Runa Foundation is a public, non-profit organization with offices in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, NY;

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, Ecuador;

Archidona Archidona is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the center of the comarca of Nororiental de Málaga and the head of the judicial district that bears its name ...

, 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) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

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 Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film ''Step Up (film), Step Up''. He gained wider attention for ...

became a major supporter of Runa Foundation after a long adventure into the Ecuadorian Amazon to visit the

Sapara Sapara may refer to: * Sapara Monastery, Georgia * Sapara people, an ethnic group of Ecuador and Peru * Sápara language, a language of Ecuador and Peru * Sapará language, a language of Brazil People with the name * Adé Sapara, English actor * M ...

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 Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. Trees produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional ...

and

sustainable forest management Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. ...

as tools to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This program also includes projects related to

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

, wildlife management,

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

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

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

s to support them in

Fair Trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

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 Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ (informally Universidad San Francisco, or simply USFQ) is a liberal-arts, private university located in Quito, Ecuador. It was the first totally private self-financed university in Ecuador and the first l ...

and the

Yale School of Forestry Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental leaders through four 2-year degree programs (Master of Environmental Management, Master of Environmen ...

to conduct ongoing research related to forest conservation and agroforestry management. In 2014, Runa Foundation established a research fellowship with

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

'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 The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

Mulago Foundation The Mulago Foundation is a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy: investing in charities and philanthropic opportunities that have the highest impact. The foundation was originally envisioned by Rainer Arnhold, a San Francisco pe ...

Finnish Foreign Ministry The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) is a Ministry (government department), ministry in the Cabinet of Finland, Finnish Government and is responsible for preparing and implementing the government's foreign policy. Organisation The ministry i ...

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

* Inter-American Institute for the Cooperation in Agriculture *

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

(WWF) * Flemish Fund for Tropical Forests * GIZ * Fundacion CRISFE *

CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean 'CAF - development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean formerly the Andean Development Corporation (or Corporación Andino de Fomento), is a development bank whose mission is to promote sustainable development and regional integration in Latin ...

* Rainforest Action Network *

Rufford Foundation The Rufford Foundation, formerly the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, is a trust based in the United Kingdom that funds nature conservation projects by small or medium-sized organizations in developing countries. History The present foundation w ...

* Nourish International *

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

Annenberg Foundation The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that provides funding and support to non-profit organizations in the United States and around the world. Some of the Foundation's core initiatives are the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcast ...

References

{{reflist Environmental organizations established in 2010 Forest conservation organizations 2010 establishments in the United States 2010 establishments in Peru