I clearly remember my first day as an intern at Trees, Water & People (TWP) in 2005. Stepping off the plane in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, I was bowled over by the enormity of what I had been hired to do – improve lives in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere by changing the way people cooked. This audacious goal was a vision of two foresters – Stuart Conway and Richard Fox – who realized that to preserve the health of tropical forests, we had to understand why they were being cut down in the first place.
This was a socio-economic challenge, not just an environmental one, and this distinction set the stage for what TWP would become - an organization that meets people where they are, to work on natural resource challenges that they’ve prioritized, in an effort to improve standards of living for their families, communities, and countries. 25 years later, we reflect on the importance of this approach, the relationships it has helped us build, and the impact it has helped us create, in partnership with people who’d like to see a more sustainable future for us all.
Enjoy these 25 stories from our journey - we hope they inspire another 25 years of great work.
Sebastian Africano
Executive Director
ROOTED: 25 years of helping people and the planet
Trees, Water & People Co-Founders Richard Fox, Stuart Conway and Jenny Bramhall
We will be posting short stories for the next 25 weeks. Make sure to come back and follow along or follow us on Instagram.
TWP’s next chapter will be a beautiful one — marked by new partnerships and alliances, greater impact, and a stronger, more diverse network stretching from the Rocky Mountains to Central America. We’re building on our success as a convener of talented local organizations, and providing them with resources to create change in the communities they serve. We’re betting on the next generation, and developing talent among young people that want to steward the earth, advance equity, and improve their societies from within.