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The Sustainability Laboratory Inc
New York, NY · EIN 263700268 · Form 990 · FY2024 · NTEE C05 · Environment · Small ($100K-$1M) · sustainabilitylabs.org
revenue
$547K
expenses
$533K
net assets
$248K
employees
1
program ratio
92%
mission · from form 990

To act as a catalyst for accelerating the transition of worlds society and its economy to a sustainable basis by researching, developing, demonstrating and facilitating adoption of breakthrough sustainability practices, thereby expanding prospects, and producing positive, life-affirming impacts on people and ecosystems in all parts of the world

profile · synthesized from sources

The Sustainability Laboratory Inc is a New York-based nonprofit founded in 2008 by Dr. Michael Ben-Eli to accelerate the global transition to sustainability through research, demonstration projects, and education. It develops and applies a holistic framework of sustainability principles to catalyze transformative change in communities and ecosystems worldwide. The organization operates through pilot projects in arid regions, leadership programs, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $0
    GSF (Global Sustainability Fellows) inspires, informs, and mobilizes future generations of leaders and integrates a rigorous theorectical orientation with experience-based learning, international exposure, and cross-discipline work. The program imparts the core competencies required to effectively tackle urgent sustainability challenges on a local, regional, and planetary scale.
named programs · 5 · from sources

What they call their work

Global Sustainability Fellows (GSF) Program
An educational initiative that trains future leaders in sustainability through theoretical learning, cross-disciplinary work, and fieldwork in underserved communities, with a pilot held at EARTH University in Costa Rica.
Project Olgulului, Kenya
A pilot project with the Maasai community in southern Kenya to scale up dryland ecosystem restoration, improve food security, and adapt sustainable practices from Project Wadi Attir.
Project Turquoise Mountain
A proposed initiative in Gleeson, Arizona to apply sustainability principles to remediate abandoned mine sites and restore damaged ecosystems.
Project Wadi Attir
A sustainable desert farm in Israel's Negev Desert developed in partnership with the Hura Municipal Council, integrating Bedouin traditional knowledge with modern science to demonstrate regenerative agriculture, green technologies, and community empowerment.
The Sustainability Prize
A $10,000 annual award given to student projects at EARTH University in Costa Rica that best implement The Lab’s Five Core Principles of Sustainability, with partial funding directed to the winner's high school.
activities · 5 groups

What they do

  • Educator Conferences & Professional Development Events 1 activity
    • Delivers educational workshops and seminars on sustainability practices
      Conducts seminars, workshops, and training sessions—including at institutions like Esalen Institute and EARTH University—that teach signature sustainability approaches, best practices, case studies, and implementation strategies, reaching hundreds of students and faculty since 2009.
  • Smallholder Agricultural Development 1 activity
    • Implements community-based sustainable development projects in underserved regions
      Operates integrated, on-the-ground initiatives such as Project Wadi Attir in the Negev desert and projects in the Olgulului and Martina Bustos communities, combining traditional knowledge with modern technologies to enhance agricultural productivity, biodiversity, waste-to-resources systems, ecotourism, and community entrepreneurship. Projects include pilot programs involving dozens of families and thousands of acres.
  • Global Sustainability Convenings & Forums 1 activity
    • Provides strategy and organizational development consulting for sustainability initiatives
      Offers business and strategy development services to governments, development agencies, businesses, and communities to support sustainable development, including systemic planning that integrates economic, social, environmental, and technological strategies.
  • Leadership Development Programs 1 activity
    • Trains emerging sustainability leaders through the Global Sustainability Fellows Program
      Runs a graduate-level educational program that develops leadership competencies through experiential learning, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and integration of sustainability principles into academic disciplines; conducted pilot programs with international cohorts, including twenty students from 15 countries at EARTH University.
  • Uncategorized 3 activities
    • Conducts interdisciplinary research on sustainability frameworks and global challenges
      Develops and promotes a systems-based approach to sustainability by integrating theories from Buckminster Fuller, Russell Ackoff, and Stafford Beer; defines sustainability through dynamic equilibrium and the Five Core Principles across material, economic, social, life, and spiritual domains. Research supports the design of scalable solutions applicable across eco-zones.
    • Funds student-led sustainability projects through annual prize awards
      Awards annual prizes totaling $10,000 and $5,000 to support the implementation of student graduation projects that apply the organization’s Five Core Principles of Sustainability, with partial funding directed to winning students’ high schools; has distributed $60,000 in prize funding to nine projects since 2009, over half of which have been sustained beyond initial involvement.
    • Promotes global sustainability innovation through storytelling and outreach
      Shares stories of global innovations in technology, community development, green economics, ecosystem restoration, and corporate sustainability practices to inspire systemic change and disseminate replicable models.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$547K
Contributions & grants$547K100%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$533K
Program expenses92%
Admin / overhead3%
Fundraising6%
Salaries & benefits$221K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$323K
Cash$152K
Investments$0
Liabilities$75K
Net assets$248K
Liquid reserves3.4 mo
4 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -40.1%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

