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Blog

All About B Tourism: B Corps Like UnTours Shaping the Travel Industry

B Tourism is a global network of nearly 250 Certified B Corporations and other conscious travel companies that take collective action for environmental and social justice. Inspired by the operational transparency and overall credibility of B Corp Certification, the B Tourism platform exists to (1) shape the industry of tourism for the better, and (2)

So You Want to Become a B Corp? Here’s what you should know

Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Unlike other certifications for businesses, B Corp Certification is unique in its ability to measure a company’s entire social and environmental impact. B Corps meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, legal accountability, and public transparency.

Our Journey Owning the World’s First B Corp

Certified B Corporations are companies that are verified to meet the highest standards of social and environmental impact, legal accountability, and public transparency. Since the B Corp movement began in 2006, there are now over 8,000 Certified B Corporations across the world with one unifying goal: to use business as a force for good. Origins

Mission-Aligned Investing 101

A decade ago, I met a fellow foundation director, Laura Kind McKenna, who said to me: “Because the UnTours Foundation endowment is 100% mission-aligned, you should evangelize about that.” I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about! I told her that we didn’t have an endowment, only a Loan Fund to which she

MaCher Announces $50,000 Donation to UnTours Foundation’s Reset Tourism Fund

We are excited to announce a new partnership between MaCher, a Certified B Corp that designs and manufactures sustainable branded products for the travel industry, and the UnTours Foundation, the owner of the world’s very first B Corp (UnTours) who uses 100% of its endowment and 100% of UnTours’ profits to invest in world-changing businesses.

Expedia Awards Travel Grant to UnTours Foundation Through New Made to Travel Fund

On this Giving Tuesday, we are pleased to announce receiving a $250,000 grant from Expedia® as part of the travel company’s new Made to Travel™ Fund, a program that awards grants to nonprofits that share the common goal of removing barriers to travel. The grant was awarded to the UnTours Foundation in recognition of its

Elisur Organic

Elisur Organic is one of the leading exporters of organic fresh ginger and tumeric from Peru. They work alongside 64 smallholder farmers to facilitate trade between a remote area of Peru and the world, in a way that cares for both people and the environment. The company is certified Fair Trade and USDA Organic. UnTours

Green Book Global

Green Book Global is the first and only Black travel review site where Black travelers can read and write destination reviews, book trips, and earn cash. The company exists to inspire and empower Black travelers to explore the world safely and confidently, with a mission to be the trusted resource of the Black travel experience

Vamos Expeditions

Vamos Expeditions is a Certified B Corporation based in Lima, Peru, that operates unique expert-led experiences to less crowded sites, offering clients a real connection with the culture and history of destinations across South America. The UnTours Foundation invested in Vamos to fund marketing and communications to increase the number of underserved travelers with disabilities

Travengers AU

Travengers AU is an Australian company providing neurodivergent young people with opportunities to travel while building social networks, skills, and confidence—and to educate others about autism and other hidden disabilities. Founded in 2020, Travengers provides supported group travel in addition to social events and virtual travel. At its core, the company exists to make travel

Greether

Greether is a startup founded by entrepreneur Vanessa Karel and based in San Francisco that offers a tech-based platform to help solo women travelers explore the world more safely and confidently. Greether connects travelers to verified local female “Greeters” in destinations worldwide who help travelers get around safely, have unique experiences, and learn firsthand from

The GREEN Program

The GREEN Program (TGP) is a public benefit corporation based in Philadelphia that offers short-term sustainability study abroad programs for the world’s future leaders. Its innovative model for experiential education is driven by a desire to provide purposeful, real-world experience through impactful education, responsible travel, and adventure. Since 2009, TGP has traveled with more than

Kijani Supplies

Kijani Supplies is a startup launched by Purple Elephant Ventures (PEV), a venture studio at the intersection of tech, climate, and African tourism based in Nairobi, Kenya, and another investee of the Reset Tourism Fund. Kijani Supplies is a B2B logistics and supply chain platform transforming how the hospitality sector in Kenya orders and accesses

Meet the Winners: The First-Ever Adventure Innovation Challenge

On September 13, 2023, the UnTours Foundation co-hosted the first-ever Adventure Innovation Challenge with the Adventure Travel Trade Association in beautiful Hokkaido, Japan at the Adventure Travel World Summit. After receiving over 50 applications to compete for funding in this pitch competition, the foundation team selected and coached three entrepreneurs to create and deliver exceptional

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: BTS of our MAI Short Film

June 7, 2023 by Rich Hoffmann of 215 Timelapse, the creator of our new MAI short film, Dollars That Make Sense I’ve taken on all sorts of projects over the years, pushing out of my comfort zone and trying my hand at new methods and in different industries. While I enjoy learning as I go,

SKIFT: Expedia, TUI-Backed Fund Created to Support Sustainable Tourism

by Dawit Habtemariam, Skift The UnTours Foundation is tired of all the talk and no action when it comes to making tourism sustainable. They hope their new $10 million fund will finally get the tourism industry in action mode. If the fund shows both impact and returns are possible, maybe the financial markets will take

