The Rainforest Alliance was founded in 1986 as an international nonprofit with a mission to conserve biodiversity and ensure livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Now with 261 employees, the New York-based firm works primarily within the forestry, agriculture and tourism industries, training local communities and cooperatives in best environmental, economic and social sustainability practices.
Exemplifying a theme that Winning Workplaces identified among the 2008 Top Small Workplaces, Tensie Whelan, president of the firm, sees business as an agent for positive social change. "We're working to mainstream sustainability," she says.
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Initially, funding for their work came from individuals and foundations. Over the past seven years, though, development of environmental and social viability standards in forest management, agriculture and tourism has led to wide adoption of their certification program. Rainforest Alliance seals are now highly visible in all three markets.
"We leverage markets by providing clear standards for transformative change at a production level," explains Whelan. "We have now certified 15 percent of the world's bananas, 3 percent of the world's tea and coffee, 5 percent of the world's forests – and we are really just getting started."
This certification process is often described by clients and consumers as more comprehensive than that of alternative programs, as it looks beyond equity in the trading system. "We want farmers to have a management system that equips them for the 21st century – one that protects their water and soil, the world's biodiversity and their worker," explains Whelan.
"For them it starts and ends with integrity," said one corporate client. This speaks to the nonprofit's uncanny ability to align employee passions with the firm's goals. The Rainforest Alliance looks for employees who understand and embrace their mission so they are already converts, says Whelan.
"I don't think that our staff can be separated from our values," says Maria Ghiso, an outreach coordinator who's been with the nonprofit for nine years. Indeed, it is these values, many employees say, which led them to the organization in the first place.
The Rainforest Alliance is known internationally for offering career growth opportunities to its junior-level associates, and its capacity for hiring those who "practice what they preach." Further, their mission appeals to many recent college graduates. As Danner Friendman, an associate in the Business Development area explains, "I think universities really spark interest in students to develop their own ideals, and working for the Rainforest Alliance is a way to apply environmentally and socially conscious interests to the 'real world.'"
The nonprofit also strongly encourages employee participation and development, enhancing the level of communication and engagement across the organization. Although it invests heavily in education and travel for many employees, Whelan says that even for those staff whose jobs do not include travel, the Rainforest Alliance offers an "Employee Exchange" program where staff are able to visit and work with an office in a different country for one week.
Dresden Joswig, communications associate with the firm for 18 months, recently benefited from this initiative. She had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica and visit the Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee, banana and flower farms.
"It was an opportunity to see our work firsthand – something many entry-level staff at other organizations never have the opportunity to do – and it made it so much easier to feel passionate about our work and to write about it," she says. "Seeing the farmers who were benefiting from our standards really brought the significance of our work to life."
Indeed, the Rainforest Alliance has drawn attention globally for emphasizing hands-on experience, coupled with project-ownership and the freedom given to professionals in shaping their own projects. Addie Webster is another associate who relishes the investment the organization has made in her. As the customer service coordinator for Africa and Asia Pacific, now based in Costa Rica, she recognizes that, even in an entry-level job in the U.S., she was given great opportunity to meet and interact with top-level clients.
"I'm living in a foreign country and doing my dream job, after only a few years of working at the Rainforest Alliance," Webster says.
Ghizo raves about the potential to learn and grow in their work environment, adding that all ideas and suggestions are given equal consideration, and are not based on the position of the individual putting them forth. As Whelan says, this reflects leadership's desire for the executives to remain approachable to all those they supervise. Some of their best practices to live this value include:
This approach has generated many employee-led projects and a high level of involvement. In Costa Rica a very active Best Practices Committee has developed new projects and initiatives to improve the environmental impact of the office. And for Webster, the creation of her largest project, an annual coffee cupping event, was defined by great support and free rein.
"I really got to brainstorm and organize the event from start to finish," she says. "It was really rewarding to be able to see it all through to fruition."
The Rainforest Alliance functions globally to effect positive social and environmental results, the likes of which have impressed governments and NGOs worldwide. Yet, as Business Development Associate Danner Friedman, a three-year employee, explains, it remains "a very personal organization where our President knows all of our names."
Company: The Rainforest Alliance
Web site: www.rainforest-alliance.org
Industry: Environmental nonprofit
Location: New York, NY
Number of Employees: 261
Sales: $25.5 million
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