About us
Open World Foundation™ is an independent, non-religious, non-political, not-for-profit foundation, funded by socially and environmentally responsible individuals and institutions promoting global sustainable leadership in action. Open World Foundation™ is about individuals, human beings, understanding that we live and work in a community, not closed by the limits of a country's borders, but by the limits of our imagination and desires. In addition to the information on this site, you can visit our online community at www.openworldcafe.com.
For a full presentation of the Board of Directors at Open World Foundation please visit: www.openworldfoundation.org
Some profiles, Replanting a Rainforest
Founder and Chairman of Open World Foundation, Christer Söderberg
As a social 
entrepreneur Christer Söderberg has developed an intimate relationship with the multiple aspects and interdependency of international business, human beings, and the environment. Christer started and managed a NGO coordinating humanitarian aid during the war in Bosnia, managed a telecom product design company based in Hong Kong and as Director of a Swedish multinational in Brazil, established the industrial products company in six South American countries. Christer has lived in nine countries and speaks the languages of seven, experiencing first hand the differences in culture and working conditions on four continents.
After returning from Brazil in 2002 Christer started Zero Aeons AB, a Stockholm based Business Leadership and Communications consultancy. In 2006 he introduced Brazilian art, furniture, and design to Sweden and helped develop a business based on a triple bottom line. Open World Foundation builds on the spirit of these two businesses, and with the Open World Café and Open World Lodge creates meeting places to inspire a transformational dialogue about sustainability and leadership.
Founders of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza Marcos G. Croce and Silvia Barretto
Marcos G. Croce and Silvia Barretto are the founders of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF), a 2,000 acre (850 hectare) Estate Coffee Farm located outside of São Paulo, Brazil. In 2008, FAF was honored with the Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
Both are passionate advocates of sustainability. Marcos is a long-time supporter and active member of The Nature Conservatory in the United States and SOS Mata Atlântica in Brazil. He formed MCS Trading Brazil in 1984, eventually working with over 30 countries, including a wholesale and a retail division with 27 stores in Brazil. This company was sold in 1994. Silvia is a publisher and author of children’s books. When she became a mother, she shifted her activities to her father’s farm, dedicating herself to bee keeping and cheese making. These activities brought the effects of conventional agriculture to her attention and inspired her strong involvement with environmental organizations. Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza is on its way to becoming a model of sustainability with both its award-winning organic coffee and the creation of a 300-hectare (400-acre) preserve to secure and increase the area of existing Atlantic rainforest. The organization has received hundreds of visitors from universities, businesses and interest groups worldwide to experience its work and to bear witness to its dedication and commitment to the environment.
As social entrepreneurs, private equity investors and humanists, Marcos and Silvia work to increase awareness on issues of organic farming, sustainability, and leadership. Both were born in Brazil and also have a home in Highland Park, Illinois.