Founded | 2010 |
---|---|
Type | Non-profit organization |
Focus | Conservation Community Development Indigenous People |
Location | |
Area served | Amazon and Tropical Andes |
Key people | Tyler Gage, Eliot Logan-Hines, Dan MacCombie |
Revenue | US$833,134 (2016) |
Website | http://www.runafoundation.org |
Runa Foundation is a public, non-profit organization with offices in Brooklyn, NY; Quito, Ecuador; Archidona, Ecuador; and Tarapoto, Peru. Runa Foundation's stated mission is to "create new value for tropical forests that benefit local people and the forest ecosystem". Runa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation registered in the state of Rhode Island.
History
Runa Foundation was co-founded in 2010 by Tyler Gage, Dan MacCombie, and Eliot Logan-Hines. Runa Foundation was created as the non-profit arm of the Runa Group which is a hybrid social enterprise consisting of both non-profit and for-profit arms. Runa's innovative model is designed to create big impact through the creation of new supply chains, while simultaneously assuring that these supply chains deliver tangible social and environmental benefits to local farmers and the forest.
In 2013, actor Channing Tatum became a major supporter of Runa Foundation after a long adventure into the Ecuadorian Amazon to visit the Sapara people.
Program areas
Landscapes Program – This program looks at the intersection between agriculture, forestry, and conservation using a holistic landscape approach. Runa Foundation focuses particularly on the use of agroforestry and sustainable forest management as tools to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This program also includes projects related to reforestation, wildlife management, GIS mapping, territorial mapping, and assuring indigenous land rights.
Livelihoods Program – This program focuses on improving the livelihoods of local people through income generation, capacity building workshops, and financial literacy training. This program specifically targets farmers associations or cooperatives to support them in Fair Trade certification.
Plant Research – Runa Foundation works with indigenous groups in the Amazon to document and research their vast knowledge of medicinal plant uses. Runa Foundation has also helped to support the creation of PlantMed.Org dedicated to the creation of Amazonian research clinics in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon.
Education – Runa Foundation provides educational opportunities for future social entrepreneurs and environmental leaders through its internship program. Runa Foundation has partnered with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the Yale School of Forestry to conduct ongoing research related to forest conservation and agroforestry management. In 2014, Runa Foundation established a research fellowship with Yale University's Tropical Resources Institute.
Funding
Runa Foundation is primarily funded from government grants, private foundations, and individual contributions. In 2014, Runa Foundation's total revenue was US$978,000.
Funders of Runa Foundation include:
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Mulago Foundation
- Finnish Foreign Ministry
- USAID
- Inter-American Institute for the Cooperation in Agriculture
- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
- Flemish Fund for Tropical Forests
- GIZ
- Fundacion CRISFE
- CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean
- Rainforest Action Network
- Rufford Foundation
- Nourish International
- Inter-American Development Bank
- Annenberg Foundation
References
- "Runa Foundation's Mission". Runa Foundation Website.
- Wong, Curtis. "Eliot Logan-Hines Hopes To Save The Rainforest And 'Go Beyond' Fair Trade". Huffington Post.
- "Runa Foundation: Fair Trade and Agroforestry in the Amazon". Youth Movements.
- Logan-Hines, Eliot. "Interview – Founding Runa". Start Up Grind. Google for Entrepreneurs.
- "Runa: Creating Value in the Amazon" (PDF). William Davidson Institute. University of Michigan.
- "How Runa is Empowering Ecuadorian Farmers". Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. Hult International Business School.
- Imbaquingo, Olga (August 28, 2010). "El té de guayusa se exporta a EE.UU". El Comercio.
- Patterson, Britany (June 21, 2016). "Can Tea Help Save the Amazon?". Scientific American. Climate Wire (Conversations).
- Logan-Hines, Eliot; et al. "Value chain innovation in the Amazon: Ilex guayusa as a new model for sustainable trade" (PDF). FAO. World Forestry Congress.
