A Conversation with RUNA’s Founder Tyler Gage

Continuing on last week’s theme of social enterprises I had the pleasure of interviewing Tyler Gage, the Founder of an amazing company that I previously worked for, RUNA. Simply put, RUNA is “a social enterprise that supports indigenous farmers in Ecuador”. RUNA brings the power of a super food called Guayusa to health-conscious individuals who are looking for a high caffeine alternative that supports healthy living. The magical little leaf contains Polyphenols and L-theanine which “provides sustained energy, mental clarity, and focus without feeling a crash”.

RUNA is much more than just an amazing source of healthy caffeine. The organization is certified Fair-trade, B corporation, and USDA Organic. When Gage was still in undergrad, he “spent time with indigenous communities in Peru… and felt inspired to find ways to help generate sustainable income for these communities.” The solution was RUNA LLC.

But that wasn’t all, Gage and his co-founder decided to set up a foundation as a sister organization to the LLC because “we wanted to have another organization that could be fully dedicated to the mission and invest more in projects to benefit producers.” Their foundation helps to ensure that those who are producing RUNA’s drinks are not only treated fairly but also creating stable lifestyles for the lives that build the brand. One of the ways the organization measures the impact that they make is “through income generation, RUNA generates hundreds of thousands of dollars [a] year of direct income to farming families.” Creating stable conditions through economic opportunity and access is how the organization is creating sustainable impact through existing economic infrastructure.

Today, Gage continues to focus on improving our current capitalist economy by “investing in and advising companies focused on producing healthy products or creating circular economy solutions.” I’ll be excited to see how he continues to impact and improve the social impact space.