focused on developing-country infrastructure rather than U.S. unhoused services.
• Kohler Foundation: Corporate foundation that partnered with LavaMaeˣ to deliver 20,000 showers. Operates in adjacent water-and-hygiene philanthropy space at much larger scale; an investor-relevant stakeholder rather than direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Planet Water Foundation: WASH-focused nonprofit deploying water filtration and handwashing infrastructure in underserved communities. Comparable WASH mission and corporate-partnership-driven model at smaller global scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lavamaex
• Xx.com/LavaMae
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lavamaex

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Lava Mae