THE TRIBEWANTED STORY 

Tribewanted was born as an online community of like-minded people looking to crowd-fund a real world sustainable community. Starting in 2006, the island of Vorovoro, in Fiji, was our first home for 5 years. In 2010 we opened our second project, in an even more challenging location: John Obey, Sierra Leone, and again, we lived, built, cooked, ate, played with and learned from the local fishing community who were recovering from a brutal civil war. In those 5 years, my business partner Ben Keene and I explored ways to make the Tribewanted model sustainable, not only socially and environmentally, but also financially, to bring long-term benefits to our communities and to the local workers. We wanted to prove that a more sustainable model is not only possible but desirable. Tribewanted was never about making a quick buck; financial break-even for our communities is a big success in itself! It was also not about eco-tourism as an end in itself, but rather as a means to provide financial stability to our communities and inspire our tribe-members to make lifestyle changes at home based on their experiences with us. The decision to turn Tribewanted into a cooperative, and to share ownership with our members was taken by Ben and I on our bamboo office deck on John Obey beach in 2011. Now, after 18 months of planning and building, we have finally launched the Tribewanted Community Interest Company, a dedicated crowd-funding platform and social network that enables our members to become part-owners of Tribewanted and its sustainable communities, play a bigger part in the decision making process (like where we are going to build our next community and how to re-invest our profits) and gives them opportunities to accumulate credit towards their next Tribewanted adventure whilst guaranteeing our communities a stable cash flow every month. We created a 10.10.10 model: 10,000 members who contribute £10 ($16) a month, to build 10 sustainable communities around the world. For every 1000 tribe-members we can launch a new community and 100% of revenues are re-invested into our communities and used to cover our running costs. In order to increase the appeal of our locations, and in order to show that it is possible to live sustainably not just on a remote island or on a beach in a developing country, but also in our own backyard, we have simultaneously launched Tribewanted's next ambitious project: transforming the XVth century hamlet of Monestevole, in Umbria, Italy, into a sustainable community. The goal is to give our members a more accessible location where they can learn about sustainability and get their hands dirty, while at the same time enjoying the traditional Umbrian cuisine and culture of farmers, horse-lovers, artisans and musicians. The ethos of Tribewanted is the same as it was in our first two projects: protect the local environment and promote the local culture, while we adapt the project to the local traditions, as always. Will the model work? Only time will tell. We aim high, and perhaps will only settle half way. But in the meantime, we are living how we want to live; when you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life. Join us. Lets build a tribe.