Runa Foundation Explained

Runa Foundation
Type:Non-profit organization
Founded Date:2010
Location:New York, NY
Ecuador; Peru
Key People:Tyler Gage, Eliot Logan-Hines, Dan MacCombie
Area Served:Amazon and Tropical Andes
Focus:Conservation
Community Development
Indigenous People
Revenue:US$833,134 (2016)
Homepage: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".[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] [4] 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.[5] [6] Runa's innovative model is designed to create big impact through the creation of new supply chains,[7] while simultaneously assuring that these supply chains deliver tangible social and environmental benefits[8] [9] to local farmers and the forest.[10] [11]

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.[12] [13]

Program areas

Landscapes Program – This program looks at the intersection between agriculture, forestry, and conservation using a holistic landscape approach.[14] Runa Foundation focuses particularly on the use of agroforestry[15] [16] and sustainable forest management as tools to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This program also includes projects related to reforestation, wildlife management,[17] GIS mapping, territorial mapping, and assuring indigenous land rights.

Livelihoods Program – This program focuses on improving the livelihoods of local people through income generation,[18] capacity building workshops, and financial literacy training.[19] [20] This program specifically targets farmers associations or cooperatives to support them in Fair Trade certification.[21] [22]

Plant Research – Runa Foundation works with indigenous groups in the Amazon to document and research their vast knowledge of medicinal plant uses.[23] [24] 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.[25]

Education – Runa Foundation provides educational opportunities for future social entrepreneurs and environmental leaders through its internship program.[26] Runa Foundation has partnered with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito[27] and the Yale School of Forestry[28] 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.[29]

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.[30]

Funders of Runa Foundation include:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Runa Foundation's Mission. Runa Foundation Website.
  2. News: Wong. Curtis. Eliot Logan-Hines Hopes To Save The Rainforest And 'Go Beyond' Fair Trade. Huffington Post.
  3. Web site: Runa Foundation: Fair Trade and Agroforestry in the Amazon. Youth Movements.
  4. Web site: Logan-Hines. Eliot. Interview – Founding Runa. Start Up Grind. Google for Entrepreneurs.
  5. Web site: Runa: Creating Value in the Amazon. William Davidson Institute. University of Michigan.
  6. Web site: How Runa is Empowering Ecuadorian Farmers. Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. Hult International Business School.
  7. News: Imbaquingo. Olga. El té de guayusa se exporta a EE.UU. El Comercio. August 28, 2010.
  8. Patterson. Britany. Can Tea Help Save the Amazon?. Scientific American. June 21, 2016. Climate Wire. Conversations.
  9. Web site: Logan-Hines. Eliot. Value chain innovation in the Amazon: Ilex guayusa as a new model for sustainable trade. FAO. World Forestry Congress. etal.
  10. Segran. Elizabeth. How Two Liberal Arts Students Created A Million-Dollar, Rainforest-Saving Tea Company. Fast Company.
  11. Web site: 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.
  12. Web site: 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.
  13. Web site: How Ecuadorians & the Runa Foundation Have Inspired Channing Tatum. LatinOne.
  14. Duenas. Juan. RUNA GUAYUSA – DESARROLLO DE UN SISTEMA DE CULTIVO AGROFORESTAL DE Ilex guayusa Loes. Primer Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria. November 2013.
  15. Book: Montagnini. Florencia. Sistemas Agroforestales: Funciones Productivas, Socioeconomicas, y Ambientales. 2015. CATIE. Colombia/Costa Rica. 179–201.
  16. Web site: Wei. Clarissa. Inside the Food Forests of the Amazon Rainforest. VICE. VICE.
  17. Web site: Cummins. Ian. Agouti on the wedding menu: Bushmeat harvest, consumption and trade in a post-frontier region of the Ecuadorian Amazon. CIFOR.
  18. Web site: Weissmann. Emma. Ecuador's "Superleaf" Tea: Could It Replace Your Afternoon Coffee?. https://web.archive.org/web/20140707084424/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140703-guayusa-ecuador-amazon-health-foods-tea/. dead. July 7, 2014. National Geographic. National Geographic.
  19. Web site: The dream of a sustainable future for the Amazon. SIANI. Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative.
  20. Pineiro. Aliana. Ilex Guayusa COMO MOTOR PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE EN LOS SISTEMAS AGROFORESTALES EN LA AMAZONÍA OCCIDENTAL. Primero Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria. November 2013.
  21. Web site: RUNA AND THE KICHWA BRING FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED GUAYUSA TO THE WORLD. Fair Trade USA.
  22. Wood. Samantha. FAIR TRADE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: A CASE STUDY OF THE KICHWA IN ECUADOR. Florida State University. Spring 2013. Department of Social Sciences.
  23. Duenas. Juan. Amazonian Guayusa (Ilex guayusa Loes.): A Historical and Ethnobotanic Overview. Economic Botany. February 2016. 70. 85–91. 10.1007/s12231-016-9334-2. 18354079 . etal.
  24. News: Gregoire. Carolyn. Scientists Put Shamanic Medicine Under The Microscope. Huffington Post.
  25. News: Varolli. Regina. An "Uber Ambitious" New Vision for Saving the Amazon. Huffington Post.
  26. Web site: Goldfine. Rebecca. Michael Butler '17 Helps Develop Rainforest Products to Benefit Local Communities. Bowdoin. Bowdoin College.
  27. Web site: Taller Ilex guayusa. USFQ. Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
  28. Web site: Yale in the Amazon. Global Forest Atlas. Yale University.
  29. Web site: Runa Foundation Fellowship. Yale University. Tropical Resources Institutie.
  30. Web site: Non Profit Financial Profile. GuideStar.
  31. Web site: Grants Awarded to Runa Foundation. MacArthur Foundation.
  32. Web site: Profile: Tyler Gage. Mulago Foundation. Mulago Foundation.
  33. PRODEL. ACDI/VOCA. USAID Success Story. May 2011.
  34. Web site: Crespo. Patricio. La Guayusa Trayectoria y Sentido.
  35. Web site: Reinhardt. Sylvia. Developing a production and sales strategy for guayusa. GIZ.
  36. News: CAF promueve la producción de guayusa para el desarrollo local en la Amazonia ecuatoriana. CAF. June 8, 2011.
  37. Web site: Community Action Grants. Rainforest Action Network.
  38. Web site: Profile: Eliot Logan-Hines. Rufford Foundation. Rufford Foundation.
  39. Web site: Nourish International. Runa Foundation Partnership. Nourish International.
  40. Web site: Amazonian Energy: Building climate resistance through diversified agriculture. IDB. Inter-American Development Bank.

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