By 2000, Natura was a leader in the Brazilian cosmetics and personal care industry. The company had participated in social projects developed in communities surrounding its plants and offices. However, when it launched the Ekos product line, Natura drove social responsibility to the core of its business. Ekos' distinctive feature was its rooting in Brazilian biodiversity. The new product line incorporated several substances that had been used only by traditional indigenous communities in the hinterlands. Instead of simply buying the raw materials from them, Natura built a partnership with these communities to share with them the economic benefits resulting from responsible resource exploration. These communities had the key expertise needed to develop Ekos products and lived in extremely primitive conditions at remote locations. Thus, Ekos' success would potentially affect their living conditions dramatically. The civil society organization Imaflora also participated in the alliance to ensure that this natural resource exploration was socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.

Natura is a company in the personal care, health, and make-up industry in Brazil. In the early 1990s, as part of its "good corporate neighbor" policy, the company made sporadic contributions to the communities surrounding its manufacturing plants and office premises. Natura's collaboration with the Matilde Maria Cremm public school, located near its Itapecerica da Serra plant, followed that pattern as well. By 1992, this association had all the characteristics of a traditional philanthropic collaboration, consisting of cash and in-kind donations made by the company to respond to specific school needs. However, Natura's management was not satisfied and regarded company contributions as patronizing. They approached their school counterparts to propose a new kind of relationship that would yield deeper and sustainable results. Both partners wanted the school to become a transformation agent in its community. They sought the assistance of CENPEC, a civil society organization devoted to strengthening public education. Matilde, a school located in an outer section of a county surrounding the state capital, managed to turn into one of the top five schools in that region of the Sao Paulo state.