We are thrilled to announce two new borrowers and community members, Boldr and Wildlife Corridors.
Boldr was founded in 2016 with the goal of interrupting the cycle of human exploitation and economic disparity. Their hypothesis: the fastest way to create long-term, systemic change is to provide communities with access to digital skills training, meaningful employment, and career advancement. Boldr achieves its mission by providing learning opportunities and career skills and leadership development to employees and the broader community. They aim to boost access to digital training opportunities in underserved communities where these types of partnerships are not readily available.
Over the past year, Boldr opened new offices in Tacloban, Mexico, and Cape Town, South Africa, joining established operations in the United States, the Philippines (Manilla & Tacloban), and Canada. Boldr is also proud to have recently become a Certified B Corp. This certification is granted to companies who are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. RSF provided Boldr with a $500,000 line of credit to help fund their growing operations. We are so excited to have Boldr join our community of values-aligned social enterprises in our lending portfolio.
Learn more about Boldr here.
Wildlife Corridors is a member of the Borderlands Restoration Network, a group of organizations working to build a vibrant restoration economy in the tri-national Arizona/Sonora borderlands region. Their mission is to protect critical migration corridors in the region for bobcats, jaguars, and many other animals.
Wildlife Corridors sees itself as a small experiment in a large and urgently needed conservation laboratory. Its theory of change is that, while nonprofit organizations are, and will continue to be, the core of most land conservation efforts, the magnitude of critical land conservation needs is more than what can be accomplished by non-profits alone. Instead, a mixture of non-profit, limited-profit and for-profit organizations, and the diverse income streams and tax statuses of the combined organizations, is what is needed to bring 21st century conservation effort to scale.
Last December, RSF provided a $715,000 bridge loan to Wildlife Corridors while they awaited approved government grant funding to support permanent conservation of roughly 1600 acres that will be known as the Borderlands Restoration Preserve. Funding a bridge loan was a new area for RSF, and we are immensely proud of our lending and credit teams for their hard work and creativity throughout this process. We are honored to partner with Wildlife Corridors in helping fund their critical mission and are delighted to have them join the RSF community.
Learn more about Wildlife Corridors here.
