Philippe Lazaro
Philippe shares the stories of people living at the forefront of the climate crisis, who are working to transform their ecosystems and communities. He loves emphasizing the human experience, and keeping conversations about the environment centered on the communities most affected by it. Philippe has led storytelling trips to Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, Tanzania, South Africa, Haiti, and a number of other countries. He has previously served in similar roles at Liberty in North Korea and Mobility International.
Philippe obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He furthered his studies by earning a Master of Arts in International Studies as well as a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management at University of Oregon. Philippe is also an illustrator, podcaster, and digital artist. Outside of work, Philippe loves spending time with his wife and their three kids.
Burundi, Photo Essays
Things you'll see on a visit to Burundi
Burundi isn't a frequently visited country. For starters, it is rather small, comparable in size to Rwanda, Lesotho, or Eswatini. It is also a very rural country with 85% of its residents living in remote areas that have limited infrastructure. While it boasts compelling landscapes and rich traditions, conflict has also inhibited tourism in Burundi. […]
Read More
About Our Work, blog, Burundi, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mexico, Tanzania, Thailand
LET THE LOCALS LEAD
While having country-based leadership in all of our programs is important, we take it a step further and the advantage of local leadership is undeniable. The importance of having local ownership over our mission and program activities has been emphasized at Plant With Purpose from the very beginning. Back in 1984, Plant With Purpose was […]
Read More
About Our Work, Environmental Restoration, Resources, Sustainability
Top 10 World-Changing Solutions to Poverty
The challenge of extreme poverty around the world isn’t new to most people. The images of suffering due to an inadequate access to resources and opportunity are familiar to most people. What gets significantly less attention, however, are all the numerous proven solutions to poverty available at our disposal. These solutions are interventions that have […]
Read More
About Our Work, Academic, Sustainability
People are more than their problems
“Poverty is a condition,” our Mexico Country Director reminds us. “Not a characteristic.” For Luis, these words are not just a theory. They are a call to action, a cause to which he dedicated his life. His team’s efforts to help communities in three of Mexico’s poorest states happen alongside workshops focused on identity and […]
Read More
About Our Work, Burundi, Climate Change, Haiti
Amazing Ways to Help Protect the Natural World
Create abundance for both people and planet It isn’t rare to hear stories of environmental loss and damage. From wildfires to drought to mass deforestation and pollution, so many of our beloved places on Earth are under constant threat. How can we help protect the natural world? These threats are real and urgent, but what […]
Read More
Climate Solutions, Tanzania
Can a climate vulnerable community become 6x more sustainable?
Note: A draft of this blog was posted in error. Please disregard it entirely and review this corrected post, updated August 16, 2022. Plant With Purpose values sharing accurate and factual information, and we will promptly notify readers when that has not been the case. Thank you for your trust and understanding. Climate change is […]
Read More
Climate Change
Hope for compassion fatigue
When everything is crisis, look for where things connect To say the past few years have been overwhelming is an understatement. From large-scale reckonings with racial injustice, to the impact of the pandemic, to the flare up of war and conflict in different parts of the world, there have been no shortage of urgent and […]
Read More
Haiti, Updates
The challenge of working in Haiti in 2022
Plant With Purpose works in some of the most difficult places in the world where people live. Our program supports resilience and progress in these challenging settings. As you can imagine, over the past couple years, life has gotten more difficult in many of these areas, largely due to the effects of the pandemic and […]
Read More
About Our Work
When planting trees, be sure to tell the whole story
Don’t oversimplify the complex, and don’t over-complicate the simple. This simple charge is one that’s stuck with me throughout years of work in communications and storytelling focused on international development and climate solutions. Both of these errors have the potential to do harm. The world of international development is full of cases where complex problems […]
Read More
All, Resources, Sustainability, Updates
How Black History paves the way for a more sustainable future
Being sustainability-minded typically comes with an orientation toward thinking about the future. After all, one of the ultimate goals of sustainability is to leave the planet better than one found it as a loving act toward future generations. So what role does history, specifically, Black history play in this? A significant role. In order to […]
Read More
Climate Solutions, Meditations
Eco-discipleship: The act of studying and learning from creation
The Good News of Jesus is Good News for all of creation. One of the core ideas underlying the practice of ecological discipleship (eco discipleship), is drawing closer to God through study and engagement in the natural world. Musician Audrey Assad expresses, “I used to laugh at people who called nature a church. It mystified […]
Read More
About Our Work, blog, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Haiti, Sustainability, Tanzania, Thailand
The Value of Multilateral Partnerships
Plant With Purpose partners are autonomous but interdependent On the day that Plant With Purpose was established in 1984, two organizations were created as partners. Floresta International was founded in San Diego, California, and would later become known as Plant With Purpose. In the Dominican Republic, Floresta Incorporada was launched, where it continues working to […]
Read More
All
What's the return for investing in ecosystem restoration?
What happens when you invest in ecosystem restoration? You may have heard a lot about ecosystem restoration lately. On World Environment Day (June 5, 2021), the United Nations launched the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global effort to help ecosystems from forests to oceans to farmlands recover their health and abundance. As a Christian organization, […]
Read More
About Our Work
Connecting the Dots: Human Trafficking and Climate Change
Human trafficking continues to be one of the most pressing human rights violations around the world. Human trafficking is the illegal trade of men, women, and children, and the exploitation of their bodies and labor. In practically every country on earth, people are coerced or tricked into an industry of modern-day slavery. According to the […]
Read More
Climate Solutions
What is Plant With Purpose doing to address climate change?
Empowering Rural Farmers to Reverse Climate Change Plant With Purpose works at the nexus of environmental degradation and poverty alleviation to empower rural farmers to reverse deforestation and to sequester carbon, reversing climate change. Our integrated approach addresses economic, environmental, and spiritual contributors to climate change and results in healed land and relationships as communities […]
Read More
