“The year our university celebrated 30 years of working for a world where dignity, inclusion and sustainability prevail, was the same year in which we felt, more than ever, that EARTH is the change the world needs.”
"This crisis has given us new tools to work with in our Academic Program, and as the saying goes: one who doesn’t learn from a crisis misses a great opportunity."
Amid the compounding complications of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, EARTH University alumni sought to uplift. We witnessed an amazing act of solidarity among our 28 graduate cohorts: they created an alumni-led fundraising campaign to support the next generation of change agents - and it exceeded all expectations!
US$ 335,546.50 raised
The funds donated by alumni, their families, friends and organizations were matched by an anonymous donor. They will provide partial scholarships to 6 students from the class of 2021-2024 and a seed fund for the 2021 alumni campaign.
Donations were received from:
Terence is the creator and president of the COHONDUCAFE Foundation, a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote the sustainability and development of coffee-growing communities in Honduras. Thanks to the work of the Foundation, 24,000 families (140,000 people) have benefited from training and technical assistance. Nine educational centers and three libraries have been built and more than 240,000 school kits have been delivered to children. In addition, the Foundation has established more than 30 alliances and co-investment agreements with international coffee buyers, cooperation agencies, NGOs, universities, government institutions, and private enterprises, among others.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Terence has worked together with NESTLÉ to provide virtual courses on training and coffee quality aimed at young people. The entire team he leads has adapted to provide online technical assistance to producers in coffee-growing areas in Honduras.
"At EARTH, we are motivated to return to our countries after graduation to take our knowledge back to improve the social, environmental and agricultural conditions in our regions. This is what motivated me to start COHONDUCAFE Foundation, to give all my knowledge to my country, my sector and my people".
Sylvia was one of the first Africans to graduate from EARTH. In 2013, she materialized her dream of becoming an entrepreneur and founded Farm Reap, a company that has two business areas: environmental consultancies to maximize the potential of different projects, and the production of top quality yogurt in Kampala, Uganda. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she adapted to unexpected changes to sustain her business and increase the pace of production and sales.
As one of the 2020 winners of the Growing Women's Entrepreneurship (GroWE) award through the Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation program, she received mentoring and created partnerships to help Farm Reap grow even more in a time of global crisis.
“Education at EARTH has shaped me and allowed me to realize that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. It has also provided me with the tools to investigate, adapt, help others and be resilient under any circumstance ”.
With generous support from the Walmart Foundation, EARTH Futures - the global solutions center of EARTH University - is developing a support model to strengthen small producers in Costa Rica and Guatemala through precision agriculture and improved access to markets.
“The Walmart Foundation is pleased to support EARTH, a leading global agriculture university with a diverse, highly skilled alumni network, student and teaching body. The regional design and reach of the program will transfer and build essential skills for more sustainable production systems, introduce new buyers and markets, with the end goal of increasing farmer livelihoods.” - The Walmart Foundation, philanthropic funder, “Innovation in Agriculture” grant program for Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Our innovative solution center trained hundreds of smallholder farmers and is expanding our community impact beyond Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Launched in partnership with Mastercard Foundation to support graduates transition to change agents for Africa. Our inaugural cohort included 17 fellows from 7 African countries.
26 students from Africa, Haiti, and Brazil completed EARTH's full-immersion Spanish program virtually in the fall and joined the class of 2021-2024 in January ready to begin classes in Spanish.
We quickly adapted to virtual mode in March and re-introduced partial in-person learning in July with rigorous safety protocols, completing the year with no loss of learning.
One highlight: 46% of EARTH alumni donated in 2020!
Students graduated with a socially-distanced outdoor ceremony, cheered on by friends and family around the world via Facebook Live. For the second time in EARTH University history, we graduated more women than men.
Thanks to a successful virtual admissions process, we welcomed a full class of 119 young leaders in January, from 26 countries, including our first student from DCR and 6 students recruited from refugee communities.
EARTH launched a successful lab in its campus, combining fertilization and irrigation with precision agriculture to increase yield while decreasing resource use and environmental impact.
Three EARTH students won The Sustainability Prize and $10,000 in seed money for their LlamaBrick project to address both waste and pollution issues by sourcing low-pollution paper briquettes from sawdust and community paper waste.
Careful stewardship of resources, together with growth in charitable gifts and commercial activities, are contributing to a healthy financial picture that enables us to fulfill our mission.
| Fund Sources | |
|---|---|
| Grants | $ 9,054 |
| Tuition paid by students | $ 1,937 |
| Other Income (Commercial Activities and other) | $ 1,392 |
| EARTH Endowment | $ 7,938 |
| Total | $ 20,322 |
| Expenses | |
|---|---|
| Salaries and benefits for personnel | $ 14,521 |
| Operating Expenses | $ 5,278 |
| Equipment | $ 480 |
| Contigencies | $ 42 |
| Total | $ 20,322 |
From its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the EARTH University Foundation – a registered 501 (c)(3) public charity – provides vital funding for EARTH’s educational mission, programs and projects thanks to generous gifts from a global community of supporters.
| Assets | |
|---|---|
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | $2,674,116 |
| Pledge Receivable, net | $2,833,015 |
| Endowment and Other Investments | $75,347,945 |
| Other Assets | $655,547 |
| Total Assets | $81,510,623 |
| Liabilities and Net Assets | |
|---|---|
| Liabilities | $576,919 |
| Net Assets | $80,933,704 |
| Total Liabilities and Net Assets | $ 81,510,623 |
| Programs | Fundraising | Administrative | Total Expenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scholarships | $ 4,914,875 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 4,914,875 |
| Project and Program Expense | $2,323,875 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 2,323,875 |
| Foundation Operations | $ 295,694 | $ 707,507 | $ 511,030 | $ 1,514,231 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $ 7,534,444 | $ 707,507 | $ 511,030 | $ 8,752,981 |
We recognize and appreciate the generous support of the following donors whose gifts were received in 2020, with special thanks to those whose lifetime giving exceeds US$1 million. These individuals, businesses, foundations, governments and international organizations make our mission possible.
“I was first attracted to EARTH because of the students, their idealism and desire to make the world a better place especially the rural areas. Later I was impressed by the faculty and leadership of the University and I share its values and mission. EARTH is truly unique, and my life has been enriched having become a member of the EARTH family.”
“I accepted an invitation to join the board of EARTH because I have always been drawn to the potential transformative impact of the least likely people— young people plucked from relative obscurity in distant corners of the developing world and given a world class education in the art and science of regenerative agriculture. These young people will yet help save our planet. More than most they deserve our support. There is much we can learn from them.”
“EARTH’s mission embraces several of my passions: the education of inquisitive young people, the development of environmental sustainability, extensive leadership training and intensive entrepreneurial projects, all of which combine to produce citizens who can change the world. These forces, along with the visionary enthusiasm of EARTH’s leadership and the deeply committed creativity of our faculty make an investment in EARTH compelling. It’s inspiring and rewarding to see how EARTH’s irrepressible engine leverages this investment to power positive change. I love every moment of working with EARTH.”
Thank you for believing in EARTH’s mission, for helping us to identify opportunities amidst the crisis, and for your steadfast support of EARTH and our work during a time of unprecedented challenges.
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