Raised in Ohio by a family with a deep commitment to socioeconomic and environmental justice, Dan went on to graduate from Brown University in 2008 where he participated actively in local communities, and graduated with honors in Marine Biology. Dan led and sponsored a statewide initiative to equalize access to emergency care, served as treasurer of a national organization seeking to end the harms of the war on drugs, campaigned to return the right to vote to the formerly incarcerated, and facilitated writing workshops in the state prison. Through his role as EVP and co-Founder of Runa as well as his time as a board member of two non-profits, Dan has built diverse professional experience in conservation, public policy, and organizational development/management.

“I intend to enact my life's work through leading, teaching, sharing, listening, and connecting. Specifically, I see my mission as helping humans everywhere re-envision their connection to places and other communities, and make those connections an integral part of life. My earliest lens on was inspired by the great privilege of growing up on a beautiful piece of land. So, the biggest re-envisioning I want to do is to change the way people think about their relation to the land and ecosystems: we are a part of those ecosystems, and they a part of us. I think the word "environment" is relatively useless because it implies that we are separate from those systems.

My socioeconomic philosophy is freedom and justice for all, regardless of their background, beliefs, or appearance; I couple that with a deep belief in the free market, so long as that free market begins to internalize the many externalities of our current system. I think our society has done a pretty bad job of that to date, and I see correcting that imbalance as a central part of my work. I love Runa because it actually pokes at the heart of our economic system - at the end of the day, we are helping people consume mindfully and with intention. They are connecting to a place and a people, both through the intrinsic value of the plant as well as through the rich traditions and lives of the communities we work with - which we try to communicate as consistently and authentically as possible.

I am in general a systems thinker. I will probably never compose an orchestral masterpiece - though I consider myself rather talented at photography and poetry, when I have time for it. My greatest skill, though, is that I can see the big picture, bring the right players and resources together, and harmonize them for holistic solutions.” - Dan MacCombie