GreenDreamFoundation traces its roots back to 2005 when Léon van Rijckevorsel and Leontine van Hooft founded the non-profit organisation Foundation GreenDreamCompany. The foundation focused on Community Building in Ethiopia, which included initiatives such as empowering the management of an education institute, funding scholarships for women, and supporting a Kindergarten. The foundation also helped young entrepreneurs and co-financed the water supply in a refugee camp during a drought. However, while these efforts brought about positive change, they lacked long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency.
In 2006, the founders met with the Ambassador of Ethiopia in Brussels, who suggested a business approach to create employment for the local population and have a long-term impact. It led Léon and Leontine to start a company in an area of their expertise that could positively influence the country’s image. They chose tourism destination development as their area of focus to bring about a positive change in emerging markets.
At the start of 2007, Foundation GreenDreamCompany changed its name to GreenDreamFoundation and registered GreenDreamCompany as an independent private limited company. This move allowed GreenDreamCompany to become the foundation’s first lab, eventually becoming an independent organisation.
GreenDreamFoundation received formal designation as an ANBI (Public Benefit Organization) by the Dutch Tax Administration on January 1, 2008.
Today, GreenDreamFoundation uses the African Ubuntu philosophy as a foundation and GreenDreamCompany’s meaningful edutainment brands as a tool to create a sustainable and lasting impact on people’s lives in emerging markets. At the core of our approach, we generate community-building and edutainment labs that serve as hubs for creative and collaborative activities.
“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia