Nearly half the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day. Close to one billion people suffer from chronic hunger while another billion do not have access to clean water. In 2007, 11 million children died from preventable diseases. An estimated 20 percent of people living on earth are illiterate. The living standards in the United States were better 200 years ago than they are in many African countries today.

These statistics are real, and they are staggering if we allow ourselves to comprehend them.

To reduce these global issues, the international aid and development industries have functioned for almost sixty years, planning the economies of poor countries, advocating for free markets, pouring resources into pre-planned, fixed objectives, and setting utopian goals to eliminate poverty. $2.3 trillion dollars have been spent and the problems are far from resolved.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that nearly 3,000 food calories per person was produced in 2001—far exceeding the 2,000–2,500 calories needed for proper nourishment. The prominent work of Muhammad Yunus, Amartya Sen, Arundhati Roy, Paul Farmer, Jeffrey Sachs, and others fixed a powerful spotlight on global issues and challenged people of privilege to become involved. Subsequently, universities and other institutions rapidly responded with international curriculum and fellowships for field service. Similarly, international volunteering is one of the fastest growing segments of global travel. With trillions of dollars being funneled into development, an exponential growth in awareness and service, and enough food to go around, why is half of the world still suffering from poverty and hunger?

The problem is not a lack of resources. Simply, the resources are not getting into the hands of the local people who know how to use them best. In other words, the most critical issue with international development is getting the right resources to where they are needed most and ensuring that those resources are being integrated in a sustainable manner. The greatest failure of international development to this day is the wasting of resources due to a lack of comprehensive knowledge of the realities on the ground.

Underserved communities must have a voice, invested interest, and ownership in the development of their land, economy, education, rights, and values. Through listening to their needs, empowering their belief in change, and working beside them to implement practical solutions, real progress can be made that does not result in donor reliance or further disempowerment. Cultivating a thorough understanding of the complex realities "on the ground" is the key to empowerment and collective action. Only in this way can international development be sustainable. This fact is the most difficult piece of the development equation—one that separates successful organizations from the rest.

With a humble understanding of these challenges, the Foundation for Sustainable Development was created in 1995 to provide capacity building, funding, and human resources to over 200 grassroots, community-based organizations throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Collaboratively, FSD and our partner organizations implement solutions that improve social, environmental, educational, and economic conditions at the community level. Our mission is to overcome the effects of poverty by empowering underserved communities and their citizens to be agents of their own sustainable change and growth.

It is the communities and the individuals themselves that hold the key to growth. Anything short of this realization is imperialistic and/or patronizing. We are not here to save or rescue people from poverty. The role of FSD, our donors, volunteers, and interns is to engender hope, demonstrate the benefits of change, encourage and activate local leadership, and facilitate the application of resources that result in sustainable solutions.