Nonprofits
In his role as SVP of Content & Creative at EcoMedia, a division of the CBS Corporation focusing on social good, Eric traveled to communities across the United States and four continents to tell the stories of change making nonprofits and their impacts on real people. The work of creating an extensive nonprofit image library continued when the division spun out of CBS to become its own company, Givewith. The photographs below are a sample of the dozens of assignments Eric completed in this endeavor.
Rainforest Alliance: Peru
East of the Andes, at the edge of the Amazon, small farmers and indigenous cooperatives work hand in hand with the Rainforest Alliance to achieve certification for their coffee and cacao crops. This highly sought seal, which can increase profits by up to twenty percent, is achieved through verified sustainable practices and reforestation. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Clean Cooking Alliance: Guatemala
In indigenous communities around Guatemala City and similar places throughout Latin America, indoor cooking with open flame is the cause of a myriad of health problems and choking air pollution. The Clean Cooking Alliance installs subsidized clean burning stoves which transform lives and improve communities. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Team Rubicon: ROCKPORT & HOUSTON, TEXAS
When Hurricane Harvey devastated a portion of the Gulf Coast and flooded communities around Houston, Team Rubicon, a nonprofit comprised of military veterans, jumped into action to supplement the government response to the disaster. Long after the search and rescue operations and the media had left Texas, Rubicon team members helped people pick up the pieces. Photographed on assignment for the CBS Corporation.
American Forests: Lower Rio Grand Valley, TEXAS
In an effort to reverse the massive thorn scrub habitat loss at the US/Mexican border, nonprofit American Forests organized a large scale planting effort. Working with local students and church groups, American Forests improved the private land to increase chances of wildlife repopulation. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Eden Reforestation Projects: Haiti
Global nonprofit Eden Reforestation Projects opened nurseries in four Haitian provinces with a focus on agroforestry. By producing agroforestry trees, small-scale subsistence farmers can increase food production, and food from these trees can be used by their families or sold at local markets. In addition, Eden distributed trees to schools across their reforestation project sites in Haiti, where teachers and students are trained in the skills needed to start small nurseries and grow the seedlings. A few years after planting these trees in Haiti, they have become thriving forests. Photographed on assignment for the CBS Corporation.
Reading Partners: Fort Worth, TEXAS
Reading Partners, a national nonprofit, pairs mentors with students who are having difficulty with reading comprehension. Reading Partners works with schools in underserved communities to identify children who would benefit from the enhanced guidance. In Fort Worth, Texas a retired police chief mentors a local public school student, dramatically improving his reading skills. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Playworks: Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA
Playworks, a national nonprofit, has developed a curriculum of organized recess activities, dramatically improving the social skills and cooperation of young learners. Students of a public school in South LA benefit from the Playworks activity in their classrooms and on the playground. Photographed on assignment for the CBS Corporation.
Women's Sports Foundation: Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA
The Women’s Sports Foundation was established in 1974 to advance the lives of women and girls through sports and physical activity. Their mission is to enable all girls to reach their potential in sports and life by providing financial fuel to aspiring champion athletes and by helping communities to get girls active. Professional athletes and Olympians serve as mentors to students like these girls in East LA. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Oxfam: KAMPALA, Uganda
OXFAM funds local nonprofits that aim to lift people out of poverty around the world. In Kampala, Uganda OXFAM funds a gardening program, a metal works program and a cooperative that enables entrepreneurship including the creation a new private school. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Whizz-Kidz: LEICESTER, ENGLAND
Whizz-Kidz transforms the lives of young wheelchair users across the United Kingdom, enabling them to become confident and independent young adults by providing them with motorized wheelchairs. In Leicester City, working class children with disabilities received their new life changing chairs. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Special Olympics: AURORA, Colorado
More than 50 years ago, Special Olympics launched a global movement to break down barriers and end discrimination against people with intellectual and physical disabilities. In Aurora, Colorado, public school students with disabilities are supported and encouraged through athletic activities that build confidence and improve self esteem. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Arbor Day Foundation: Paradise, California & LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
The Arbor Day Foundation plants millions of trees. In the wake of the historic and deadly Camp Fire that destroyed the community of Paradise, California, the nonprofit undertook an initiative to restore the tree canopy on private lands. In the greenhouses of Arbor Day headquarters in Nebraska a large sapling cultivation is tended to by volunteers. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
GirlForward: Chicago, ILLINOIS
GirlForward is a community of support dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunities for girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution. They support girls in grades 9-12 who are refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers through three core programs. In Chicago, GirlForward is helping girls from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
World Bicycle Relief: Kenya
World Bicycle Relief empowers people and communities, like this one in rural Kenya, through life-changing bicycles. The nonprofit helps people conquer the challenge of distance, achieve independence and thrive. Equipped with a Buffalo Bicycle from World Bicycle Relief, students, health workers and entrepreneurs in low-income regions create opportunities for themselves, their families and entire communities. Photographed on assignment for Givewith.
Return to Freedom: LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA
Return to Freedom is a nonprofit located in Lompoc, California dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity, and habitat of America’s wild horses through sanctuary, education, advocacy, and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world. Eric spent an afternoon interacting with these wild mustangs to document their life on a 300 acre refuge.
PHOTO SERIES // Women for Women International: Rwanda
Women for Women International has developed a program that offers Rwandan women a constructive, dignified way to regain control of their lives. Through foundational training, women come to know and defend their rights and change the status quo. In the aftermath of the devastating 1994 Genocide, the challenge of creating a lasting peace depended greatly on the actions of women, who were the majority of survivors. Eric and team traveled to the Urugo Opportunity Center to document the healing and hard work.