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Our mission is to support children and adults to develop deeper relationships with nature, self, and community through long-term nature connection mentoring and community-based wilderness rites of passage. Our vision is to help raise young people who are ready to meet life's challenges and be of service in the world: youth who have a positive sense of themselves as young women and men; who know what their gifts are; feel deeply connected with nature; have strong community support; and are full of resilience and vitality.

CTF was born from the idea that the world would be a better place if we were all given the opportunity to give back. Established by a group of water women, we feel it is our calling to help others by teaming up with local organizations globally to raise awareness and address social, environmental, health and safety concerns in the places we visit. We aim to bridge the gap between the traveler and our projects enabling travelers to add a life-changing experience to their journeys and add purpose to travel.

Create food security by educating underserved communities on how to use Regenerative Climate Smart Agriculture to replace carbon emitting farming and reforestation practices. Focus on training women and youth on sustainable farming practices to help create long-lasting livelihoods. Reduce the importation of foreign food and increase the export of healthier organically grown food. Collaborate with international corporations to help fund the reduction of carbon through Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies to support underserved farming communities. Reduce crime and poverty by creating opportunities.

Self-Help International (SHI) devotes its efforts to alleviating world hunger and poverty by providing opportunities to rural citizens that ultimately lead to self-reliance. Since its inception, Self-Help has served as a vessel; training, education, and opportunities are provided to rural citizens and whole communities in developing countries so that they can have better lives. MISSION STATEMENT: To alleviate hunger by helping people help themselves. SELF-HELP'S INITIATIVE Educate: We educate the people of the United States to understand the problems of life in developing countries particularly the awareness of the perpetual struggle by millions to produce and distribute food to battle persistent chronic hunger and poverty; we help tell their story Train: We train people in developing countries in the use of Quality Protein Maize (QPM). This increases crop yields and improves nutrition. We assist local farm families with planting, Improve: We improve infant and pre-school children's diets by administering an improved porridge feeding program. Made from QPM and pinches of barley malt, this combination has been proven to alleviate malnutrition, thwart sickness, and keep children in school so they can continue their education. Empower: We provide micro-credit loans for women to start small scale businesses. This availability of credit empowers women and increases their income - because they do not have access to traditional financing. Cooperate: We cooperate with other organizations and agencies in the introduction of appropriate farming practices or advancement in the battle against poverty and malnutrition.

The purpose of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY is to monitor, educate, support and influence the implementation of the commitments and agreements adopted by the United Nations that pertain to sustainable development as defined by the UN Conference on Environment and Development, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the MDGs, the SDGs, Rio+20 and Post-2015 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Agenda. We seek to be knowledgeable about sustainable development issues under discussion or expected to be discussed by the United Nations for the High Level Political Forum. We focus attention on education at all levels and promote the programs of the United Nations on 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the success of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, working closely with relevant UN commissions and agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the Centre for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat), UNDP, UNDESA, UN Women, UNFPA, UNDPI and UNODA. Through our programs we promote and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and the dissemination of information on sustainable development issues with meetings, webinars and events for the our NGO community and the general public to raise awareness toward action plans and agendas. We work with Ambassadors and Permanent Missions to the United Nations, UN Agencies, members of civil society, academia which includes women, youth, people with disabilities, indigenous leaders, with people of all ages and regions, including members of the private sector and sustainable development experts in energy, health, water, climate change, protecting our oceans and infrastructure to bring about partnerships and collaborations that fosters innovative solutions for sustainable development, social impact initiatives and gender equality so we - “Leave No One Behind.”

