DEAR IOI COMMUNITY
As we enter the last quarter of 2020, it feels like a corner might be turned soon on a more-than-tumultuous year. From political turmoil to civic unrest, from lack of life-work-balance to working at home, from stock market crash to record recoveries on Wall (but not Main) Street. And all that before the backdrop of a Q4 that might yet pack the biggest punch, with US elections upcoming and societies moving life indoors as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere.
IOI has undergone a similar roller-coaster ride. On the coat-tails of last year's shift to align our programs with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we started the year by implementing our industry-leading 2022 Carbon Negative Initiative. Then came Covid, along with evacuations just ahead of border closures and ever-extending program shut-downs for the rest of 2020. I'll spare you the gory details, but we had to cut both our budget and our fixed cost by over two thirds. Such radical cuts are painful of course, mainly with regards to staffing. At one point we were a team of 14—currently, we are down to a single full-time employee holding down the fort in Galapagos.
But, we also found opportunity and made important progress. While society at large has found new vigor in opposing the world's injustices, IOI's community came together to help us survive, continue with innovation, and keep our spirits up during this time of crisis. Our relentless staff (now working part-time or volunteering) has been putting in countless hours of their time to continue fulfilling our commitments on the ground, as well as our program development. The government in Ecuador realized the importance of food sovereignty in the Galapagos, and IOI’s sustainable agriculture program got a long-awaited, major boost through their support. Our cost-cutting demanded a move to new facilities, which has left us in beautiful, new, and expanded installations in an even better location. We updated our health and safety protocols to state-of-the-art standards, including bubble approaches and frequent testing. Last, but not least, in the face of continued travel restrictions (SPOILER ALERT) we are developing new online programs that will be launched in November, which can stand as individual programs or serve as enhancements to our existing programming after opening our doors again in January.
