Missouri Action and Impact Report - Spring 2024

CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY

“The most exciting part to me is we’re just getting started,” said Jason Milks, U.S. Reforestation Program director for TNC. “It’s allowed us to take our projects from an individual scale and really apply a Mississippi River-wide strategy.” That kind of acceleration has played out across multiple strategies and countries. In Southeast Europe, TNC worked with communities and governments to protect the Zeta River in Montenegro and is now expanding to work on additional rivers in the region. To date, support from Routes & Roots has helped TNC and partners secure or improve the health of an estimated 12,000 river miles, keep 88 million pounds of pollutants out of rivers and streams and benefit 1.5 million people who rely on healthy rivers and freshwater ecosystems. As it continues into the future, this Missouri-grown collaboration will be helping TNC reach its ambitious global goal to conserve 1 million kilometers of river—that is the equivalent of 621,371 river miles, enough to circle the globe 25 times.

Why I Do This Work “ The goal of the Enterprise Mobility Foundation has always been to strengthen the communities where we live and work. Back in 2017, when we had our introduction to The Nature Conservancy, we started to hear that water could be in jeopardy, so we created Routes & Roots. Access to water is critically important for all communities worldwide. We’re proud of this initiative and are thrilled about the progress TNC and partners have made to protect, preserve and improve freshwater ecosystems, habitats and security. We knew this program was going to be a success. I just don’t think we fully comprehended how successful it was going to be. The opportunities are endless. ” —Carolyn Kindle, Enterprise Mobility Foundation President

THIS PAGE TOP Mississippi headwaters at Itasca State Park outside of Park Rapids, MN. © Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruberan THIS PAGE BOTTOM Carolyn Kindle, Enterprise Mobility Foundation President with TNC Misssouri State Director Adam McLane © Route 3 Films

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