The organization works for the empowerment of rural and indigenous communities around the world with active projects with the Oglala Lakota[4] on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the Shipibo-Konibo of the Amazon region of Peru, India, Cambodia, and Guatemala.

According to Carroll (1992): "A GSO is a civic development entity that provides services allied support to local groups of disadvantaged rural and urban households and individuals.

[21][22]" Village Earth advances its mission through the following means: The CSVBD was founded in 1993 as a result of a mandate on the part of participants at the International Conference on Sustainable Village-Based Development September 27-October 1, 1993, at Colorado State University.

The purpose of the conference was to find ways to cause sustainable-village-based development (SVBD) to occur in Third-World villages to help meet the needs of the world's rural poor.

The purpose would be to launch several pilot projects, establish a newsletter to be sent to all conference participants and to find ways to make the proceedings generally available to attendees and the interested public.