A producer and media strategist from Northern California, Cynthia La Grou is managing director of Films for the Planet and founding director of the Compathos Foundation. Cynthia La Grou has also been a fellow with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) since 2018.

A mentorship and investment organization that supports ambitious and innovative business leaders, the EHF looks for projects that can be launched in New Zealand and then scaled up to make a global impact. Two agricultural biology entrepreneurs, Matthew Jackson and Harmaan Madon, connected through the EHF before going on to create Alimentary.

Alimentary is a sustainable bioenergy startup in New Zealand that has developed a system to transform industrial organic waste such as wastewater sludge, food waste, and crop residue into a source of clean energy. Specifically, it converts these waste materials into a biogas that can power its own conversion process and contribute electricity to the public power grid.

Cynthia La Grou is a California, entrepreneur who manages Films for the Planet. Her streaming online platform delivers compelling social action and environmental films on demand. One movie featured on the site Cynthia La Grou manages is the Happen Films documentary, Together We Grow, which focuses on the Common Unity Project.

Based in New Zealand, the nonprofit brings together educators, community members, and diverse organizations for activities such as bicycle recycling, beekeeping, sewing, and knitting. One major asset is an urban farm that encompasses kitchen, catering service, and grocery co-op initiatives.

The farm emphasizes bio-intensive urban agriculture, with micro-farms operated in social housing backyards and, on a larger scale, at locations such as Epuni School and Rimutaka Prison. In addition, a model garden, The Remakery, is in operation. Volunteers augment staff in growing and harvesting vegetables that provide healthy meals throughout the community and sustain a retail cafe and grocery operation. The documentary shares the story of a replicable model of sustainability and community togetherness.

Cynthia La Grou is the founder and executive director of the Compathos Foundation. She is also the co-founder and communications director of Millennia Music and Media company based in Diamond Springs, California. Besides being responsible for corporate governance and overseeing marketing strategies for the company, Cynthia La Grou is passionate about community involvement, especially in global impact ventures, and is a fellow of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF).

Established in 2016, EHF aims to provide an avenue to incubate impactful ventures for investors, innovators, startups, and entrepreneurs in New Zealand. The fellowship currently hosts over 500 hundred individuals and groups to partner with Aotearoa, New Zealand, to brainstorm and seek solutions to global challenges. Aotearoa offers global leadership and solutions for future generations.

Through this and other partnerships, EHF has provided solutions by starting and scaling ventures, providing mentorship and investment, and democratizing technologies over the years. Other programs include tackling inequalities and empowering youth in New Zealand, especially in the Wellington, Maori, and Pasifika regions. To bring together the fellows who are scattered across the globe and aid in frequent collaborations, EHF has been working with Immigration New Zealand for special Global Impact Visas.

Valid for three years, the visas aid up to 400 international fellows from over 45 countries to work and travel in and out of New Zealand on impactful programs associated with EHF at its headquarters in Aotearoa. The program also includes 100 New Zealanders to assist in onboarding, orienting, and creating connections with the international fellows.