By Kristin Goodwillie, Northwest Region

For Mallory Boulter, an American Red Cross Tiffany Circle member and VP of Global Impact at Remitly and Kiana van Waes, Trust Programs Lead at Remitly, the connection between their work and the Red Cross mission comes down to trust and a shared commitment to helping communities.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Remitly, is a digital remittance service that enables international money transfers from and to the United States.

"Our customers and their loved ones are located in over 175 countries, and when you compare that to the regions the Red Cross operates in, there’s a striking overlap," says van Waes. "The regions our customers call home are so often the same regions hit hardest by disasters. Partnering with an organization that is already present, already trusted, and already working in those communities felt like an extension of our vision."

That overlap makes the partnership a natural fit. Both organizations work alongside communities rather than stepping in only when disaster strikes.

“Remitly isn’t just a transaction, and the Red Cross isn’t just a relief operation,” Boulter said. “We’re both establishing trust, built relationship by relationship, community by community.”

That trust shows up in how Remitly supports customers during emergencies. When disasters hit, the company has waived transfer fees to help families send money fast.

“Speed matters because the financial reality of disaster doesn’t wait,” van Waes said.

The goal is simple: make sure sending money during a crisis doesn’t add to the burden. Remitly focuses on helping funds move quickly, securely, and reliably to the people who need them most.

That shared philosophy, supporting people in crisis while also strengthening preparedness, has only deepened the partnership over time.

Through its partnership with the Red Cross, Remitly is also investing in preparedness efforts before disasters happen. Donations support infrastructure and community resilience that helps people weather crises, rather than only recover from them.

Boulter's involvement in the Tiffany Circle, a group of women leaders who support the Red Cross through philanthropy and advocacy, has also brought that mission even closer – re-enforcing the importance of community driven support across all areas of the organization’s work. "Visiting the blood and platelet center recently grounded me in the importance of donor generosity and what it means to come together as a community," she said. "The Tiffany Circle is an example of how to meaningfully engage with communities locally."

That focus on connection aligns closely with Remitly’s values of building meaningful relationships with communities, both globally and locally.

Remitly employees bring that same sense of connection into their work. In 2025, teams across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific participated in a MapSwipe project, a global opensource mapping project which helps improve maps in disaster-prone areas. Accurate maps allow humanitarian workers to respond to crises more quickly and efficiently. "Many of the locations on MapSwipe are places our customers call home," said Ella Brown, who led the volunteering effort. "This activity truly crossed borders."

For Remitly, it all comes back to one guiding idea: showing up when it matters most.

Whether it’s helping a family send money home, supporting disaster preparedness, or aiding recovery, the goal is the same.