The Intrepid Travel non-profit arm, The Intrepid Foundation, has released its 2025 Impact Report, detailing its largest year of global giving since the organization was established.
In 2025, the foundation distributed more than CAD $3.2 million to 58 partner organizations across 45 countries, supporting initiatives aimed at addressing inequality, protecting the environment and strengthening local communities.
The foundation uses a locally led, trust-based model, with local Intrepid teams identifying grassroots organizations in their own regions to receive funding. According to the report, this approach spreads support across smaller NGOs and directs funding to projects connected to the communities visited by Intrepid travellers.
Projects supported in 2025 included work by Ezwitti in Jordan, which helped provide more than 91,000 meals to people facing food insecurity. In Sri Lanka, partner ZeroPlastic built a ZeroPlastic Impact Centre to help local artisans produce alternatives to plastic products. In Greece, AMURTEL hosted more than 1,800 maternal support groups for refugee and migrant mothers.
Biheng Zhang, General Manager of The Intrepid Foundation, said the organization’s approach relies on community leadership.
“The Intrepid Foundation operates on the belief that no one understands a community’s challenges better than the people on the ground, working with local organisations every day. The impact we achieved in 2025 was made possible by these remarkable and resilient individuals quietly leading change in their communities, alongside the generosity and connection our global travel community has shown to the places they visit.”
The $3.2 million raised in 2025 came from 16,293 donors, including 9,739 travellers. The funding also allowed the foundation to add six new partner organizations, including Scholars of Sustenance in Indonesia, National Parks Conservation Association in the United States, Monteverde Conservation League in Costa Rica and Tasuleasa Social Association in Romania.
The foundation also distributed more than CAD $630,000 in targeted grants to support specific partner-led initiatives.
Since launching in 2002, The Intrepid Foundation has now disbursed more than CAD $19.4 million to community projects around the world.
Looking ahead, the organization aims to raise CAD $4.1 million in 2026 and plans to add close to 20 new partners as it works toward its long-term goal of becoming a $10 million foundation by 2030.
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