history

Founded in 2007 by Wlady Ortiz an entrepreneur from Riobamba and Jake Ling, an Australian photojournalist, Ecuador Eco Volunteer helps volunteers conect directly with local communities and volunteers.
Around the time this organization was founded the vast majority of volunteer work programs in Ecuador and South America cost thousands of dollars per month.

This was a time when most of the money volunteers paid did not go to the communities or conservation projects running the volunteer programs–it went to giant tourism companies that had a stranglehold over the volunteer work industry in its infancy.

The vision for this organization however was to create a social enterprise that is sustainable, transparent and uses low-cost volunteer work as a vehicle for change.

It worked.

The Volunteer Work Programs on this site are primarily in remote and rural areas that have limited Internet access.  We work with them and organize logistics so they can receive volunteers and benefit from socially responsible tourism. Volunteers that join up through this website get traveler support as soon as they touch down at Quito airport.

We also split certain volunteer programs onto the ECUADORECOVOLUNTEER.ORG version of this site that operate independently of us but that we recommend for more independent travelers that speak proficient Spanish to contact directly.

Volunteers are also part of the new sustainible tourism movement, thus, we offer discounts to all of our volunteers in our Ecuador Eco Adventure expeditions