News
Winrock Introduces Early-Stage Fund to Close Financing Access Gap in Arkansas
December 10, 2020
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS – DECEMBER 10, 2020 – Winrock International is pleased to announce the Validation Fund, Arkansas’ first evergreen, not-for-profit fund dedicated to deploying early-stage awards to validation-stage Arkansas startup companies. Powered by an initial $1.1 million contribution from the Walton Family Foundation (WFF), the Validation Fund aids in the creation of jobs and […]
Making Forest Conservation Pay
December 4, 2020
By Chris Warren As a boy growing up on the outskirts of Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park, Koren Gren spent his days surrounded by the natural world. Today, he still does. Gren is the leader of a group responsible for ensuring that a 30-hectare swath of trees remains healthy and intact. From Friday through Sunday […]
Resilient Together: Farmer-to-Farmer in Mali
December 3, 2020
Yacouba Diarra, an émigré from Côte d’Ivoire to Mali, has lived and worked in the small southern community of Bougouni since 2005. Diarra is a member of the 70 member Bougouni Farmers’ Cooperative (BFC), and they organize fishermen and animal breeders to mutually support one another to increase production, improve nutrition, and raise incomes throughout […]
‘Making’ a Safer World
November 12, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic brought regular life to a halt, the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, which is implemented by Winrock International, launched a task force of independent makers and manufacturers to produce personal protective equipment (PPE). Using tools such as laser-cutters and 3D printers, the Hub’s task force produced face shields, acrylic barriers and other […]
USAID and Winrock Provide Training on Using Mobile Phones for Quicker, Safer, and More Transparent Forest Protection Payments
November 10, 2020
Mrs. Dieu Thi Trang, a Chau Ma ethnic minority, grew up in the Cat Tien region in Lam Dong Province of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. From her childhood, and now as a married mother of two, Mrs. Trang and her family have relied on the Cat Tien forest for their income. To lessen dependence on forests […]
Showing Resilience in Unprecedented Times
November 3, 2020
In January of 2020, Noah Asher was feeling good. Vascugenix, the Little Rock medical device startup where he serves as CEO, had completed its fundraising. It was on track to bring its first product — a medical device called the Speed Torque invented by Vascugenix co-founder Dr. Dwight Chrisman — to market by April. “We […]
SWP Director to Present at UNC Water & Health Conference 2020
October 21, 2020
Rodolfo Camacho, project director for the Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP), will present on Thursday, October 29, at the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) Water and Health Conference. From 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Camacho will discuss lessons learned from SWP’s work on water allocation planning in the Lower Mara Basin, Tanzania. SWP […]
Launching a Specialty Coffee Movement in Myanmar
October 16, 2020
A Winrock Legacy Story The call came one day after Rick Peyser had completed another marathon — this one, the fateful 2013 Boston Marathon. He crossed the finish line moments before a pair of bombs exploded, killing three and injuring several hundred. It would have been easy to turn down the caller’s request: Could you […]
Empowering Women, Protecting Wetlands and Strengthening Co-Management in Bangladesh
October 13, 2020
What were the major components of the CREL project? CREL focused on strengthening biodiversity protection and conservation in four ecologically important regions of Bangladesh and built community and ecosystem resilience to the effects of climate change. We catalyzed more effective communication and linkages with other stakeholders, created and improved policies that support community involvement in […]
Collaborating for Native Communities
October 6, 2020
By the time A-dae Briones joined a late March conference call with national funders and partners about the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chains in the U.S., she had already spent days fielding appeals for food and water from Native American communities across the Southwest. As non-Native leaders on the call discussed the congressional […]