The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy reward, promote, and support local sustainable energy programs in the United Kingdom and the developing world. The awards were founded in 2001, and since then more than 80 innovative projects have won a financial award and received coverage of their work at the local level and in national and international media. Today the Ashden Awards are an internationally recognized yardstick for excellence in the field of sustainable energy, and award winners have gone on to substantially increase the scale of their work and inspire others to replicate it.
BASE is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Switzerland that develops forward-looking mechanisms to accelerate the financing of sustainable energy markets, with the ultimate aim of contributing global solutions to climate change, poverty mitigation, conflict prevention, and sustainable development.
The Canopus Foundation was founded in 1997 and has focused its activities in the field of venture philanthropy. The foundation promotes private social investment and social enterprise in order to fight poverty and environmental degradation, and provides business development assistance for social entrepreneurs in developing countries working in the field of clean energy technologies. Together with Ashoka, Canopus Foundation founded the “Solar for All” initiative.
The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for individuals and families, particularly those in need in the communities where Citi works, so that recipients can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation focuses its strategic giving on: microfinance and microentrepreneurship, small and growing businesses, education, financial education and asset building, the environment, and community development (only in the United States and Canada).
The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, the leading international network and promoter of best practices in enterprise development and financial services, is a global organization whose membership is committed to reducing poverty through the power of enterprise. Since its inception in 1985, the SEEP Network has been a leader in the development of the international microfinance and enterprise development fields. SEEP is recognized for its contributions to the documentation of best practice, its capacity to convene key stakeholders, and its well-regarded methodology for lateral learning, which offers a platform for inclusive and productive dialogue.