In 2024, The Intrepid Foundation gave away over AUD 260,000 in impact grants, largely thanks to thousands of Intrepid travellers who chose to make small donations.
When you book a trip at intrepidtravel.com, you’ll see an option to donate one per cent of your trip cost to Intrepid’s non-profit, The Intrepid Foundation. In 2024, almost ten per cent of bookers – that’s over 5300 travellers – checked that box.
And while a single per cent of most things might not seem like much, the collective impact of all those one per cents is a whole different story. Those donations totalled AUD 250,000 and made up the lion’s share of The Intrepid Foundation’s latest round of impact grants that will help deliver important (and impactful) projects in eight different countries.
Those small but meaningful donations are now providing solar lights for classrooms in rural Cambodia, putting women through culinary school in Morocco, helping save an endangered species in Vietnam and lots more.
Grants supporting great ideas
A panel of judges assessed grant applications from 28 Intrepid Foundation partners around the world with big ideas for making a difference in their region. Using a voting process open to all Intrepid staff, they narrowed it down to eight recipients, who’ll put their grants to good use in 2025.
1. Giving women entrepreneurs a leg up in Honduras
Adelante Foundation provides small loans to women in rural areas of Honduras so that they can start their own businesses and become self-sufficient.
With an impact grant of AUD 20,000, they plan to expand the distribution of two types of micro-loans: home improvement and water and sanitation loans. They’ll distribute an additional 100 loans and provide financial literacy training to at least 500 women.
2. Creating culinary careers in Morocco
Amal Association provides women in Morocco with skills training and education. They work towards gender equality by helping women gain the confidence and skills to enter the job market and build financial independence.
Their AUD 50,000 Intrepid Foundation grant will help them put 12 women through culinary school in 2025. After graduating, the students will attend a three-month internship program at one of Amal Association’s partner hotels to further develop their skills and get support to find work in the local restaurant sector.
3. Creating more opportunities for women in rural Kenya
Patinaai Osim provides training and employment opportunities for Maasai women in rural Kenya.
Their Intrepid Foundation impact grant of AUD 50,000 will expand their training hub in Kajiado County, Kenya. They’ve outgrown their current space, so this expansion will create more room to train more women and change more lives. They’ll train women in tailoring and sewing as well as climate and sustainability initiatives to give women the opportunity to contribute to conservation while earning a stable income.
4. Generating income with plastic-free crafts in Peru
Awamaki collaborates with women artisans in remote Quechua communities in Peru to help them create and run their own small businesses. They guide women as they turn their craft skills into sellable products – meaning they can earn an income without needing to leave their rural communities.
Awamaki recently discovered a more environmentally friendly way to produce one of their most popular handmade stuffed toys – using leftover textiles, otherwise destined for landfill, to replace the plastic stuffing inside. They’ll use their grant of AUD 8184 to teach this new technique to women in their program and create marketing materials for this improved version of their bestseller.
5. Lighting up classrooms in Cambodia
Cambodia Rural Students Trust (CRST) provides rural students in Cambodia with high school and university education.
They’ll use their Intrepid Foundation grant of AUD 33,000 to install solar panels and solar-powered outdoor lights at their campus in Siem Reap. These solar panels and lights will complete the transformation of CRST’s Siem Reap campus, making it a leading example of environmentally responsible education in the city.
6. Driving low-carbon tourism initiatives in Thailand
EcoThailand educates and inspires school children and their wider communities in tourism destinations in Thailand to conserve and care for the local environment.
The island of Koh Phaluai is home to a small fishing community with limited infrastructure and transport links. Thanks to a new concrete pier set to bring car ferry services to the island, the quiet community is expected to see a swift influx of tourism. So, with their AUD 5000 grant, EcoThailand intends to support the community and help set up sustainable, low-carbon tourism initiatives to transition the local people into economic and environmental success.
7. Helping save an endangered species in Vietnam
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife rescues, rehabilitates and releases trafficked wildlife and conserves critical habitats in Vietnam.
With the help of an AUD 50,000 impact grant, in 2025, they’ll set up a breeding program in Cuc Phuong National Park for an endangered species – the Owston’s civet. They plan on creating a functional breeding centre that’s fully equipped to rescue, rehabilitate, breed and house up to 50 animals to bring them back from the brink of extinction.
8. Generating plastic-free alternatives in Sri Lanka
ZeroPlastic Movement is on a mission to change how Sri Lanka treats plastic with recycling initiatives and organised clean-ups nationwide.
Beyond removing plastic from the environment, the team also supports local artisans in producing plastic-free alternatives to reduce plastic production. In 2025, they plan to up the ante on this arm of the organisation. With their AUD 50,000 grant, they’ll set up a ZeroPlastic Impact Centre, providing artisans with critical capacity building to boost the craftsmanship and quality of plastic-free cane and bamboo alternatives.
Next time you think you’re too small to make a significant difference in the world, think again. It’s the collective impact of travellers like you who’ve made a world of difference by fuelling these impact grants with their donations.
Visit The Intrepid Foundation to make a donation or explore Intrepid’s collection of trips and donate one per cent when you book your next adventure.
