Giving Compass' Take:

• The founders of the land impact investing company Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management want to use the power of business for conservation, particularly the rainforests of Costa Rica.

• How can companies, big and small, learn from the lessons discussed here with the founders of Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management?

• Here’s how we can all start to build sustainable businesses for a healthier world.


When Amanda Wilson, Joshua Hughes and Sara Czarniecki founded Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management in 2015, they committed to honoring their customers, communities, workers, shareholders and the land.

Based on 178 acres in the rainforests of Costa Rica, the Blacksheep team works alongside local neighbors to regenerate degraded land into biodiverse mixed forests. Their competitively priced turmeric products are the result of the reforestation process, and they create livelihoods for Blacksheep’s worker-owners.

Now Blacksheep is scaling. The company offers a suite of services to help other teams start regenerative projects and to connect investors with landowners in environmentally exhausted areas. It’s also working to secure private investors to fund an agricultural processing center in Costa Rica.

Bard MBA students Michael Conway and PJ Connolly spoke with Wilson, Hughes and Czarniecki about why it’s important that businesspeople enter the agricultural space, the company’s services and Blacksheep’s plans to scale.

Read the full article about the Costa Rican rainforests by PJ Connolly and Michael Conway at Bard MBA.