Travel Massive Podcast: Interview with UnTours Jonathan and Richard

Enjoy this conversation between Travel Massive’s Ric Gazarian, UnTours Foundation Co-CEO Jonathan Coleman, and UnTours CMO Richard Edwards about UnTours, our foundation, Reset Tourism Fund, and the slow travel movement! Ric Gazarian (Extraordinary Travel Festival and Travel Massive Asia) interviews insiders making positive change across the travel industry. Jonathan Coleman is CEO at the UnTours

Celebrating Female Founders this International Women’s Day

We at the UnTours Foundation know that women entrepreneurs are powerhouses who not only build strong, sustainable businesses, but also create incredible impact in their communities. In the United States alone, women are launching more than 1,100 new businesses every single day —which is two and a half times the national average—and yet 66% of

The UnTours Foundation Launches $10 Million ‘Reset Tourism Fund’ to Support High-Impact Tourism Businesses Worldwide

We are excited to announce the launch of the Reset Tourism Fund alongside our founding partners – Expedia Group, TUI Care Foundation, Adventure Travel Trade Association, Flywire, and B Tourism – providing much-needed financing to tourism entrepreneurs and start-ups around the world.  With over $540,000 already committed by the UnTours Foundation and funding partners, this

Patagonia takes the Hal Taussig Award at the B Corp U.S. & Canada Champions Retreat

We recently had the honor of presenting the Hal Taussig Award at this year’s B Corporation Champions Retreat. This award, named after our founder, celebrates an individual who embodies the core values of the B Corp movement. So why is this award named after Hal Taussig? Hal was a social entrepreneur and impact investor before

Akwaaba Bed and Breakfast Inns wins the UnTours Foundation 2022 UnDreamed Of Award

We are proud to announce that Monique Greenwood from Akwaaba Bed and Breakfast Inns is the winner of the 2022 UnDreamed Of Award. The award comes with a $5,000 cash prize and was announced at an event co-hosted by the UnTours Foundation and B Tourism at the B Corporation Champions Retreat in Philadelphia on November

Peaceful Fruits

Peaceful Fruits is a cause-driven, better-for-you snack manufacturer that is reinventing candy. They use 100% fruit-based ingredients to keep candy fun, but without the junk. At the core of their production team are adults with developmental disabilities and mental health issues in full-wage jobs. The UnTours Foundation provided a flexible loan to help scale their

It’s our 30th birthday!

Dear UnTours family, It’s our 30th birthday! Funny that our “birth” was basically unplanned and surprising, even to our beloved founder, Hal Taussig. How could that be?! Well, the foundation was a last-ditch solution for Hal. Hal lived by his own maxim that “it’s not how much you give away, it’s how little you keep.”

Life Connections Peer Recovery Services

Life Connections Peer Recovery Services is a peer-run mental health and addiction recovery service center in Iowa. The UnTours Foundation provided a short-term loan to help cover for a temporary cash crunch, ensuring that the organization’s doors could stay open and its vital services could continue. The Life Connections Peer Recovery Services Origin Story: Todd

Young Mountain Tea

Young Mountain Tea’s mission is to build a sustainable future for Himalayan farmers and their families through raising the quality of their tea, enabling them to earn more and improve the quality of their lives. The UnTours Foundation provided a flexible loan in fall of 2022 to help empower their next stage of growth. The

Senda Athletics

Senda makes Fair Trade soccer balls emphasizing good craftsmanship and the joy of playing, all while improving lives along the way. Argentina-born, California-based Santiago Halty wants to change the business of soccer balls, support soccer nonprofits, and bring back the fun and community of a casual street game. As he says, “We hope to inspire

Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate is the world’s first and only fair trade AND B-Corp certified premium chocolate company that is co-owned by cocoa farmers. The UnTours Foundation has made a series of loans over the last decade, totaling $700,000, to help finance the growth of this innovative and impactful company. We are incredibly proud to have played

AnaOno

AnaOno is a lingerie company specializing in high-quality bras and undergarments for breast cancer patients and survivors and women who want alternatives. What started as a business by Dana Donfree, herself a breast cancer surviver, has turned into a valuable source of information, advocacy, and community for women. “We believe all women are sexy and

A Strange Gifting:  A Reminder of the Importance of the Fair Trade Movement

Untours and the Untours Foundation often receive interesting gifts. Owning a global travel company and investing the profits to support impact-focused businesses around the world lends itself to meeting new friends who love to share a piece of their homeland or culture with us – local culinary delicacies, countless bottles of local spirits or wines,

Opportunity Main Street

Opportunity Main Street is creating an entrepreneur hub focused on building community wealth in Baltimore, Maryland. Untours Foundation joined several other investors to provide financing for Opportunity Main Street to purchase a historic, mixed-use building in downtown Baltimore. The plan is to convert the upper floors to Airbnb-style, short-term rentals and turn the lower floors

Be like Hal. – Following Hal Taussig’s Example in Estate Planning

We wish you could be a fly on the wall at our board meetings – they are anything but Roberts-Rules events. Everything at this Foundation is unique, productive, and outside of any box I’ve ever known. When Hal and Norma Taussig were with us, the board spent a fair amount of time on transition planning.

Jon Blum (1934 – 2022), Consultant Extraordinaire

Remembering Jon Blum by Elizabeth Killough   Jon was an extrovert’s extrovert and worked with me to find, examine, invest in, and support awesome entrepreneurs with world enhancing businesses. We often disagreed – more often than not actually! – which was part of the fun with Jon. He loved a good debate, and respected his

Playa Viva

Playa Viva is a Regenerative Boutique Hotel located in Juluchuca Mexico near Zihuatanejo dedicated to regenerating the ecosystem and bringing back the abundance of this place. Playa Viva meets its mission with a unique style and luxury experience. The Untours Foundation’s investment was part of a larger $2.5M investment to build seven new rooms and

GoPark Safaris

GoPark Safaris is a Kenya-based tour operator focused on providing high-quality, once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences for their clients. The safari company used a loan from Untours Foundation to refinance several high-interest loans for their first three hybrid engine vehicles. The cheaper and more flexible loan from Untours Foundation will accelerate their transition to a more climate-friendly

2021 Year in Review: Some Good News

We’ve finally made it to 2022! The pandemic finally passed and the world is opening up…oh wait…that is how it was supposed to work, but alas, it hasn’t come to pass. The dog days of the pandemic have turned into a groundhog day of repeated cycles – a light at the end of the tunnel

Help Us Yodel in Progress

When traveling, one meets interesting people. When traveling with Untours, the interesting people meet you. They pick you up from the airport, point you toward hidden treasures that only locals know about, and take you on a weekly adventure. When traveling with Untours in Switzerland, you meet Urs (photographed above, next to Jonathan). Urs leads

Collaboration Report from the Co-CEOs

It’s just like that favorite meme of ours. How it started. How it’s going…. It’s time to check in to see how the dynamic duo at the helm of the Untours Foundation are getting on. Elizabeth says she is delighted by Jonathan’s energy and ideas. He’s jumped into so many aspects of the Untours Foundation

2020 Was Bananas! Avocados Too. Fair Trade Numbers from Equal Exchange

We are big supporters of the Fair Trade movement here at the Untours Foundation in Media, PA, the first Fair Trade Town in the US. With inspiration and energy from our founder, Hal Taussig, we have worked locally and internationally to support and further the mission. We have also invested in Equal Exchange and many

From the Home Office of Elizabeth: Impact Investing, Shark Tank, Cats & More

Untours Foundation Co-CEO Elizabeth Killough is expanding her influence and growing her impact as a champion for Mission Aligned Investment. We caught up with her recently to learn more about what she’s up to. What investees are you most excited about? There’s simply no “most excited.” We select only awesome investees and love them all

Supporting the B Corp Movement from Its Very Beginnings

What is a B Corp? Have you ever noticed a big B logo on your butter (Cabot Creamery) or soap (Seventh Generation) or flour (King Arthur)? It means the product is made by an officially certified B Corp, and the B assures you that the company has met multiple metrics for good business. They have

Grant Blvd Gets Some Love (and Money) from Beyoncé

Grant Blvd is much more than a sustainable fashion brand. This brilliant Black-owned, Philadelphia-based apparel company make one-of-a-kind pieces from deadstock and upcycles thrift store cast-offs into beautiful clothing. Beyond this, Grant Blvd stands up for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, in its hiring practices, in some of its designs (like shirts that read “end

Courting Mr. Wonderful: Kreyòl Essence Swims with the Sharks

We love our investees and are especially proud of smart entrepreneurs like Yve-Car Momperousse and Stephane Jean-Baptiste. Their Kreyòl Essence is a natural beauty brand that sources its skin and hair care ingredients from fairly paid farmers in Haiti. It is a laudable model for its commitment to organic farming and lifting women from poverty.

Meet Jonathan Coleman, Our New Co-CEO

In November Jonathan Coleman joined longtime director Elizabeth Killough to help run the Untours Foundation. As the foundation’s new Co-CEO, Jonathan is working alongside Elizabeth (or at a social distance) to chart and execute a plan for growth and resilience in the foundation’s next chapter. He brings rich business and life experience, with an MBA

Elizabeth Killough on the Off the Sideline Podcast: Mission-Aligned Investing

The Untours Foundation’s longtime director Elizabeth Killough recently sat down with Technical.ly Assistant Editor Stephen Babcock to talk about impact investing for the Off the Sideline podcast. She spoke about mission-aligned investing, and how the Untours Foundation invests its endowment to fund solutions to real word problems. The Untours Foundation is leading the movement and

Meet the Investee: Rachel Faller of tonlé

We recently hosted a Zoom conversation with Rachel Faller the founder of tonlé, a sustainable fashion label with all the right style and values. Working in Cambodia on a Fulbright scholarship, Rachel saw the impacts of fast fashion first hand, and she struck a new path. Her clothing line is zero waste, though we would

Remembering Olga Corrias Murro Hancock

Remembering Olga Corrias Murro Hancock, 1977 – 2020 It is with tremendous sadness that I share news of my dear friend and colleague Olga’s passing. She died in mid-November, two years after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She faced the challenges of cancer and its treatments with strength, resilience, frustration, fury, and an ever-present

Creating a New Normal for Business, With Your Help

Before Kreyol Essence won on Shark Tank, they were winners of the foundation’s UnDreamed Of Award   Dear Untours family,  Guess what? We’re still here! Brian Taussig-Lux and the Untours team are keeping the home fires burning planning for Untours’ future while I, along with our Board, have been working with our entrepreneurs helping them

Chester Artists Respond to George Floyd’s Death

Let’s build something impossible together. – Devon Walls In the aftermath of the brutal killing of George Floyd, the public outcries for racial justice have swept the nation and the globe. In Chester, a group of local artists, led by Devon Walls, moved quickly to turn a proactively boarded up storefront into a vivid rallying

Help Us Support Our Small Businesses

To Our Untours Foundation Family, For the past several weeks the Coronavirus has caused disruption in our communities, our businesses, the economy, and our lives. These are certainly unprecedented times! Our thoughts are with all of you, as well as those who are sick from the virus, the brave healthcare workers who are on the

Equal Exchange

Equal Exchange is one of the largest and best known worker-owned cooperatives in the country. One of the pioneers of the Fair Trade movement, they have focused on the promotion and distribution of Fair Trade foodstuffs for over 30 years and have helped introduce the concept of Fair Trade to mainstream retail outlets and consumers. 

tonlé

On a Fulbright Scholarship, tonlé founder Rachel Faller saw the human and economic impact of fast fashion first hand. Upon her return, she set out to forge a kinder path with her zero-waste clothing company. They make beautiful apparel from after-market fabric remnants and garment scraps. Their mostly female Cambodian employees are paid far more

Ask For Help: Elizabeth’s Commencement Address

At the end of 2019, Untours Foundation Co-CEO Elizabeth Killough delivered the commencement address for Penn State, Brandywine. This branch on Pennsylvania’s state university system is near and dear our heart for its groundbreaking commitment to Fair Trade. Elizabeth’s speech touched on Fair Trade, ecology, and our shared destiny. She also addressed our capacity to

Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a well known human rights organization advocating for social, economic, and environmental justice around the world. Their activist campaigns, travel program, and educational resources target poverty and global inequality. For over 30 years Global Exchange has engaged in humanitarian efforts, organized natural disaster relief, and supported grassroots movements to protect immigration rights,

Cooperative Coffees

Cooperative Coffees is a forward-thinking coffee import cooperative that partners with small-scale coffee farmers and local exporting coops in the developing world to make the industry more sustainable for all. Engaging in direct trade with farmers and connecting with importers all over North America, they have built a strong, ethical supply chain for high quality

Pachamama Coffee

Pachamama Coffee Cooperative is a 100% farmer-owned coffee growers cooperative, administrated in Sacramento, California. It brings together thousands of growers from Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ethiopia and guarantees that 100% of its profits go back to the farmer-owners. Pachamama offers a wide range of premium organic coffees and offers consumers interesting, exciting, and innovative

wearwell

Wearwell is a home delivery fashion service that uses savvy stylists to personalize looks for its clients and ships them boxes of hand-picked items to wear or return. Their difference is that wearwell sources its clothing, handbags, and jewelry from companies that are screened for fair wages and labor practices and environmental responsibility. Pieces are

Oke USA

Oke USA was a critical early player in the importing of Fair Trade produce to North America. Importing organic fruit from Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico, they have helped expand Fair Trade beyond coffee. They have partnered with local farmers to source avocados and bananas, paying fair prices to farmers that benefit their families and lift

Comon Yaj Noptic

Comon Yaj Noptic is a cooperative of organic coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico founded in 1995. They work closely with our friends at Equal Exchange and some of their beans are used in Equal Exchange coffees. The farmers not only grow organically, but they participate in wildlife and ecological monitoring, particularly of the local birds.

SERRV International

Since the opening of its first storefront in 1950, SERRV International has worked to bring fairly sourced crafts and foodstuffs to market.  SERRV sells a wide range of housewares, crafts, clothing, foods, and gifts, all fairly traded and responsibly made. As one of the first Fair Trade organizations in the world, they have extended to

Greensgrow

Greensgrow is an innovative Philadelphia-based urban farm project that works to make healthy, local food accessible to city dwellers and opens new options in food deserts.  This creative nonprofit grows food on the former site of an industrial area. They run farm stands, garden centers, demonstration gardens, and educational community programs that revolve around ecology

Earth & State

Earth and State is a charming shop that sells handmade crafts and unique gifts. A vital part of the small business landscape of Media, PA, the hometown of Untours, this shop offers beautiful things sourced with care. The shop’s name is a cheeky reference to their location of the main drag of Media, State Street.

Sustainably Bold. It’s So UF!

  Investment decisions are not taken lightly here at the Untours Foundation. With limited resources and so many organizations in need of funding, it isn’t easy for the UF investment committee to make their choices. Sometimes though, the concept is just so compelling that it becomes a natural match. That’s certainly the case for one

To Whom Chester Matters

Forgotten by many, abandoned by some, treasured by those who live in it. Artist and entrepreneur Devon Wall lives and believes in Chester and takes us on a “tour” of a special, collaborative effort to bring new life into his city. Art and culture have historically defined the character of the city of Chester. And

At Untours Foundation, we literally “support” our investees, and we’ve got the photo to prove it!

After a summer heavy rain got Lor Holmes’s flight canceled, she finally made it to sunny Philadelphia. And, lucky me [Olga], I got to host her at my very own home in Chestnut Hill, along with Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough and Board President Heather Van Dusen.  Lor leads venture development and capitalization strategies at

Meet Olga Hancock, Director of Donor Happiness

Meet Olga, our new Director of Donor Happiness. Olga Corrias Hancock has over a decade of experience in fundraising and alumni engagement in the field of higher education. She worked as the director of Advancement for the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the director of Alumni Relations

Rende Progress Capital: Opportunity for All

Michigan based Rende Progress Capital is the recipient of the foundation’s most recent loan. Rende is a Community Development Financial Institute or CDFI, a mouthful either way! CDFIs include a variety of banking institutions that provide credit and financial services to low-wealth communities. They are a great place to put savings, receive interest on that

The Lessons of Mister Rogers

I never appreciated Mister Rogers all these years aside from the very cheap thrill I’d get walking through his actual neighborhood on my way to grad school. That changed after seeing the documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” I keep coming back to this film in my mind. Columnist David Brooks wrote in The New

Witness To Innocence Event: November 15, 2018

Witness to Innocence is celebrating its 15th year of fighting for an end to the death penalty. For those who may not be familiar with their work, Witness to Innocence was founded by SIster Helen Prejean and Ray Krone; she is an internationally renowned anti-death penalty activist and he is the 100th person exonerated from

The 2018 UnGala

Our 2018 UnGala was an unbridled success. We were thrilled to have Untourists, investees, investors, supporters and Foundation family all in one room. The energy was amazing. Thank you to Jay and Randi Coen Gilbert for opening their home to all of us. Our 2018 UnDreamed Of Award winner was Yve-Car Momperousse of Kreyol Essence.

The Power of Community Investment: South Philly Food Co-op

When Catherine first moved to Philly, having access to healthy, local food was already a priority for her. She was enamored with her new community on the southern edge of the city where people from all walks of life seemed to converge, with over 40 languages spoken among them! She wanted to be intentional about

The 2018 UnGala!

  That’s right, The 2018 UnGala, a celebration of the Untours Foundation family, is soon upon us! The theme this year is “The House of Untours” — despite our low-key and frugal ways, we want to show off some fantastic ethical fashion from our investee wearwell. This year will feature Melissa Lee, an Untours Foundation

Our new joint brochure!

It’s been quite a few years since Untours Travel and the Foundation created a brochure together, but we figured it was about time. We are, after all, two sides of the same coin, and we support each other in innumerable ways. We’re excited to give you a preview here in digital form…but more importantly, if

Town and Country Investees

Our investees span the globe, from Indonesia to Africa, California to Philadelphia. Our work has often focused on urban redevelopment, but we value rural communities and their vital role in growing food, tending the earth and providing so many goods which we all depend upon. Many of our investees have more than one place  where

Elizabeth writes about “risky” business

Our director, Elizabeth, was invited to write a piece about impact investing and risk, a specialty of the Untours Foundation since its inception. The Untours Foundation has no endowment, but rather directly invests in businesses that are doing good, solving problems, creating good jobs for those who need them most while helping the planet.  

Passion for good : Senda Athletics

  “I felt like this is it. I’m going to combine my two passions for fair trade and for soccer, and start a company to provide soccer lovers with premium quality soccer balls.” – Senda founder Santiago Halty   We know how passionate sports fans can be for their teams (Fly Eagles, Fly!), and for

Welcome to our fantastic new board!

    We are thrilled to welcome six new board members to the Foundation, bringing a wealth of insight and experience! Pictured from left is: Elizabeth Killough, Foundation Director, Lisa Mitchell, Board Treasurer, Brian Taussig-Lux, Untours CEO, Linshuang Lu, new board member, Caleb Harvey, new board member, Pat Beauchamp, Board Vice-President, Heather Van Dusen, Board

Our December letter

Dear wonderful Foundation Family, I can turn to Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream only so many times. The current political upheavals and gridlocks, both here and abroad, are exasperating – and troubling. But in these frustrating times, I can assure you of this: our work at the Foundation does something that Congress has yet

November Newsletter — Simple Gifts

  Read the rest of the newsletter here for good news!

Alix takes a Scotland Untour!

Photo above: Broome Farm, our next door neighbor   My Scottish Untour by Untours Foundation Board member Alix Rabin I was drawn to Scotland by the desire to stand in the midst of breathtakingly beautiful moors and crags and mountains and lakes. My Scottish Untour did not disappoint.  Arriving at the Wallace View 2 apartment,

Getting Past Inertia: Ten Simple, Valiant Steps To Align Your Foundation’s Endowment With Your Mission – Or Not

Huff Post blog by Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough There’s a lot of judgment these days about your endowment. You use it only to grow more money when it could be doing that and much more. I admit to my own judgment and perhaps you can face up to yours. You inherited a 100-year old

New Day Chester ignites growth through the arts

The Untours Foundation hasn’t ever made a loan to a museum, but it is invested in an exciting new arts project in the struggling city of Chester, Pa. New Day Chester is inspiring artistic expression and using it as fuel for social renewal and much-needed economic development. With multi-talented artist and entrepreneur, Devon Walls, at

Videos from the UnGala!

Enjoy short videos of two presentations at our recent UnGala event celebrating the Foundation’s 25th Anniversary:  Rachel Faller, founder of the Fair Trade clothing business, tonlé, who won our UnDreamed of Award for social vision, economic justice, and environmental transformation in business; and Devon Walls of New Day Chester, a Foundation investee who is leading an arts

UnGala Gratitude

The Untours Foundation held its second annual UnGala on Saturday, April 1, 2017 at the gorgeous home of Bart and Chrissy Houlahan outside of Philadelphia. We are so grateful for everything about this event: our generous hosts, our wonderful community of supporters, our inspiring investees, and our hardworking volunteers. The celebration brought out nearly 100 of

A Town-and-Country Company

  Lancaster Food Company, one of the Untours Foundation’s recent investees, is definitely a “town and country” company. Located in Lancaster, Pa, this organic bakery straddles two worlds—a city with a population of half-a-million and a county that is home to some of America’s most idyllic countryside.  It’s the perfect place for a business that

Ties that bind: Knotty Tie and the Refugee Crisis

What if U.S. communities embraced the gifts that international refugees have to offer and partnered with them to rebuild our economy through innovative business models?  And what if those business models reinvigorated old industries with fresh ideas and a responsive approach? That is exactly what Knotty Tie, an entrepreneurial and visionary business in Denver, Colorado,

Thanksgiving Feast and a Straw Bale Community Center at Standing Rock

Huffington Post blog by Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough A Wopila feast – Lakota for Thank You – is being prepared for the Protectors at Standing Rock on Thanksgiving Day thanks to the spark and energy of Judy Wicksand 60 of her friends and fans. Judy is a household name in Philadelphia for her White

FOUNDATIONS: PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MISSION IS

  Huffington Post Blog by Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough   When the heater gave out at Broad Street Ministry last December at the start of the Philadelphia winter, it should have meant an end to that non-profit’s weekly hospitality to hundreds of people without homes. Non-profits typically don’t have $250,000 in the ready for

BEAUTIFUL BUSINESS FOR RE-BUILT BOOBS

Huffington Post Blog by Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough     Or are they foobs? Apparently, some breast cancer survivors refer to their reconstructed breasts that way. While you take that in… After her double mastectomy and breast reconstructions five years ago, Dana Donofree was bummed to discover that the only thing the American Cancer

INCLUSIVE & ARTISTIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

We invest worldwide in amazing businesses including several in Chester, PA, which is just ten minutes from our offices. Chester holds the tragic distinction of having the highest homicide rate in the US. But help has come from the heart of Chester in the form of several entrepreneurs, who have stepped up to the plate

Kitchen Harvest — A Bit of a Love Story

[three_fourth_last] By Frances Schwabenland, our photojournalist. If you are lucky enough to spend time with Chris, you will be in the midst of poetry in motion! An artist of nature! It was just after sunrise when I was introduced to the Kitchen Harvest garden. I am not a morning person but the thought of missing

Wash Cycle Laundry — Up Close and Personal

By Frances Schwabenland, our photojournalist. “I have to be here.” Mildred was fighting a cold but she didn’t let that stop her. Her sense of responsibility and dedication has made her the first Employee of the Month for Wash Cycle Laundry. That morning, 39 bags filled with clothes, linens, sheets and towels had to be

Hal & Me

My dear friend Hal passed away yesterday. I was so incredibly lucky to work with Hal for a decade. What a man, what a character, what an inspiration. He walked his talk with joy in his heart and a good dose of mischief around the edges.

The Seriously Superior Shopping Guide

There are so many shopping guides out there for the holidays. Why is ours superior, seriously? Because these companies don’t just create wonderful products, they create good jobs, they care for the environment and create the positive changes we need in the world. And, finally, they are all “Investees” — the Untours Foundation has backed them with a low-interest loan or an equity investment.

The first-ever Untours Ungala

On October 3rd, Untours — the foundation and business together — hosted the first-ever Ungala, in celebration of 40 years of Untours and 23 years of the foundation. We brought together staff, board members, Untourists and donors, investees and community partners into a board member’s home for a cozy evening of socializing. We’ve always been about blurring the lines between business and philanthropy (a word Hal disliked), but bringing all these folks together was perhaps the first time we had literally mixed it ALL up in person.

Remembering Norma Taussig

Norma Lee Black Taussig, our dear friend and co-founder of the foundation, died yesterday at 92. I think Norma would have said she wasn’t 92 years “young,” but 92 years “old.” She lived through much hardship including the death of her beloved brother when she was young to living with the effects of a serious

How business in Haiti is tackling poverty

This nifty radio piece investigates how a new business model is trying to help people in Haiti. While they don’t exactly quote Hal’s phrase “A hand up, not a handout,” there is a similar mindset — that business might have some answers to problems that charity alone can’t solve. (Just for full disclosure, we have

Green businesses hatching everywhere!

T​here’s a new crop of business incubators and ​​​shared work spaces ​around the US ​that are housing some of our current and potential loan recipients,​ among others​. Myself and Jon Blum, our fantastic pro bono consultant, just visited on​e​ such space, The Pipeline,​ in Philadelphia. The view from one of its meeting rooms is Philadelphia City Hall with

Planning for the post-Taussig years at Untours

If you haven’t seen it, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a very informative article in 2012 about Hal and Norma and their wishes for the Untours Foundation. Read it here. We couldn’t summarize better ourselves what’s been going on. The foundation board is working hard to maintain Hal’s legacy, while also remembering that Hal said, “If

Wash Cycle in the news

Post by Untours Foundation.

Help us turn the world upside-down!

December 2014 Dear Untours family, As a youngster, my grandfather “Pop” taught himself to read out of boredom during long church services, sitting on the floor at his father’s knee. While the minister read the scripture aloud, he would follow his father’s finger on the words in the Bible. In time, Pop could read what

Wheelchair experience wanted!

Post by Untours Foundation. Visit the survey here. Thank you!

Happy 90th Birthday, Hal!

Today is Hal’s 90th birthday — we wish the founder of Untours and the Untours Foundation a wonderful day.   We are so grateful for all he has brought to the world, and how he inspires us. Hal, you’re one of a kind! [hal]  

Untours Foundation Fair Trade Shopping Guide

  Yes, it’s that time again — but do it differently! It’s time to think of gifts again. While we support giving homemade gifts, as well as gifts of special time and attention, sometimes, for some folks, we do want to give some thing. This holiday season, why not try shopping from an Untours Foundation

IceStone Overcomes Adversity

Here’s a great article that summarizes all the challenges that IceStone has faced, including 5 feet of standing water after hurricane Sandy, and how CEO Dal LaMagna and their employees have come together and gotten IceStone back on its feet! Read it here.

EcoZoom in Smithsonian Design Contest!

Untours Foundation loan recipient EcoZoom has been nominated as one of 2014’s design pioneers by Smithsonian Design Museum. Their Jet cookstove makes it possible to burn much less charcoal and produce much less carbon emissions, which improves the health of folks on the ground and improves the health of our planet. EcoZoom estimates that CO2

That’s some bake sale!

One of the Untours Foundations’ early investments was a small credit union in North Carolina called Self-Help. Small Beginnings Self-Help Credit Union had just about the smallest beginning you can imagine — with $77 in bake sale proceeds! Since 1984, it has grown to 17 branches all over North Carolina. True to its roots and mission, it gives back

Equal Exchange Avocado Update

The Background: Equal Exchange has been selling fair trade coffee since 1986, and we first supported them with a loan in 1998. We invested equity in 2009 to launch their fair trade banana importing company Oke USA. Equal Exchange/Oke USA supports fair trade cooperatives and bring their goods to the US market, fostering mutually beneficial relationships and environmental sustainability.

Wash Cycle rides to D.C.

The Background: Since 2010, Wash Cycle Laundry has established itself as one of the leaders in combining social entrepreneurship with green business, employing adults from vulnerable populations to work in their bicycle powered green laundry service. It earned “Best of Philly” in 2012 and the Sustainable Business Network‘s Visionary Entrepreneur Award in 2011, among other

SosteNica Sustainable Farming Update

The Background: Alan, our near-neighbor of West Chester, PA, is founder and President of SosteNica. SosteNica provides multiple layers of support to Nicaraguan communities, starting with microcredit loans and reaching to hands-on initiatives in sustainable building and agriculture. Additionally, SosteNica is where our Charitable Remainder Trust is invested. For more background, visit our SosteNica page. Alan gave us

Wash Cycle laundry expands!

