Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Hans Geissler
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006
Teaching sustainable aquaculture to address world hunger
Hans Geissler was born one of ten children in rural Germany during World War II. Once in the United States, Geissler built successful businesses in plumbing, contracting and boat building. But a trip to Guatemala in 1990 reminded him of the hunger and struggle he experienced growing up in post-war Germany and prompted a major life change. Four years later, Geissler closed down his business, G-Cat Multihulls, and founded Morning Star Fishermen, to teach people in undernourished domestic and international communities how to use sustainable aquaculture to feed themselves. Based in Dade City, Florida, the organization focuses on creating simple, workable methods of producing fish and vegetables with limited supplies of fresh water on small plots of land. Welcoming students from around the world, Morning Star Fishermen now works primarily to aid emerging communities in the developing world, such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as at-risk and marginalized populations in countries that lack the infrastructure to care for those in need. Following a continued demand for his boats, Geissler has recently contracted to have his boats manufactured by other builders, and sold through his resurrected G-Cat Multihulls, whose activities will be used to support and promote Morning Star Fishermen and its worldwide mission.