Africa Schoolhouse (ASH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing quality education, medical care, job training and clean water to rural villages in Northern Tanzania. In order to achieve these goals, ASH works in partnership with communities and the local government to build desperately needed schools, deep wells and medical clinics, creating an environment that enables residents to live full, productive and healthy lives. ASH was founded in 2006 after village elders from Ntyula, Tanzania approached founder Dr. Aimee Bessire with the idea of building a school for their children and a medical clinic for the entire community. Dr. Bessire, who has a decades long relationship with the people of Ntulya, was determined to take action. Within six months, the Africa Schoolhouse board was assembled. ASH broke ground on its first project, the Ntulya Primary School and campus, in July 2008 and completed construction in 2010. President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, personally inaugurated the new school and declared it a model for all rural schools in the country. The villagers talked about how proud they were that the President came to visit the school they had helped to build. Following the request of the Ntulya elders, the organization completed a modern medical clinic the following year, which now serves approximately 4,500 people. ASH continued working with local communities in the region to identify need and completed the renovation of Mwaniko Secondary School and Shilanona Primary School in 2012 and 2014. Improvements at these locations included building a bio-chemistry lab and the installation of the first solar-powered computer lab in Misungwi District. ASH also trained a local work-force to help with the construction and continued maintenance of these projects. ASH's newest project is to construct an all-girls boarding school-the first in Misungwi District. This exemplary school will provide space for 360 girls in Forms 1-4, with the possibility to expand the campus and add another 80 girls in Forms 5-6 as needed in later years. Currently only 1% of Tanzanian girls complete secondary school education. They face a wide range of obstacles to their education, including everything from families who privilege the education of sons over daughters, to girls being married off at young ages, and unsafe journeys to school. One of the largest issues faced by girls is finding a safe place to live while pursuing their education. In this rural area, many girls travel long distances to reach school. Safe passage to and from school is a critical issue. We want to provide a safe living situation for young women to delight in their education. ASH is partnering with Misungwi District to build a much-needed safe haven for girls, empowering them through education to grow into strong, healthy women. In addition to a standard academic curriculum, the school will also promote leadership, entrepreneurship, social justice and care for the environment. The school will create an essential safe space where young women can successfully complete their studies and grow into empowered, independent adults. As with our other projects ASH is collaborating with the local communities, school committee, and Tanzanian government. We are building this school at the request of the local community, who identified this as their greatest need. The school will be staffed and run by the District once completed. The District has selected Florencia Ndabashe to be the school's head teacher. Ndabashe currently leads a co-ed secondary school in Misungwi and brings great energy to her work. She will be a strong leader for the girls school, inspiring her fellow teachers and serving as an excellent role model for young women.

Fundacion Via Cocina is a community based project focused on improving the health and economic development of vulnerable women, youth and underprivileged in Medellin Colombia. With a personalized training and mentoring system sharing healthy food recipes, cooking techniques and applied financial planning and entrepreneurial small business fundamentals, we build a program for individuals and families based on their current reality, applying the training to objectives created with them, for them, in their own home. Additionally, we provide classes to individuals and groups who want to learn to cook healthy dishes with local ingredients for their families, transforming them into uncommon flavors that are low in fat, oil, salt and sugar-free. These activities look to decrease frequency and severity of non-communicable diseases in the communities, including obesity, diabetes and cholesterol.

With the goal of helping under-served communities in India, Nepal, and Tibet receive the vital services they need, Karuna-Shechen was founded in 2000 by Matthieu Ricard (www.matthieuricard.org), renown TED speaker, author, and humanitarian. We strive to reduce inequalities and work toward a fairer and more compassionate world. We trust that communities can be lifted out of poverty, that change is possible, and that the well-being of every individual, regardless of race, gender, class, or caste, is essential. We believe that building on local strengths and knowledge is the most efficient way to respond to the specific needs and aspirations of our beneficiaries. Rooted in the ideal of "compassion in action", we serve others with joy and determination by cultivating altruism in our hearts and actions. We provide vulnerable and disadvantaged populations access to health care, education and vocational training, clean water, solar electricity, and other sustainable solutions that offer options to find a livelihood and a better life. We work with a grassroots network of local partners, and give special attention to the education and empowerment of girls and women. Karuna-Shechen's name expresses its mission while paying homage to its roots: Karuna means "compassion" in Sanskrit, and Shechen is the name of a major monastery in Tibet.