What better way to set off on a new adventure than by bicycle? On Sunday, Wash Cycle Laundry began a two-day trip on their signature trikes down to Washington D.C., where Gabe and company launched the first expansion of their innovative Philly laundry business. Read all about it in the Technicl.ly Philly. And in other

World Fair Trade Day on Saturday

This Saturday is World Fair Trade Day! There are multitudes of ways to celebrate and get involved. Find an event near you — here and here! According to Elizabeth, Hal had the seemingly crazy idea to make our hometown of Media America’s First Fair Trade Town back in 2005, and now — we can browse Fair Trade

Cora

Elizabeth and I had a wonderful visit this week from Molly Hayward, founder of Cora. Molly is a passionate young entrepreneur from the Philadelphia area who really believes in changing how capitalism works. She calls Cora a “for-profit and for-purpose” social business. As Elizabeth remarked to Molly, “Hal will love you!” The service and mission

One small step for Untours Foundation…

We’ve got a Facebook page! If and when you’re on Facebook, please stop on by and give us a “like” and share the news with your friends who might be interested. We’ll be adding tidbits of news from the office, updates of our loan recipients and a little sprinkle of the unexpected! You don’t have

Kestregrwoth Brands

Fairly traded vanilla and spice company.

You won’t believe what happened on this Untour

A car chase through Tuscany? It’s not direct foundation news, but we don’t typically have this much intrigue in the Untours world. You’ll have to read it to believe it. Click here for the full story.

Ecozoom Update

Here’s some great news from loan recipient Ecozoom about their expansion into Rwanda! It’s the largest-ever project of its kind in Africa, with an estimated 1,200,000 clean cookstoves being distributed in partnership with DelAgua Health and Life Straw water filters. 600,000 stoves will be distributed  free to the needy by the Department of Health and

Foundation Fridays at the untourist

Check out our post about Philly Compost on the Untours Blog, A Rind is a Terrible Thing to Waste. We explore the serious food waste problem in the United States and how Philly Compost is modeling a business to reduce food waste and our carbon footprint while enhancing our soils and gardens.

Wash Cycle Laundry in the news

Untours Foundation loan recipient Wash Cycle Laundry is included in a profile of the Merchants Fund, a venerable institution which has turned to a new strategy — providing small loans to Philadelphia’s small businesses. Wash Cycle Laundry received a loan to add motor-assist to some of the laundry-hauling tricycles which will enable WCL to expand

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sending love your way from all of us at the Untours Foundation! [hal]  

Fair Trade Schools Launched!

This week, the first ten Fair Trade Schools in the United States were certified. No less than three of these schools are located in our hometown of Media, Pennsylvania! As a parent of three children at Media-Providence Friends School, and close with families at Media Elementary School, both newly certified schools, I (Shannon) have been

Philly joins in social entrepreneurship

As reported in the nifty new online magazine called Flying Kite, the City of Philadelphia is now working with social entrepreneurs and innovative businesses to help improve the city. The first project is called FastFWD, “an urban innovation refinery.” With $1 million from Bloomberg’s “Mayors Challenge”, FastFWD will initially tackle Public Safety collaboratively with entrepreneurs

Happy Holidays

I have the best job in the world. I truly love it! Writing this annual letter, however, is a challenge. This is when I’d like to go on an Untour until someone else comes up with what to write. Why would anyone believe my superlatives about the Untours Foundation? I wouldn’t, if I weren’t a

Hal’s 89th Birthday

In late November, Hal celebrated his 89th birthday with the Untours staff. While he is slowing down and only comes into the office occasionally, he sure loves being here! He enjoyed visiting with staff and Foundation board members, all dear friends. He even blew out the candles in one try!

Anniversary Wishes

For our 20th anniversary on April 22, 2013, we asked supporters what they would give the Untours Foundation, if it was their best friend. Here are their answers. The world’s most comfortable shoes, lightest and best binoculars, apps for all the info that Untourists find printed up when they arrive, and complete openness to all

Sign Up for Foundation Untours!

Starting this November, Untours Foundation will be hosting periodic tours of loan recipient facilities for our donors. We’ll kick it off in November with Wash Cycle Laundry in Philadelphia. Since their facilities are small, we’ll only be able to have 10 donors take the tour, but you’ll get to see how the business works, meet

Selene Whole Foods Coop

Food co-op in Media, PA, that sourced Fair Trade Certified ingredients for some of Media’s restaurants.

Transfair

  Transfair is a main certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.

Speak Shophutton

Online, Fair Trade language school using indigenous teachers.

C & C Imports

Fair Trade wine company. 

White Dog Cafe Foundation

  White Dog Cafe is a foundation that launched the “buy local” movement in the Philadelphia area and several strong organizations, like the Sustainable Business Network.

ForesTrade

ForesTrade is a manufacturer and supplier of organic spices and coffee products intended to promote sustainable agriculture while producing quality certified organic and fair trade products. The company’s products include organic spices, organic and fair trade coffee, essential oils, mayan ramon nuts and vanilla beans, enabling clients to get access to quality certified products at