Runa Foundation

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".[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5] Runa's innovative model is designed to create big impact through the creation of new supply chains,[6] while simultaneously assuring that these supply chains deliver tangible social and environmental benefits[7][8] to local farmers and the forest.[9][10]

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.[11][12]

Program areas

Landscapes Program - This program looks at the intersection between agriculture, forestry, and conservation using a holistic landscape approach.[13] Runa Foundation focuses particularly on the use of agroforestry[14] and sustainable forest management as tools to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This program also includes projects related to reforestation, wildlife management,[15] GIS mapping, territorial mapping, and assuring indigenous land rights.

Livelihoods Program - This program focuses on improving the livelihoods of local people through income generation,[16] capacity building workshops, and financial literacy training.[17][18] This program specifically targets farmers associations or cooperatives to support them in Fair Trade certification.[19][20]

Plant Research - Runa Foundation works with indigenous groups in the Amazon to document and research their vast knowledge of medicinal plant uses.[21][22] 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.[23]

Funding

Runa Foundation is primarily funded from government grants, private foundations, and individual contributions. In 2014, Runa Foundation's total revenue was $978,000 USD.[24]

Funders of Runa Foundation include:

References

  1. ↑ "Runa Foundation's Mission". Runa Foundation Website.
  2. ↑ Wong, Curtis. "Eliot Logan-Hines Hopes To Save The Rainforest And 'Go Beyond' Fair Trade". Huffington Post.
  3. ↑ "Runa Foundation: Fair Trade and Agroforestry in the Amazon". Youth Movements.
  4. ↑ "Runa: Creating Value in the Amazon" (PDF). William Davidson Institute. University of Michigan.
  5. ↑ "How Runa is Empowering Ecuadorian Farmers". Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. Hult International Business School.
  6. ↑ Imbaquingo, Olga (August 28, 2010). "El té de guayusa se exporta a EE.UU". El Comercio.
  7. ↑ Patterson, Britany (June 21, 2016). "Can Tea Help Save the Amazon?". Scientific American. Climate Wire (Conversations).
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Segran, Elizabeth. "How Two Liberal Arts Students Created A Million-Dollar, Rainforest-Saving Tea Company". Fast Company.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "How Ecuadorians & the Runa Foundation Have Inspired Channing Tatum". LatinOne.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Montagnini, Florencia (2015). Sistemas Agroforestales: Funciones Productivas, Socioeconomicas, y Ambientales (PDF). Colombia/Costa Rica: CATIE. p. 179-201.
  15. ↑ Cummins, Ian. "Agouti on the wedding menu: Bushmeat harvest, consumption and trade in a post-frontier region of the Ecuadorian Amazon" (PDF). CIFOR.
  16. ↑ Weissmann, Emma. "Ecuador's "Superleaf" Tea: Could It Replace Your Afternoon Coffee?". National Geographic. National Geographic.
  17. ↑ "The dream of a sustainable future for the Amazon". SIANI. Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ "RUNA AND THE KICHWA BRING FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED GUAYUSA TO THE WORLD". Fair Trade USA.
  20. ↑ Wood, Samantha (Spring 2013). "FAIR TRADE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: A CASE STUDY OF THE KICHWA IN ECUADOR". Florida State University. Department of Social Sciences.
  21. ↑ Duenas, Juan; et al. (February 2016). "Amazonian Guayusa (Ilex guayusa Loes.): A Historical and Ethnobotanic Overview". Economic Botany. XX(X): 1–7.
  22. ↑ Gregoire, Carolyn. "Scientists Put Shamanic Medicine Under The Microscope". Huffington Post.
  23. ↑ Varolli, Regina. "An "Uber Ambitious" New Vision for Saving the Amazon". Huffington Post.
  24. ↑ "Non Profit Financial Profile". GuideStar.
  25. ↑ "Grants Awarded to Runa Foundation". MacArthur Foundation.
  26. ↑ "Profile: Tyler Gage". Mulago Foundation. Mulago Foundation.
  27. ↑ PRODEL, ACDI/VOCA (May 2011). "USAID Success Story" (PDF).
  28. ↑ Coello, Patricio. "La Guayusa Trayectoria y Sentido". Forestal Sostenible Andina. IICA.
  29. ↑ Reinhardt, Sylvia. "Developing a production and sales strategy for guayusa". GIZ.
  30. ↑ "CAF promueve la producción de guayusa para el desarrollo local en la Amazonia ecuatoriana". CAF. June 8, 2011.
  31. ↑ "Community Action Grants". Rainforest Action Network.
  32. ↑ "Profile: Eliot Logan-Hines". Rufford Foundation. Rufford Foundation.
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