When was the World Trust Foundation established?
The World Trust Foundation became a 501c3 not-for-profit organization in 1994 - (EIN # 33-0678823) filed in the State of Iowa. The World Trust was founded by International Award Winning, Multi-Media & Edu-tainment Producer and Philanthropist, Tess Cacciatore.

Why did World Trust begin?
Under the by-laws of the World Trust Foundation, the organization was established to create a place of collaboration rather than competition in the nonprofit arena. The first project that launched the organization was “World Jam 1” (an interactive box set of music containing songs from 47 artists from around the world, which was produced by Founder, Tess Cacciatore, to create sustainable revenue streams for partner organizations).

Since the idea of collaboration was not embraced until later years, World Trust refocused its mission to match the passion of Tess, with her desire to help children in need. Earth Day 2000 was the launch of the Youth Ambassador Program (YAP) which was set to empower youth to make a difference in their lives. Annie Bird (first Youth Ambassador for Social Change) was brought on scholarship to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the “Sub-Commission for Human Rights.” She traveled with Tess, as Tess was asked to speak at the UN on the topic of how media and technology related to her vision on how World Trust could be the conduit of communication to connect youth worldwide. This was an amazing experience for the then 18 year old Annie, so throughout the years the Youth Ambassador Program grew to impact thousands of youth worldwide. Annie Bird is now living in San Francisco and working at a nonprofit and making a tremendous impact in her community. The Youth Ambassador Program is now renamed to become the Young Leaders.

What does World Trust do today?
The World Trust still maintains the collaboration model, as well as “shining a spotlight” on those who are making a difference in the world. The motto is to Ignite, Empower & Unite the young people of the world. To Ignite the passion within, Empower them to make a difference and Unite them with other like-minded, community driven, global thinking youth.

World Trust currently has 3 programs:
- Earth Heroes - Ages 9-17
- Young Leaders - Ages 18-26
- Umbrella Programs - for collaboration and for creating far reaching, global impact

All three categories are about building an IPTV that is called The-World-Trust-Network to be a bridge between cultures, a conduit of communication designed to inspire young people by showing them how they can find their voice through responsible use of the internet and technology.

Earth Heroes is about empowering youth to feel confident inside of themselves through empowerment camps (Ignite the Fire, Heart 2 Heart) along with curriculum and creative contests to build their confidence for creative expression. (Video Contest to launch September  08, to build members in online community of Earth Heroes).

Young Leaders is about building a social network for our future thinkers and, therefore, future leaders, while empowering them to take a stand and mobilize with each other to make a difference in their individual countries, in the areas of: Economic Development, Environment, Literacy, Social Change and Creative Expression. (Video Contest to launch September 08 to build members in the online community of Young Leaders)

Umbrella Programs World Trust has hand-picked and developed programs that keeps the vision alive with regard to the collaboration model and to support passionate, forward thinking people who want to make a difference. Our current Umbrella Programs include: The Dream Project, Crossing Borders, FEED 333, Empowered Teen Series.

What is the World Trust Network as part of the World Trust Foundation?
The World Trust Network (WTN) is the vision of Tess Cacciatore, who figured very early on in the nineties, when she was an Internet Producer and Content Provider, the importance of convergence media and interactive programming to uplift youth globally.

Now the technology has met up with her vision, so WTN is poised to become the hybrid of an online television network that breaks down into three categories:
ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK TO CONNECT YOUTH GLOBALLY - video contest for both youth programs launches in September 08 to create membership

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM to propel edu-tainment content that aligns with the mission of World Trust into homes and classrooms. Partner organizations can take our content into over 125 countries (I-Earn, Roots and Shoots, VBN.TV and more)

ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING - television shows already in production -entertainment industry professionals on board creating short format, mobile and wireless content, and fuller original programming to entertain, uplift and encourage people on a global scale.