- Segran, Elizabeth. "How Two Liberal Arts Students Created A Million-Dollar, Rainforest-Saving Tea Company". Fast Company.
- "Runa Tea's Low-Calorie, High-Impact Model: With revenues reaching $1M Runa is generating income for 2,000 farming families". Next Billion. William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
- OLYA, GABRIELLE. "Channing Tatum on His Life-Changing Trip to the Ecuadorian Rain Forest and Why It Inspired Him to Give Back". people.com. People Magazine.
- "How Ecuadorians & the Runa Foundation Have Inspired Channing Tatum". LatinOne.
- Duenas, Juan (November 2013). "RUNA GUAYUSA – DESARROLLO DE UN SISTEMA DE CULTIVO AGROFORESTAL DE Ilex guayusa Loes" (PDF). Primer Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria.
- Montagnini, Florencia (2015). Sistemas Agroforestales: Funciones Productivas, Socioeconomicas, y Ambientales (PDF). Colombia/Costa Rica: CATIE. pp. 179–201.
- Wei, Clarissa. "Inside the Food Forests of the Amazon Rainforest". VICE. VICE.
- Cummins, Ian. "Agouti on the wedding menu: Bushmeat harvest, consumption and trade in a post-frontier region of the Ecuadorian Amazon" (PDF). CIFOR.
- Weissmann, Emma. "Ecuador's "Superleaf" Tea: Could It Replace Your Afternoon Coffee?". National Geographic. National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014.
- "The dream of a sustainable future for the Amazon". SIANI. Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative.
- Pineiro, Aliana (November 2013). "Ilex Guayusa COMO MOTOR PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE EN LOS SISTEMAS AGROFORESTALES EN LA AMAZONÍA OCCIDENTAL" (PDF). Primero Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria.
- "RUNA AND THE KICHWA BRING FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED GUAYUSA TO THE WORLD". Fair Trade USA.
- Wood, Samantha (Spring 2013). "FAIR TRADE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: A CASE STUDY OF THE KICHWA IN ECUADOR". Florida State University. Department of Social Sciences.
- Duenas, Juan; et al. (February 2016). "Amazonian Guayusa (Ilex guayusa Loes.): A Historical and Ethnobotanic Overview". Economic Botany. 70: 85–91. doi:10.1007/s12231-016-9334-2. S2CID 18354079.
- Gregoire, Carolyn. "Scientists Put Shamanic Medicine Under The Microscope". Huffington Post.
- Varolli, Regina. "An "Uber Ambitious" New Vision for Saving the Amazon". Huffington Post.
- Goldfine, Rebecca. "Michael Butler '17 Helps Develop Rainforest Products to Benefit Local Communities". Bowdoin. Bowdoin College.
- "Taller Ilex guayusa" (PDF). USFQ. Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
- "Yale in the Amazon". Global Forest Atlas. Yale University.
- "Runa Foundation Fellowship". Yale University. Tropical Resources Institutie.
- "Non Profit Financial Profile". GuideStar.
- "Grants Awarded to Runa Foundation". MacArthur Foundation.
- "Profile: Tyler Gage". Mulago Foundation. Mulago Foundation.
- PRODEL, ACDI/VOCA (May 2011). "USAID Success Story" (PDF).
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(help) - Crespo, Patricio. "La Guayusa Trayectoria y Sentido".
- Reinhardt, Sylvia. "Developing a production and sales strategy for guayusa". GIZ.
- "CAF promueve la producción de guayusa para el desarrollo local en la Amazonia ecuatoriana". CAF. June 8, 2011.
- "Community Action Grants". Rainforest Action Network.
- "Profile: Eliot Logan-Hines". Rufford Foundation. Rufford Foundation.
- Nourish International. "Runa Foundation Partnership". Nourish International.
- "Amazonian Energy: Building climate resistance through diversified agriculture". IDB. Inter-American Development Bank.