Our Values

Our Mission

At not-for-profit Road Scholar, our mission is to inspire adults to learn, discover and travel. Our learning adventures engage expert instructors, provide extraordinary access, and stimulate discourse and friendship among people for whom learning is the journey of a lifetime.

 

 

Road Scholar partners with Carbonfund.org

Offsetting Some of the Carbon Created Through Travel

To counter the impact of travel to Road Scholar programs, we invest in projects that reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Road Scholar's carbon-offsetting projects include:

•    Rainforest preservation in Brazil
•    Methane gas recapture in Florida
•    Wind energy in India
•    Reforestation in Kenya
•    Forest Preservation in Afognak Island, Alaska
•    Clean cookstoves in India
•    Methane Gas-to-Electricity at a New Bedford, Mass. Landfill 
•    Nitrous Oxide Abatement in Florida

 

A bird flies around a hand holding a globe

Offsetting Some of the Plastic Used on Road Scholar Programs

At Road Scholar, we do our best to limit the amount of plastic used on our programs. We have partnered with TONTOTON and funded the reclamation of 10 metric tons of plastic waste in Vietnam.  Through TONTOTON’s projects, post-consumer, non-recyclable, ocean-bound plastic waste is recovered and processed into fuels and raw materials that replace coal at a local manufacturing plant.

Scholarships & Grants

Ann in Fundraising brings in nearly $2 million in donations every year. Her tireless efforts allow us to offer scholarships and enrichment grants to those who otherwise could not afford a Road Scholar trip. In fact, we bestow 300 such grants every year. Know a caregiver who needs a break? Spread the word about our Caregiver Grants.

300
Caregiver Grants Bestowed
Road Scholar Founders

Our History

Road Scholar was founded by two friends in 1975 as Elderhostel. A not-for-profit education organization driven by our mission, our history has been driven by our values and committment to providing generations of lifelong learners with transformative learning adventures from Greenland to Cuba, and nearly everywhere in between.