Summer Non Profit Reading, Unbowed by Wangari Maathai

Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, via a NGO, plants millions of trees in Kenya and, at the same time, helps maintain democracy in her country –the more challenging, life-threatening, braver of the two feats.

For the non profit reader, what is the take away?

Her financial model: Women, who stand to benefit the most from trees, are encouraged to create nurseries with gathered native saplings. When these saplings are successfully planted and tended for six months, the women receive the equivalent of 4 cents per tree-- enough cash in poor rural areas to motivate the planting of 30 million trees in Kenya.