Ambassador: Anoka Abeyrathne , Sri Lanka
After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and other natural disasters in her native Sri Lanka, Anoka wanted to do something that would both preserve the environment and stimulate the economy. She founded Growin' Money, a foundation which has to date re-planted over 50 hectares of mangroves to prevent soil degradation and helped with the fight against climate change. More recently Growin’ Money has helped educate Sri Lankans to improve the environment and promote good economic practices. So far 5,000 farmers have been taught more sustainable and eco-friendly crop production. 300 shermen and farmers were provided with nancial management training to help them increase their economic output, many trained in ecotourism and increased their income by 80%. More recently communities are being taught digital and IT skills to open up new job opportunities, and encourage people to become part of the global job market and the global community.