About Camps - Camps International USA

Ethical journeys with impact

We organize ethical, educational travel programs designed to make an impact. As a purpose-driven organization, our mission shapes everything we do—from our operations to our community partnerships.

We build permanent, community-based camps in the regions we’re most committed to. Across all our programs, we uphold the highest standards of responsible travel. We collaborate closely with local communities and proudly employ a diverse, passionate global team.

Above all, we value purpose over profit. We call this the Camps Effect—the driving force behind the positive impact we create for our students and our planet.

We’re proud to be a purpose-driven philanthropic organization – a successful business built to make a difference

After serving as a British Army officer, Camps founder, Stuart Rees Jones spent several years leading student trips to Tanzania and Mount Kilimanjaro. Frustrated by the limited long-term impact these experiences had on local communities, he saw a better way and envisioned something different: establishing permanent camps, built in collaboration with host communities, to help address real, local challenges.

Camps was founded in 2002, beginning with a single camp in Makongeni, Kenya. Over the next few years, our founding team developed a unique, community-based model that has since been replicated in locations across East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. We’ve hosted more than 55,000 travellers and completed over 400 transformative community, wildlife and environmental projects, helping to positively impact the lives of more than 120,000 people worldwide.

Over the years, we’ve built lasting connections with the people, wildlife, and environments that form the heart of our work, and had the privilege of collaborating with an incredibly diverse and inspiring global team.