Proteak’s founders, Hector Bonilla and Javier Diaz Calvo have created a profitable, sustainable teak company in a sector otherwise marred by illegal logging and corruption. Hector’s talent for spotting market potential led him to create three startups before a drive past a plantation in Mexico inspired him to research the sizable $12 billion global teak market. Both Hector and Javier were impressed by teak’s price, which is increasing at a rate of six percent annually and commonly sells at $12 per board foot, as compared to $2-$7 per board foot for most other woods.

Proteak’s vision is to operate as a business that addresses social, environmental and economic concerns. Because of its commitment to sustainable business practice, Proteak serves as a model in an industry in which illegal logging runs rampant and the major regions of production in Southeast Asia experience deforestation rates of about one percent per year. Hector candidly asserts that he does not see a separation between profits and sustainable practices. His group is committed to promoting responsible forestry practices and soil management. The 820 hectares of land that Proteak has planted are treated with the minimum possible amount of chemicals, and the trees populating these plantations take in the equivalent of 5,000 cars worth of CO2 emissions every year. The company is also committed to providing benefits for the local community; it is working to reinvigorate agriculture in a region where manufacturing has come to dominate, and Proteak employees receive better pay and benefits than the average worker in their sector.

When discussing these social concerns, Hector is quick to add that he and his board are fundamentally “all about numbers,” and argues that his 50 investors have been drawn in primarily by the 24% projected return on investment. Hector credits his management team with being one of the best and most knowledgeable in the industry. The company has bolstered its marketing strategy with extensive support from New Ventures, a program of the World Resources Institute dedicated to spurring investment in sustainable enterprise. With these strong management and marketing abilities, Proteak has raised $4 million of capital in five successful rounds of investment. In a sector notoriously controlled by inefficient, state-run companies, the Proteak team’s impressive private sector background makes them stand out as a highly productive and profitable enterprise.

Proteak’s superior business model and experienced team combine sustainable practices and solid leadership to create a reliable strategy for growth. This approach earned the company recognition as a winner in the 2005 New Ventures Mexico Investor Forum and ensures that as it sells its first trees on the open market next year, Proteak will continue to thrive.

With years of guiding experience, Eduardo Nycander and Kurt Holle created Rainforest Expeditions (RFE) in 1992. Located in the southeast of Peru in Madre de Dios, RFE educates tourists about conservation and sustainable development while providing job opportunities to the local community. The company runs four complementary ecolodges: the 18 room Tambopata Research Center (1992), the 30 room Posada Amazonas (1998), the 24 room Refugio Amazonas (2005) and the recently opened 18 room Konchukos Tambo, near Huascaran National Park north of Lima.

Among these lodges, Posada Amazonas is renowned for its unique partnership with the community of Infierno. RFE offers financing and experience, while the community provides labor and local knowledge of the natural environment. And while profits are split between the company and the community, ownership belongs to the latter.

The community-owned lodge is delivering great outcomes. Not only is it generating profit for RFE, but it is also placing the company in the limelight for potential clients and investors, creating a buzz around the fact that it fully engages a local community. For the Infierno community, it provides full ownership and a participatory process that allows it to pursue long term visions for sustainable development both within the community itself and the wider Amazonian region. In addition to its annual income of over US $250,000 and more than 30 permanent full time positions, Posada Amazonas has also led to the creation of four other small businesses in the community.

With over 50 employees, the recent addition of Refugio Amazonas, and the development of new products ranging from shorter 2-3 day general tours to an array of specialized tours (e.g. birding tours, academic tours), the company continues to attract new investments with plans to expand to other communities in the Andean region. RFE demonstrates how well-managed ecotourism can achieve environmental protection, social benefits, and economic growth.

Aires de Campo taps into an emerging base of "conscious consumers" by selling locally produced organic food products at a competitive price.

When Pablo Muñozledo decided to build an organic store in 2001, there was no major market for such products. Unlike in the United States, where companies like Whole Foods were growing rapidly by appealing to eco-friendly consumers, these services were not in high demand in Mexico. It is in this environment that a pioneering entrepreneur created a company that sought to support local organic farmers by delivering their high quality products to the urban residents of Mexico City.

Solar Cookers International assists communities to use the power of the sun to cook food and pasteurize water for the benefit of people and environments. The organization has built and maintains a network of nearly 1,000 independent promoters of solar cooking worldwide. Information is gathered and shared through two web sites, conferences, the Solar Cooker Review. Tens of thousands of people have learned how to make and use solar cookers for cooking, water pasteurizing and many business uses through SCI's publications. Other products include teaching curricula, training guides, a Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) and various solar cookers.

In 1997, the NEF began working with 7 villages in Northern Morocco to promote female education and leadership by organizing local literacy initiatives and associating groups of rural women leaders.

The program has since expanded to 15 villages, and in collaboration with the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), NEF seeks to establish income-generating projects with one or more parent-teacher associations (PTAs) within these communities.

MIGHTYLIGHT is a simple-to-use, long-life, environmental friendly, pollution free, multi-purpose light using not only solar power but also most innovatively using a high technology, extremely energy efficient LED as its light source. This LED consumes only 1 Watt power and is rated to last 100,000 hours i.e. more than 30 years at the rate of 8 hour consumption per day (instead of conventional bulbs that consume much more power and fuse often).

Of the half a million or so villages in India, about 310,000 villages have been declared to be electrified and 80,000 more villages remain completely un-electrified.

Decentralised Energy Systems India (DESI) runs a "Village EmPower Partnership project" to help provide energy and jobs in rural villages of India in an environmentally sustainable way. Each small biomass
power plant (100kw) built by DESI is owned by a village cooperative and creates at least 50 direct and indirect jobs per village. The increased income particularly helps improve the health and overall quality of life for women, while also increasing farm output and incomes.