Kelley Louise
Founder and Executive Director of Impact Travel Alliance
Sustainable Travel — Kelley traveled to Puerto Rico where she experienced local cuisine and visited sustainable farms.
Sustainable Travel — Kelley traveled to Puerto Rico where she experienced local cuisine and visited sustainable farms.
Tanya Weaver, Executive Director of the American Foundation for Children with Aids, works in African countries where there are more orphans with AIDS than anywhere in the world—15 million. In Zimbabwe, her programs offer farming assistance, goat breeding and beekeeping programs to help families as well as providing medical supplies. In addition, they offer traveling programs called Vacations with a Purpose which provide volunteering opportunities for travelers.
Lindsay visited Rwanda and Gorilla Guardians Village, an environment that promotes sustainable travel and combats gorilla poaching. Hear what it’s like to trek among gorillas and learn about their efforts to protect and conserve these animals. Listen as she talks about the history and travel options in this country, once known for a vicious genocide, and now a unified nation ready to welcome travelers.
Catarina visited Honduras, a destination to which ExplorEquity plans to offer tours focused on social justice. She meets with coffee farmers, experiences local cuisine, meets with local businesses and visits beautiful lakes, mountains and landscapes.
Patrick lived in Kyrgyzstan for 9 years, working to bring tourism there and promoting outdoor adventure. Historically it has been a mountaineering destination, home to one of the easiest 7000m peaks in the world, and recently ski touring and horseback riding have become popular. The country has experienced political instability, including a number of revolutions. Listen to Patrick recount his first hand experience of the 2010 revolution.
Victoria founded the nonprofit Maysea in Nicaragua where she works with rural off-grid jungle communities. She also runs "co-giving trips" that combine adventure with impact in this area of the Pacific Coast renowned for surfing and outdoor exploration.
Yulia is a travel journalist who created an innovative travel company to bring people to places misrepresented by mass media. She is currently focused on the Middle East and here she talks about her organized trips to Jordan, where she works with eco-tourism initiatives that offer employment to local Bedouin communities. Learn more about the welcoming population, diverse cultures and other worldly landscapes in Jordan.
Mark Crandall is Founder of Hoops4Hope, a nonprofit that is committed to building and sustaining a community ecosystem that is a catalyst for positive youth development and social change through sports. He started in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and his programs reach more than 7500 kids each year in over 60 schools in those countries, with their peer educational model shared around the world in 7 countries. Among his experiences are a team bike trip around the circumference of Zimbabwe to highlight the power of sport for development, a partnership with NBA Africa and Basketball without Borders.
Carmen Castricum is Founder of The Green Stamp, a platform dedicated to presenting ethical and donation-based wildlife tours in South America, Asia and Africa. Here she discusses jaguar conservation in Bolivia and her visit to the Jaguar Conservation Ranch. Jaguar populations are being dramatically reduced due to deforestation, cattle ranching and killings, and the ranch offers local education to combat this.
The Peace Corps no longer operates in Mauritania due to the risk to Americans but here Dave Aabo recounts his experience working there years ago. There are many human rights issues in the country. While Dave was there slavery was legal, and even in 2018, although then illegal, there were more than 90,000 slaves in the country. It is an Islamic Republic where atheism is punishable by death. After leaving Mauritania, Dave went on to do the Peace Corps in Peru and later founded Waves International, a surf travel and volunteer organization in Lobitos that increases surf access to locals, provides English classes and beach clean up to the community.
CATALYST speaks with Genevieve Huneault, Founder of Social Root Consulting and Development Coordinator of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada about the field and its relationship to child welfare.
Read MoreLauren Chu is the Communications Director at Operation Groundswell (OG), a socially conscious travel organization whose motto is “backpacking with a purpose.” Here she talks about her experience on OG’s trips to Guatemala. Indigenous Mayan peoples make up more than 50% of Guatemala’s population. OG’s trips there examine issues such as their role in the community and how they are affected by deforestation, resource extraction and other human rights issues.
Rob McQueen traveled to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia by motorcycle to visit with nomadic peoples and deliver water filters. Rob works for Waves For Water, a nonprofit dedicated to solving the water scarcity problem worldwide.
Clara is an Argentinian filmmaker who visited South Sudan to work on the first movies ever made in the new country. She mentored a team of local South Sudanese filmmakers and helped make 4 films. It was a brave experience as there has been recent violence toward journalists in the country and risk of political turmoil. Learn about the culture and personalities of the team she worked with, and the history and landscape of the country.
In underserved communities in Ecuador, social challenges include malnutrition, stunting, unemployment among others. Here, Jeff Goldman, Executive Director of Manna Project International, talks about their social justice and community development programs: nutrition classes, adult programs, job training and after-school/summer programming for kids. Short and long term volunteering and service learning opportunities are available with Manna Project International.
The San peoples are Indigenous hunter-gatherer groups that are the First Nations of Southern Africa. Here Alanna Wallace speaks of her travels to Botswana to stay in a San-owned lodge and what she learned from the San while there. Alanna is Program and Communications Manager of Planeterra Foundation, which is the leading nonprofit using tourism to tackle poverty, and Alanna talks about how they support the San-run Dqae Qare lodge as well as many other sustainable travel projects worldwide.
JoAnna Haugen is founder of Rooted, a storytelling platform about sustainable travel. She visited Israel and Palestine on a tour that focused on learning the stories of local Israelis and Palestinians via in person meetings and experiences and shared meals. She gained a more in-depth understanding of the conflict and culture of the region through this form of travel.