World Record holding adventurer, Holly Budge, has turned her thrill-seeking into a method for raising attention and money for impressive wildlife conservation and female empowerment goals.
In this inspirational episode, Holly Budge tells Daniel how being the first female to skydive Mount Everest made her realise that big adventures can be an incredible platform to raise the profile of important charitable missions.
With a world record under her belt (for a semi-wild horse race across Mongolia), Holly decided to study for a master’s degree in graphic design.
Her decision to explore vegetable ivory as a material led her down the rabbit hole of researching the ivory trade and she realised there’s still a lot of work to be done to protect the world’s elephants from this cruel and illegal trade.
Upon discovering that 96 elephants are killed each day by poachers in Africa, she had an award-winning design and the foundations of a new charitable venture: How Many Elephants?
With a focus on positivity and can-do communication, How Many Elephants? supports conservation projects on the ground in Africa.
The charity also launched World Female Ranger Week in 2020 to champion the work of female rangers across the world and encourage more girls to consider this route, to protect the wildlife and also provide a great support for their families and communities.
Holly has also recently launched her own tour operator, Wildlife Positive Travel as a further way to support the communities she has connected with over the last decade-and-a-bit.
Her tours – many of which are personally led by Holly – offer the opportunity to go out on patrol with the female rangers and learn more about their work first-hand.
Holly calls it “experiential philanthropy”, which is such a good term for it.
And the chances are, like Holly, this one adventurous step could well lead to many more adventures and positive actions in the future.
Holly is convinced that we all have the relevant skills to turn our passions into projects that can support others and do good in the world. She says there’s never been an easier time to learn new skills.
After listening to this episode, you’ll probably be right there with her. It’s an inspirational story!
