Introducing Robert J. Holmes | Honoree for The 20 Of 2020 Award Ceremony

Robert J. Holmes

Introducing the next honoree - Robert J. Holmes. Thanks to Bellevue business leader Robert J. Holmes and leaders of the Dean Witter Foundation, the survival of NatureBridge is one of the heroic stories of 2020.

NatureBridge is a nonprofit organization that provides environmental-education programs in national park locations across the country: Yosemite, Olympic, Shenandoah, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Santa Monica Mountaions National Recreation Area, Channel Islands and Prince William Forest.

In 2019 the campuses in those national parks were alive with activity, as students spent their days exploring, engaging in scientific inquiry and discovering their connection with nature.

Then came the pandemic and, like so many organizations it became difficult to have in person programing. Holmes called on his business colleagues to match his own contribution of $25,000 to save this program.

The result was that more than 700 donors raised $1.1 million for NatureBridge in just a few months. It recently launched Distance Learning programs across the country and is now well positioned to weather the pandemic.