Amplify Your Business Project Forest

For Episode 189 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Mike Toffan, the founder and executive director of Project Forest. Project Forest is a non-profit organization that helps other companies solve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance), CSR (Corporate Social Responsiblity), and carbon reduction challenges. To do this, they identify non-productive agricultural land that’s found within Indigenous community land or with conservation groups. Once the land has been identified, Project Forest’s financial partners then fund the rewilding work to restore and protect the natural processes and wilderness areas of that land.   Project Forest has developed a platform where companies small and large, whose core values include the importance of sustainability, can partner with them to help provide meaningful, tangible, on-the-ground impact. To learn more, visit Project Forest’s website.   00:00 - Intro 01:03 - In your opinion, what are three things every entrepreneur should know? 02:39 - Is Project Forest a non-profit or a for-profit organization? 02:48 - Can you tell us a little bit about what you do at Project Forest? 06:49 - What’s your background? How did you get into doing this? 08:44 - Why did you start Project Forest in the midst of a pandemic? 10:09 - What are some of the challenges that you’ve had to overcome since starting Project Forest? 11:51 - You work with both huge corporations as well as solopreneurs. Do you find that you’re chasing after the big ones because they’re easier to land? Tell us about the mix of your customer base. 16:28 - When you were setting up the company and making the decision to be a not-for-profit vs a for-profit, can you walk me through that decision? 18:05 - Is there anything unique or different about managing a non-profit vs a for-profit? 20:30 - What are some of the things that you think are going to be most challenging going forward? 23:39 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say? 25:57 - What keeps you up at night right now? 27:46 - If people wanted to reach out to you, what’s the best way to do that? 30:26 - Outro