As EARTH University comes into its fourth decade, we are eager to create new and lasting partnerships with like-minded corporations and foundations who will support and encourage our students to be global leaders and agents of change. We have a long history of collaboration with organizations that have funded student scholarships, fellowships, and a variety of community projects which, led by EARTH, are designed to help improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Companies have also hosted student interns and offered job opportunities to our graduates.
| OUR MISSION: | OUR VISION: | OUR VALUES: |
| Prepare leaders with ethical values to contribute to sustainable development and to construct a prosperous and just society. | Our actions are mission-driven to alleviate poverty, promote social justice and build a future where our communities achieve sustainable and shared prosperity. |
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Our partners
Costa Farms, headquartered in Miami, Florida, is one of the largest horticultural growers in the world. For several years, it has had a very close relationship with the EARTH.Several students have completed internships with Costa Farms and a number graduates are employees both in the Dominican Republic and in the USA. Costa Farms finds EARTH graduates to be well rounded with strong practical experience and have expressed that they are excellent employees.
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The company sprouted in 1961 when its founder, Jose Costa Sr., purchased 30 acres south of Miami to grow fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes in the winter and calamondin citrus in the summer. That soon morphed into houseplants, and the Costa Farms family started innovating and introduced new houseplants such as the canela tree and Cecilia Aglaonema. Costa Farms starts and propagates many of their own plants at their nursery in the Dominican Republic. EARTH is thrilled Costa Farms has been so pleased with EARTH graduates and looks forward to their recruiting trips to campus to meet and interview students from the next graduating class!
Cummins has contributed generously to EARTH with financial and professional support since 2010.Cummins provided an endowed scholarship fund that has supported 24 students with full scholarships since 2011. Read more
They have provided an endowed scholarship fund which has suppor ted 24 students with full scholarships since 2011. In addition, Cummins provides suppor t for two professors annually through an endowed professorship. In addition, a former senior Cummins executive ser ves as a member of the EARTH University Board of Directors and formerly with the EARTH University Foundation Board of Trustees. Cummins’ government relations team in Washington, D.C . helped the university build relationships with government officials from around the world. In addition, a number of Cummins leaders have assisted with projects designed to help EARTH create a long-term strategic financial plan, to improve the operating efficiency of its business ventures and to better assess the impact its graduates have on their communities. Cummins employees have worked with EARTH to explore possible commercial markets for the “smar t microbes” mixtures that are developed from recycled animal waste and which can be used to repel insects on livestock, fight fungus on plants and even be conver ted into a cleaning solution to reduce odor in livestock barns. Finally, Cummins was a major par ticipant in the university’s “EARTH Plants the Future” program in 2010 planting 100,000 trees, including 33,000 on EARTH’s main campus.
For over 25 years, Kalsec has generously supported EARTH financially and has partnered with us by providing an internship opportunity for one of our students each year.Read more“EARTH University is a most unique and special place. I first visited in 1992 and immediately fell in love with the students, faculty, administration and campus. It embodies the best that humanity has to offer in terms of fundamental values and our connection to each other and the planet,” said George Todd, Executive Chairman of the Board, Kalsec. “Over 40 countries are represented in the student body at EARTH with many coming from countries where our spices are grown and sourced. This is one way we can give back to the communities that have given so much to us.”
“The Kalsec intern program provides an exceptional learning environment for our EARTH University students and is one of the most coveted among our third-years. The experience also includes immersion in U.S. culture through the wonderful hospitality of Kalsec host families. We are extremely appreciative of Kalsec’s ongoing generosity to the EARTH scholarship fund and to other key programs. Kalsec has been a cherished EARTH partner for over 25 years,” said Arturo Condo, President, EARTH University.
“The Kalsec intern program provides an exceptional learning environment for our EARTH University students and is one of the most coveted among our third-years. The experience also includes immersion in U.S. culture through the wonderful hospitality of Kalsec host families. We are extremely appreciative of Kalsec’s ongoing generosity to the EARTH scholarship fund and to other key programs. Kalsec has been a cherished EARTH partner for over 25 years,” said Arturo Condo, President, EARTH University.
Since 2011, EARTH has collaborated with the Mastercard Foundation in its ambitious goal to enable 30 million young people in Africa, especially young women and young people from refugee communitiesto secure dignified and fulfilling work. Increased and more equitable access to high quality tertiary education is crucial to achieving this goal, and EARTH and the Mastercard Foundation agree that agriculture will play a central role in the social and economic transformation of the African continent.Read more EARTH is uniquely qualified to partner with the Mastercard Foundation in this program, as EARTH’s holistic approach to preparing young leaders for the sector touches on all aspects of the sustainable agricultural value chain as well as emphasizing the critical role of entrepreneurship. By 2028, the Mastercard Foundation will have supported 370 full scholarships at EARTH University, for young leaders from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. As the partnership continues, the components of the collaboration grow. An exciting new initiative in our partnership is a Fellowship Program, developed to enhance and facilitate the transition of African graduates to the world of work and entrepreneurship in their countries and communities of origin. Another new initiative is the development of a series of online resources, focused on entrepreneurship, to benefit EARTH graduates and others.
EARTH University is excited to launch a new project in partnership with Patagonia that will integrate and advance regenerative organic practices on small cacao farms in Costa Rica.The initiative seeks to strengthen the knowledge of 50 cacao-producing families in the province of Limón by implementing regenerative agricultural principles on one of EARTH’s model farms and implementing a participatory and holistic training program for participating farmers.Read moreThe training program will address topics such as soil health and land management, animal welfare, and farmer and worker fairness while promoting the use of good agricultural practices for organic crop production and soil regeneration.
Thanks to the support of Patagonia, the practice of regenerative organic agriculture will contribute to strengthening and recovering the soil on these cacao farms, addressing the impact caused by the use of chemical products on the soil and also supporting climate change mitigation.
Starbucks has a research farm a few hours from EARTH’s campus.They have graciously hosted EARTH students and professors at their farm annually, for field training. In early 2020, executives from Starbucks came to campus to meet EARTH’s amazing students, faculty and staff. Read moreThey toured campus and saw some of the great work EARTH is doing with coffee crops both on campus and off, supporting coffee farmers in Costa Rica with new technologies and expertise in resource management. Starbucks now supports a student with a full scholarship. This student is interested in pursuing a career in coffee farming. What a great opportunity for everyone engaged in this collaboration. You can also find EARTH bananas for sale in Starbucks stores in the UK!
In 2018, Stumptown released a special edition of their Guatemala Bella Vista coffee. One dollar from every bag sold went to supporting a student's scholarship to EARTH University. Stumptown is supporting a woman from Jalapa, a rural area in Guatemala. Her name is María Alejandra. Read moreStumptown believes that the people best positioned to create solutions to sustainability challenges at origin, are those who live at origin. They make sure these efforts are led by institutions like EARTH and local leaders like María Alejandra.
María Alejandra says, “I chose EARTH because after doing a lot of research, I saw that this was the only university that focuses on the well-being of people and the environment, as well as on teaching students about entrepreneurship and leadership. There was no other option for me. I didn’t apply anywhere else. When I received the news that I had been accepted in November 2018, I was extremely shocked and very happy! I had bet everything on this opportunity and it paid off. My family, especially my father, is very happy for me and could not be more proud. I am so thankful for the opportunity and for my scholarship, because without the financial support, I wouldn’t be here.”
Jalapa’s economy relies heavily on agriculture and the coffee industry; María Alejandra is attending EARTH with the intention of becoming a successful agronomist so she can return home and improve the livelihoods of people in her community.
María Alejandra says, “I chose EARTH because after doing a lot of research, I saw that this was the only university that focuses on the well-being of people and the environment, as well as on teaching students about entrepreneurship and leadership. There was no other option for me. I didn’t apply anywhere else. When I received the news that I had been accepted in November 2018, I was extremely shocked and very happy! I had bet everything on this opportunity and it paid off. My family, especially my father, is very happy for me and could not be more proud. I am so thankful for the opportunity and for my scholarship, because without the financial support, I wouldn’t be here.”
Jalapa’s economy relies heavily on agriculture and the coffee industry; María Alejandra is attending EARTH with the intention of becoming a successful agronomist so she can return home and improve the livelihoods of people in her community.
The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) supports EARTH students with scholarships from its Coca-Cola First Generation College Scholarships program.TCCF has supported eleven students since 1990 and four new TCCF students began classes in 2022. In addition, TCCF has planted six acres of trees through EARTH’s “I Plant a Forest” program.Read more“We all come from different places and sometimes we think that our place is the most abandoned or the one that has the most difficulties, but hearing the stories of people from other parts of the world lets you know that this is not the case, as partners in Africa who do not have water for irrigation. Listening to the stories of others helped me to understand that everything we set out to do, is possible.” – Fredy, TCCF student, Guatemala.
Walmart has provided two generous grants to EARTH University (one in 2020 and another in 2022).These grants support hundreds of farmers in Costa Rica and Guatemala and seek three objectives:Read more
- Help participants improve the sustainable management of their farms to improve overall production from their crops through precision agriculture. EARTH especially encourages female farmers to participate and to become leaders in their communities.
- Teach participants how to better access local markets, diversify and sell more product, and strengthen their overall livelihoods for themselves, their families, and their communities.
- Educate young people about the importance of agriculture, as well as help them become familiar with the technology available that can help them be successful, preparing them to be the next generation of agricultural entrepreneurs.
Since 2001, the bananas produced on campus at EARTH University’s commercial plantation have been distributed at Whole Foods Markets in the U.S. EARTH bananas are classified by Whole Foods Market as “best” in the supermarket chain’s Responsibly Grown produce rating system. Read moreThe rating system divides fruits, flowers and vegetables into three categories: Good, Better and Best, based on the supplier’s farming practices. According to Whole Foods Market, a “best” rating indicates “exceptional, industry-leading performance” in a scorings system covering multiple topics in each of these key categories:
- Pest management
- GMO transparency
- Farmworker welfare
- Water conservation & protection
- Air, energy & climate
- Ecosystems & biodiversity
- Waste reduction
- Enhancing soil health
EARTH bananas taste great and can be identified by the EARTH University stickers found on each bunch. Profits from EARTH bananas provide scholarships for EARTH students. Not only that, the plantation is a real time learning lab for students on campus and provides job opportunities for EARTH’s neighbors in surrounding communities.