Portafolio Verde, an environmental and social enterprise co-founded by Alejandro Zapata Arango in 2005, is dedicated to ‘innovation for sustainable development.' In delivering on its mandate, Portafolio Verde designs strategies enabling national and international businesses to operate sustainably. For example, Portafolio Verde provided training to an association of 20 honey producers who are in the process of getting fair trade certification to export their products. Through the Ecohuertas Urbanas (Urban Ecogardens) Project, Portafolio Verde is now working with the Mayor's office of Medellin to advise low-income community members on how to develop urban vegetable gardens, enabling them to feed themselves and sell surpluses. Portafolio Verde has developed an exclusive information system - GREEN.MARKETING.TOOL - to capture and process information about its projects in real time. In 2008, Portafolio Verde provided support to 400 farmers and internally displaced people.
Alia Whitney-Johnson launched Emerge Global to empower young women in Sri Lanka who have survived sexual violence to rediscover their personal beauty, develop their self-sufficiency, and become leaders in their communities. Emerge Global uses jewelry as a mechanism to enable young women to organize themselves; develop financial, business, and leadership skills; and build a community of support. The Emerge Global curriculum uses art therapy as a means of helping young women heal their past, while developing skills they can use to become self-sufficient. Jewelry created through Emerge Global is sold both in Sri Lanka and the United States, enabling buyers to play a vital role in a young woman's rehabilitation. Revenue from sales is returned to the girls and reinvested in materials to sustain the program. In 2008, Emerge Global impacted the lives of over 70 young women; jewelry sales totaled $25,000 - more than double that of the previous year.
The Langui District of Cusco is among the poorest in Peru with a per capita income of US$60 per month. With temperatures in the coldest months averaging -3 degrees Celsius, inhabitants of the area's rudimentary housing suffer from acute respiratory ailments and skin problems. To address their needs, Bernardo Alayza launched the Warming of Andean Homes initiative through the Rural Support Group of Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru. Through the initiative, homes are equipped with solar heating systems, insulation, refurbished doors and windows, and improved cooking stoves to enhance indoor air quality. Since 2008, a school, a medical center, and 45 homes have been refurbished, benefiting more than 300 people.
Through Oficina-Escola de Artes e Oficios (POEAO), Cecília Mendes Barros provides disadvantaged youth in São Paolo with the skills needed to rehabilitate historic buildings and preserve their city's cultural heritage. Participating youth, ages 14 to 24, learn about furniture restoration and how to paint and plaster - skills they can use to support themselves in the future. At the same time, youth learn active citizenship and inspire community pride. Says Cecilia, "city neighborhoods are becoming more beautiful, tourism is increasing, and young people are actively engaged in historic preservation." To date, POEAO has reached more than 2,000 youth in 40 towns and 5 states in Brazil. In 2008, Cecilia was among 15 young social entrepreneurs in São Paolo honored by the Anhembi Morumbi Youth Initiative (Iam).
Believing that education is a powerful tool to bring about social change, Deepika Singh co-founded Udaan. Its mission: to improve access to and the quality of primary education in rural villages and slum communities in Gujarat. Udaan is an initiative of Janvikas, an organization that promotes human rights and social justice. Central to Udaan's work is the promotion of values such as equality, diversity, citizenship, and democracy. "The goals of education need to be guided by the kind of society a nation wants to build," says Deepika, adding that it's important to incorporate values that ‘build dignified individuals, respect for diversity, and open minds." Among its activities, Udaan develops curricula, trains teachers, and taps the power of video technology to deliver educational content and engage youth. Through Videoshala, Udaan creates kits consisting of videos, activity sheets for children, and a teaching manual with modules devoted to math, science and environmental issues. Since 2005, Udaan has reached more than 250 villages, impacting 12,000 children.
Seeking to promote the healthy development and active participation of children in society, Dina Buchbinder Auron co-founded Deport-es para Compartir (DpC) in 2007. DpC uses games and sporting activities to educate children, ages 6 to 14, about the UN Millennium Development Goals and to engage them as active contributors to their communities. Participants, mostly from indigenous communities, learn about issues related to health, poverty, education, the environment, equality, inclusion, and global partnership. As of early 2009, DpC had reached over 12,500 children living in marginalized rural and urban communities. Acknowledging Mexico's vast cultural diversity, DpC connects children from different cultural backgrounds and realities. Participants have been found to demonstrate greater teamwork, healthier behaviors, and increased awareness of the challenges that children, as global citizens, face and their role in developing solutions.
Donald Bodzo created c-Manure Technology to boost the productive capacity - and incomes - of poor farmers living in the Buhera district of Zimbabwe. Poor quality soil in many rural areas in Zimbabwe is a key factor contributing to poverty, hunger, low crop production, and inadequate nutrition. With farmers in marginalized communities unable to purchase fertilizer for their crops, the initiative teaches them how to improve the quality of cattle manure through using low-cost Pelletized Phosphate Blends. Farmers acquire the basic skills needed to establish an income generating, manure manufacturing enterprise. In 2008, c-Manure Technology reached 165 farmers. Participating farmers report a 70% increase in incomes and greater food security, with many now able to send their children to school.
A motivational speaker, writer, and singer, Emmanuel Odiase started the SmokeFreeNigeria Initiative with the vision of creating a tobacco free society. SmokeFreeNigeria organizes workshops and seminars in schools, educates children and adolescents about the dangers of smoking tobacco, offers support to smokers who intend to quit, conducts advocacy campaigns, establishes smoke free zones, and creatively harnesses the power of electronic and print media to educate audiences. "Big tobacco targets young people in Africa, with over 2,000 teenagers becoming addicted to smoking each day," says Emmanuel, who authored Who's the Target?: The Unfiltered Truth, a book now being used to educate children in schools against the use of tobacco. In 2008, Emmanuel estimates that SmokeFreeNigeria reached 100,000 young men and women with its anti-smoking message.