The Advocacy Project - A Voice for the Voiceless The Advocacy Project (AP) helps marginalized communities around the world take action against the root causes of their disempowerment in a way that benefits society as a whole and produces social change. To do this, we partner with community-based advocates who represent these communities and share their problems. Our support for partners is innovative and effective. First, we deploy Peace Fellows (experienced graduate students) to help partners tell their story, launch campaigns, and strengthen their organization: we have deployed 274 Peace Fellows since 2003, and in the process given our Fellows a unique experience. Second, we help partners to raise funds and manage their campaigns: we have raised over $2.5 million for partners, and are currently seeking funds through Global Giving for exciting projects in Nepal, Vietnam and Uganda. Third, we promote the work of partners internationally, using new methods of story-telling such as advocacy quilting: over 300 women have produced embroidered panels for our quilts, which have been shown throughout North America and Europe. AP is a 501(c)3 organization, based in Washington DC. Visit us at www.advocacynet.org

Mission: "Girl Scouts build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place." The Value proposition is that Girl Scouts is where girls find their voices and make them matter. The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland has served the Metropolitan area since 1962. In the ensuing five decades, the neighborhoods and communities of Baltimore City and certain surrounding counties have changed. The GSCM has endeavored to change to be responsive to these changing demographics and keep current with the needs of girls in Central Maryland. GSCM conducted extensive research into the needs of girls and young women who live in Baltimore City. The families in these areas are typically single-parent families with income levels near the poverty line. Many parents work more than one job to make ends meet. And then there is the special group of girls, often forgotten, who are separated from their mother for reasons over which they had no control. Delivering the extra-curricular activities that are necessary for girls to achieve later in life is a founding principle and goal of Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. This includes learning the real meaning behind the Girl Scout Law of "I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. In underserved communities there is a lack of availability of programs, and lack of transportation. GSCM intends to continue to fill this void with its Beyond Bars program and needs your support to assure we can continue to transport girls from their neighborhoods to the facility which houses their mother. Overall, for the entire council, the goals for 2015-2018 were established for a target population of girls in kindergarten through 12th grade, the goals and are: (a) to empower a culturally diverse population of girls through engagement in a Girl Scout leadership pathway; (b) to increase the reach of GSCM's programs and unique experiences by enrolling an increased number of girls, particularly girls from underserved communities, as members of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland; and (c) to recruit, screen and orient new and existing adult volunteers, who are guided and trained to mentor a culturally diverse Girl Scout population.

WE CARE Solar promotes safe motherhood and reduces maternal mortality in developing regions by providing health workers with reliable lighting, mobile communication, and blood bank refrigeration using solar electricity. The Problem Maternal mortality worldwide accounts for more than half a million deaths a year; 99 percent of these occur in underdeveloped countries. For every maternal death, at least 20 women suffer severe complications from childbirth. Major causes of maternal death include obstetric hemorrhage, obstructive labor, eclampsia, and sepsis. These emergencies cannot always be predicted, nor are they always preventable. However, with prompt, appropriate and reliable medical care, they are unlikely to result in loss of life. Sporadic electricity impairs the operation of surgical wards, delivery wards, essential hospital equipment, and hospital communication devices. This compromises the ability of health workers to provide safe, appropriate and timely medical care. Labor and delivery nurses cannot quickly notify on-call physicians of emergencies. Midwives and physicians are forced to make treatment decisions without the benefit of necessary diagnostic tests. Obstetric procedures and emergency surgeries are conducted under grossly suboptimal conditions, and can have tragic consequences. Our Background Co-founder Dr. Laura Stachel went to Northern Nigeria in 2008 to study ways to lower maternal mortality in state hospitals. She witnessed deplorable conditions in state facilities including sporadic electricity that impaired maternity and surgical care. Without a reliable source of electricity, nighttime deliveries were attended in near darkness, cesarean sections were cancelled or conducted by flashlight, and critically ill patients waited hours or days for life-saving procedures. The outcomes were often tragic. Laura wrote to her husband, Hal Aronson, a solar energy educator back in Berkeley, California. Together, Laura and Hal co-founded WE CARE Solar to improve maternal health outcomes in regions without reliable electricity. Hal designed an off-grid solar electric system for the hospital Laura was studying, targeting the maternity ward, labor room, laboratory and operating theatre. A Portable Solution Hal created a suitcase-sized prototype of the hospital solar electric system so Laura could show Nigerian hospital workers the LED lights, headlamps and walkie-talkies planned for deployment. When Laura returned to Nigeria toting the "solar suitcase," her Nigerian colleagues immediately grasped its significance and began using this kit to charge headlamps and walkie-talkies while they awaited the larger solar installation. In addition, hospital employees introduced Laura to clinicians in outlying health facilities who begged her to bring solar lighting to their own clinics, too. Our five-year goal is to serve 5 million mothers in remote areas by deploying 10,000 Solar Suitcases to health care facilities around the globe.

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.