Promoting it. Funding it. Improving it.

WINNER
Puntacana Resort & Club, Dominican Republic
large resort
Here's proof that altrusim works. When the developers of Puntacana bought a beachfront property in the Dominican Republic 40 years ago, they knew they'd have trouble attracting workers and their families to the remote region. So they built a modest school. Today, the sprawling resort has luxury bungalows, a Six Senses spa, and a championship golf course. To keep up with the growth, it built a well-equipped high school, where the staff's offspring study alongside the CEO's grandchildren. And that's not all. There wasn't a public high school within 50 square miles, so the company built a polytechnic facility that teaches air-conditioning repair, bartending, and other skills useful in tourism. "If you build a school, have well-trained kids, and offer good jobs," says Jake Kheel, Puntacana's environmental director, "they're going to come to work for you. There's an efficiency in that."

WHY I LOVED IT
"It makes sense for a resort in a beautiful but impoverished setting to take care of local resources—the most important of which is the people. Puntacana's educational policies are wonderful"
— Marcia Gay Harden
Environmentalist, actress

RUNNER-UP
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, 74 hotels in 24 countries
large hotel chain
The Giveback Getaways volun­tourism initiative allows guests to help at educational programs around the world, including a therapeutic riding center for disabled kids in McLean, Virginia, and English classes in a village near Beijing.

AND THE JUDGES ALSO LOVED...
airline
Nature Air
Donates $55,000 annually so that more than 200 Costa Rican students can study English and the environment (natureair.com).

TIP
Want to help but have no time? Stay at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, which donates school supplies to underprivileged kids (340-775-3333; doubles, $279-$499).

cruise line
Ecoventura
Helps grant scholar­-ships to Ecuadorian students interested in environmental and marine conservation (ecoventura.com).

city hotel
Grano de Oro
Its home for abused mothers in San José offers job training and preps kids for school (hotelgranodeoro.com).

small resort
Lapa Rios
Supports rural Costa Rican schools and encourages continued education for staff members (laparios.com).

small chain
The Haciendas
Invests in a mobile children's library, upgrades schools, and helps create computer-equipped libraries in the Yucatán (thehaciendas.com).

tour operator
Thomson Safaris
Funded more than $100,000 worth of education projects across Tanzania in partnership with a nonprofit (thomsonsafaris.com).