Nature-based Solutions
Forest Carbon Standards Assessment
Heartwood is leading a comparative assessment for the Environmental Defense Fund — evaluating how leading forest management and carbon standards operationalize credibility through governance, auditor oversight, and enforcement mechanisms to inform recommendations for strengthening oversight under JREDD+. (Current)
Indigenous & Community-Centered Forest Conservation
Heartwood co-designed the standards, quality framework and auditing protocol for Equitable Earth — bringing conservation finance, through carbon markets, directly to Indigenous peoples and local land stewards, with transparency and community control at its core.
REDD+ Due Diligence
Heartwood developed and tested a due diligence framework for Everland, to assess REDD+ projects against rigorous community and ecological outcome standards.
Community Ownership & Participatory Planning
Heartwood developed guidance on meaningful community consent (FPIC) for the ISEAL Alliance — focused on genuine co-ownership of programs rather than procedural compliance.
Measuring Impact at Landscape-scale
Heartwood worked ISEAL and sustainability organizations to design impact assessment frameworks for landscape-scale conservation initiatives — building equity and ecological rigor into how outcomes are defined, tracked, and reported.
Wildfire & Resilience
Forest Fuels to Biochar
Heartwood recently designed, organized and facilitated a collaborative workshop for Deschutes County exploring the potential of biochar as a strategy for managing biomass generated through wildfire mitigation and forest restoration activities — bringing together land managers, industry leaders, and legislators to assess feasibility and pathways forward. The 38 participants from around Oregon brought insight and left with a commitment to coordinated next steps.
Sustainability Standards and Best Practices
Textile Raw Material Standards
Heartwood supported Textile Exchange in the revision of their sustainable sourcing standard - applying a systems and risk management approach.
Compliance Meets Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL)
Heartwood helped Fair Trade International make better use of their sustainability conformance data for monitoring, evaluation, and learning — analyzing best practices and emerging innovations to strengthen their reporting
Civil Society Engagement Policy
Heartwood worked with Burton Snowboards to develop their civil society engagement policy, supporting their commitments as a Fair Labor Association member.
Auditor Training Programs
Heartwood developed and delivered auditor training for Impact Buying Academy — building the skills and judgment needed to strengthen accountability and trust in wage auditing results.
Improving Returns for Sustainable Farmers
Heartwood Principal, Jessi Grillo, served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Living Income Community of Practice (LICoP) from 2017-2024, contributing papers and guidance on sustainable income strategies for smallholder agriculture programs of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS).
Living Wage for US
Jessi co-led the early-stage development of the first living wage certification system in the United States, and now serves on the Board of Directors.
Sustainable Economic Strategy for Commodity Supply Chains
Return on Sustainability Investments in Agriculture
Heartwood worked with the Sustainable Food Lab and several major U.S. food companies to assess and generate models for improved farm worker wages alongside climate smart agriculture practices.
Fair Wage Systems Across Agricultural Supply Chains
From 2019 to 2023, Heartwood consulted for IDH on a multi-stakeholder initiative to advance living wages across agricultural supply chains — developing tools for wage transparency and action used by hundreds of companies.
Wage Improvements in Sugarcane
Heartwood is working with CNV Internationaal on the co-design of a multi-stakeholder roadmap for wage improvement within the sugarcane sector across Latin America. (Current)
Aldi Living Wage Pilot
Heartwood served as a core partner in Aldi's pilot living wage verification program on banana farms — building capacity among farm management, suppliers, traders, and worker representatives and facilitating honest conversations about wages.
The Living Wage Playbook
Heartwood wrote the Living Wage Playbook for AIM Progress — a practical guide for the organization's 48 member companies on building and implementing living wage strategies.
Value Chains and Worker Compensation
Heartwood worked with GIZ, IDH, and over a dozen European grocery retailers to validate and estimate living wage gaps across agricultural supply chains — informing targeted investments to improve workers' wages.
