🌱 How to Find Breakthrough Environmental Solutions

From my earliest childhood, I’ve been passionate about protecting the environment—and I’ve dedicated my career and academic training to pursuing that mission. After more than a decade working with nonprofits, corporations, and governments to tackle planetary challenges, I came to a key realization: incremental change isn’t enough. We need a transformational approach.

I call it being an environmental entrepreneur — and it demands breakthrough solutions.

Innovation Happens at the Intersections

As Frans Johansson writes in The Medici Effect, the most powerful innovations emerge at the intersection of disciplines, cultures, and experiences. Innovation expert Charles Lee reinforces this, noting, “Innovation often happens when two or more seemingly unrelated concepts intersect.”

These intersectional innovations are the foundation of environmental entrepreneurship. I believe this interdisciplinary mindset is essential to discovering bold, scalable solutions that radically improve environmental quality and restore the natural world.

What Makes a Solution Breakthrough?

Here are the three core criteria I use.

1.  It Solves the Root Cause

Those who know me well often hear me reference The Starfish Story, originally written by Loren Eiseley. But while that story focuses on rescuing one starfish at a time, my thinking aligns more with the Stanford Social Innovation Review article, Social Entrepreneurs Must Stop Throwing Starfish.

We need to go upstream — to solve what’s causing the problem in the first place.

From an environmental perspective, that means tackling ecosystem-level dynamics, not just symptoms like single-species declines. If a solution doesn’t address root causes, it’s unlikely to create lasting change.

2.  It’s Market-Driven

Traditional philanthropy often follows a “tin cup” model, where nonprofits rely on grants and donations to survive. This disconnect between funding and execution makes it difficult to test, learn, and pivot in real time.

I believe breakthrough solutions must be self-sustaining—capable of generating meaningful revenue to support scale and impact. Whether structured as a nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid, what matters most is the ability to stand on its own economically while delivering environmental returns.

3. It’s a “Hell, yes!”

This one is personal.

If a project doesn’t feel like a “Hell, yes!”— it’s a no. I first heard this articulated by Plywood People, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that supports social startups. As they say, “What we say yes to and what we say no to will determine who we become.”

I’ve learned that projects without personal conviction are less likely to succeed. Energy, commitment, and inspiration matter. Passion fuels performance.

Let’s Collaborate

If you’re a visionary leader seeking entrepreneurial solutions to global environmental issues, let’s talk. I’m always looking for opportunities to partner and co-create bold, impactful change.