The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) is an American volunteer-based organization specializing in international development. FSD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 based in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, with operations in Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

, and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. FSD's volunteers are primarily college students or recent graduates, and focus their work in one of several development areas, including health, education, community development, women's empowerment, human rights, micro-enterprise

Micro-enterprise

A micro-enterprise is a type of small business, often registered, having five or fewer employees and requiring seed capital of not more than $35,000. The term is often used in Australia to refer to a business with a single owner-operator, and having up to 20 employees...

, and the environment. In April 2009, FSD won the "Best of West" award from Great Nonprofits' 2009 Green Choice Awards.

FSD in Bolivia

FSD, together with many indigenous entrepreneurs, is trying to lessen a variety of environmental, social and economic deficiencies that haunt small village market. FSD actively approaches local schools and media to promote social awareness of sustainable development; assists professors and university students to innovate environmental friendly technology and policies in forestry and mining; and helps the local communities to implement the “cost-efficient” technology in farming and small business . Secondly, FSD helps build schools and hospitals for the small villages, accommodates volunteer teachers and doctors in rural areas and provides basic medical equipments and training to local communities . Thirdly, FSD attracts international volunteers and subsidies to help local organizations to build basic financial facilities and provide access to financial services and trainings; it engages in international fundraising to help incubating local business initiatives and fostering business programs; FSD also negotiates the price and debacles export channels for local producers and assists in the designing and marketing of local produces . With the efforts of FSD and various other NGOs in Bolivia, local small villages are provided the financial and social supports they desperately need to disentangle the complex development restraints and afford a plan for a sustainable future .