Winrock International is an American nonprofit that works worldwide to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources by linking local individuals and communities with new ideas and technology. Winrock, founded in 1985, works in more than 65 countries, including the regions of Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the new Independent States of the former Soviet Union.

Projects supported by Winrock include avian influenza, child labor prevention, conflict management, human rights issues, legal reform, refugees & internally displaced persons, rural development, ecotourism, education, energy, environment, food security, forestry, microfinance, human trafficking prevention, women’s enpowerment, water projects and many other issues.

Winrock’s staff is working in Sichuan Province to help in disaster relief for the victims of the recent Chinese earthquake.

One of the Winrock’s special initiatives is the Digital Futures for Development program that provides information technology expertise to organizations and governments, promoting partnerships with technology companies and low income populations, providing information on off-grid renewable energy systems to power technology projects, using aerial survey systems to assess and monitor land use change, and many other technical services.

Winrock’s Environmental Resources Trustunit is a leader in greenhouse gas emissions trading, renewable energy certificates, energy efficiency credits and nutrient trading in watersheds. Winrock’s ERT GHG Registry is the largest online registry in the U.S. voluntary and pre-compliance carbon markets in terms of tradable verified emissions reductions.

Winrock’s John D. Rockefeller 3 Scholars Program provides research grants to Asian scholars tackling rural poverty by commissioning cross-border applied research teams on pressing agricultural and environmental challenges.

An example of one country project was the Kosovo Agribusiness Support project that provided 23 volunteer assignments over a 2 year period (2002-2004) that provided technical expertise to ethnic Albanians in storage techniques, milk processing, meat and leather processing, fruit and vegetable processing, table egg production, feed milling, oil seed crushing and specialty crops.

Winrock has American offices in Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Virginia. International affiliates of Winrock are located in India, Belgium, and the Philippines.

Information on donating or learning more about their programs can be found on their website.