board members · 4
  • Manuela Roosevelt — Director
  • Michael Gukovsky — Director
  • Peter Dean — Director
  • Tom McMackin — Treasurer
relationships · 13

Who they work with

  • AJEEC-NISPED Partner — Collaborating organization whose director has provided leadership input into Project Wadi Attir.
  • Ben Gurion University of the Negev Partner — Researchers from the university contributed to the design of the integrated green technology system at Project Wadi Attir.
  • Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Partner — Institution formerly led by a supporter of Project Wadi Attir, indicating academic engagement with the project.
  • EARTH University Partner — Collaborates on the Sustainability Prize and hosted the pilot session of the Global Sustainability Fellows Program.
  • EARTH University Partner — Collaborates with EARTH University in Costa Rica on the Sustainability Prize and related seminars.
  • EARTH University Partner — Collaborates with EARTH University in Costa Rica to administer The Sustainability Prize.
  • Esalen Institute Partner — Hosted a Sustainability Entrepreneurs workshop at the Esalen Institute in 2008.
  • Esalen Institute Partner — Hosted the pilot Sustainability Entrepreneurs workshop in 2008.
  • Global Sustainability Fellows Program Partner — Collaborates with or draws inspiration from the Global Sustainability Fellows Program in developing its workshops.
  • Hura Municipal Council Partner — Partner in initiating and implementing Project Wadi Attir.
  • Maasai community at Olgulului ranch Partner — Collaborating community in the pilot development project focused on dryland ecosystem restoration and sustainable development.
  • Sapir Academic College Partner — Institution represented by a supporter of Project Wadi Attir who sees it as a potential blueprint for rural development.
  • University of Southern Illinois Partner — Collaborated with Buckminster Fuller's group at the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale on the World Resources Inventory and World Game projects.
strategies · 5

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Community-Led Self-Reliance with Gender Equity
    methodology: community-led_self-reliance_with_gender_equity
    By positioning women as equal leaders and promoting community self-reliance, the organization produces sustainable development outcomes because inclusive leadership structures strengthen local ownership and long-term resilience.
  • Culturally Integrated Sustainability
    methodology: culturally_integrated_sustainability
    By integrating indigenous knowledge and traditional practices with modern science and technology, the organization produces locally grounded and culturally resonant sustainability solutions because lasting change must align with community values and lived experience.
  • Experiential and Interdisciplinary Leadership Development
    methodology: experiential_leadership_development
    By combining theoretical rigor with experiential learning, international exposure, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, the organization builds practical problem-solving capacity in sustainability leaders because real-world impact requires more than academic knowledge alone.
  • Radical Innovation Through Experimentation
    methodology: radical_innovation_through_experimentation
    By operating independently and creatively outside established institutional constraints, the organization demonstrates new sustainability pathways because transformative change often emerges from agile, risk-tolerant experimentation rather than incremental reform.
  • Systems-Based Sustainability Framework
    methodology: systems-based_sustainability_framework
    By applying systems thinking and cybernetic principles to sustainability challenges, the organization produces integrated and scalable solutions because complex problems require holistic, interconnected models that reflect dynamic realities.