NGO Profiles
Profiles of nongovernmental organizations...
The Rainforest Alliance continues to develop sustainable practices for companies seeking ever-popular certification.
Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Rainforest Alliance was originally founded by Wall Street lawyer Daniel Katz and a group of concerned citizens he organized to raise awareness about rainforest destruction. His organization of the world’s first rainforest conference six months later brought global attention to the Rainforest Alliance philosophy of using the market to encourage sustainability.
Human Rights Watch’s corporate focus takes on labor rights and corrupt international revenue streams.
Borne out of Helsinki Watch in 1978, the present form of Human Rights Watch was introduced in 1988 as an investigatory organization publishing accounts of global-wide human rights abuses. HRW aims its exposure-based methodology at the executive and legislative levels, primarily through its first-hand reports of abuses filed by researchers in problematic countries. These reports are then used to put pressure on governments and corporations to motivate change. Read more...
ACCION International expands their offerings to new countries and new financial products.
ACCION International was founded in 1961 by future Peace Corps Director Joseph Blatchford who was shocked by the poverty in South America. In 1973, it adopted the concept of microlending—giving small loans to help the impoverished start businesses—predating the work of Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank by 10 years. Today, ACCION is working in 23 countries throughout Latin America, the Carribbean, Asia and Africa.
A Deeper Dive Into the Water Issue Jan/Feb 2007
WaterAid discusses how the issue impacts health, education, and human and economic development.
Established in the United Kingdom in 1981, WaterAid's mission is to provide safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. Twenty-six years later, WaterAid works in 17 countries, but its mission remains the same. “What has evolved,” says Patricia Dandonoli, President and CEO of WaterAid America, “is the entire approach to international development. It has evolved from being primarily
an engineering-oriented approach… to thinking of itself more as a development organization.” Read more about its initiatives and how to get involved...
The Gold Standard Winter 2006
Earthworks hopes to apply its success with the mining industry to oil, gas, and e-technology.
Founded in 1988 by former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and others as the Mineral Policy Center, the organization was formed to advocate for reforms of mining laws and to help communities facing mineral development proposals. Its efforts have expanded to support communities outside the United States and to reach out to the private sector and increase public advocacy. Find out how...
Bridge Over Troubled Waters Fall 2006
Ceres brings together advocacy groups and corporations to address climate change, accountability, and governance.
For the last 17 years, Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations, has been working to push for higher standards of corporate environmental performance and disclosure. Their work has resulted in the creation of the Ceres Principles, a code of corporate environmental conduct; the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which has become an international standard for corporate reporting on economic, social and environmental performance; and the Sustainable Governance Project, which emphasizes the need for corporate boards and investment fiduciaries to address global climate change and emerging sustainability issues. Learn more...