Winning Women: Social Impact Travel

Most of the best case studies of sustainable travel are found in the realm of nature-based tourism, ecotourism, rural tourism, and community-based tourism (CBT). While many mass tourism destinations are facing over-crowding, the less urban and less accessible destinations see great potential for growth. Experts in these areas will share the latest strategies for tapping into that growth potential while remaining true to the highly sustainable aspirations of these forms of tourism.

Join us for Winning Women: Social Impact Travel featuring social entrepreneurs in the travel and social impact sector on Thursday, June 21 2018, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm at The Farm Soho.

Winning Women, created by Cynthia Hellen, is a monthly event series empowering women to effect change in society at all levels: as an individual, community member, professional, student & entrepreneur. At Winning Women, women share their lessons learned to an audience that ranges from 20-60s year old female and males who are eager to learn how to become better leaders, start a business, or juggle their passion project and day job.

New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE), an international nonprofit supporting the next generation of women change-makers. At NYWSE, our mission is to provide the community, tools, trainings, and resources that women need to succeed as business leaders while becoming sustainability experts. Follow @winningwomenseries and the hashtag #winningwomen.

Schedule

6:30PM Registration

7:00PM Keynote: Valeria Hinojosa, Founder of WaterThruSkin and WTS Connect

7:30PM Panel: Social Impact Travel

8:30PM Networking

Keynote

Valeria Hinojosa, Founder of WaterThruSkin and WTS Connect

Vegan. Yogi. Social entrepreneur. Risk-taker. She worked in the Private Banking Industry as a VP for almost 5 years unAl she switched it all to start WaterThruSkin- Miami’s blog about a lifestyle with a conscience. Since then, she’s been traveling the world visiting the most exotic, eco-friendly, and soul-enriching places not only to acquire a vast knowledge of different cultures, green design and exotic plant-based cuisine but also to promote new eco-friendly and cruelty-free brands, products and hotels she works with. In the past 3 years since WTS’ inception, Valeria and her team have reviewed and promoted over 200 brands and hotels worldwide. In 2017, Valeria also founded WTS Connect- the first conscious blogger agency with a reach of over 22 million worldwide consumers focused on sustainability and ethics.

Moderator

Jen Morilla, Founder of The Social Girl Traveler

Jen Morilla is also known as The Social Girl Traveler.  Jen worked for a New York City Corporate agency when she decided that she wanted to impact the world. For the past three years, she has been to 41 Countries, 6 Continents & impacted the lives of over 12,500 people in these countries with this purifying water filtration system as a courier for Waves for Water.  She is not your average travel blogger, she calls herself an Impact Travel Influencer. Her mission is to create incredible possibilities of transformation for individuals on a global scale. Follow Jen as she travels the world changing and inspiring others to live their happiest lives and ‘play their part’ in making the world a better place. Follow her on instagram: @thesocialgirltraveler.

Panelists

Cheraé Robinson, Founder & CEO of Tastemakers Africa

Cheraé Robinson is an entrepreneur, connector, and creative scientist currently founder and CEO at Tastemakers Africa, an online marketplace disrupting what the narrative on Africa, one experience at a time. For nearly a decade, Cheraé brokered partnerships while raising visibility and support for large international nonprofit organizations in a number of fundraising, media, and private sector engagement roles. Her expertise spans from agriculture to women’s empowerment to the public health space having spent time at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and CARE. Cherae was a part of the team that created the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, a $100 Million USD Agricultural research institution in Delhi, India and the Carlos Slim Biotechnology Center, a $80 Million research facility in Texcoco, Mexico. She has traveled and worked in more than 30 countries. The winner of the inaugural “She Leads Africa” startup competition, Ms. Robinson has been named one of 10 Emerging Women Entrepreneurs in Africa by forbes.com, one of 20 to watch by leading Silicon Valley trends group Culture Shift Labs, and a Woman to Watch by the United Nations Foundation and Innov8tive Magazine. Tastemakers Africa has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, skift.com, amadeus.com, Inc Magazine, and many other global publications for its disruptive approach to sustainable tourism.

Joy Valerie Carrera, Founder of Part Time Exploradora & Co-Host of Basic Brown Nerds

Joy Valerie Carrera is the voice behind Part Time Exploradora a digital platform dedicated to exploring the intersections of tech, travel, and social awareness through the lens of a first generation Guatemalan- American backpacking nerd to inspire other latina women to go outside their expectations. She is also the co-host of Basic Brown Nerds a biweekly Podcast which discusses the complexities of identity in feminism, mental health, and Latinidad. Upon graduating Rochester Institute of Technology with a background in International Studies and Engineering Joy has been part of the nonprofit and tech world furthering her passions for bridging social consciousness in a tech-driven world all while having traveled to 25 countries since 2014. She has worked at Grameen America, focused on Microfinance in female undocumented communities, and with  Americans for Immigrant Justice doing intakes & Know your rights presentations with central American undocumented youth detained at the border seeking asylum both funded by Americorps and HM Volunteer Service. Currently, Joy works at an advertising technology startup heading the Business Intelligence division while also building her own media consulting company to financially empower creators while pushing forward socially conscious content. Her background and experiences in travel and business have motivated her to push for more representation for Latina Women of Color in tech, travel spaces, and in the media.

Kelley Louise, Founder & Executive Director of Impact Travel Alliance

A travel entrepreneur passionate about storytelling and social good, Kelley runs two sister organizations in the travel and impact space. She specializes in creative marketing for tourism clients through her boutique creative agency, The Culture Collective. She is also the founder and Executive Director of Impact Travel Alliance, the world’s largest community for socially conscious travelers and travel professionals. Kelley has built her career through carefully selected opportunities in the United States and abroad, including leadership roles in entrepreneurial endeavors, social good projects, marketing and media strategy. A content creator herself, Kelley is an avid photographer and writer. Kelley is a passionate connector, and has an innate ability to build loyal and diverse communities. Kelley has a bachelor’s degree in Media & Culture from The New School. She lives in Brooklyn, and you can follow her adventures on social media @kelleytravels.

 Kimberly Reyna, Founder of Work Life Travel

Kimberly Reyna is a force of nature. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she decided to venture off to the East Coast to study International Relations and Business at Boston University. Kim has a “what’s the worst that can happen” attitude towards life.  When others see roadblocks and obstacles, Kim sees opportunity to make the impossible happen. It was this attitude that landed her in NYC a few years later to help spearhead an operations group at a big 4 accounting firm. With a background in corporate America but a heart lost to travel long ago, her love of exploration, cultures, philanthropy and business has cultivated in the creation of her brain child, Work.Life.Travel: a socially conscious company specializing in experiential  travel and networking for young professionals in emerging destinations. She has traveled to 50+ countries and has forged deep friendships and partnerships along the way to create a global network and has been featured in The Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. She believes that through hard work and passion, anything is possible. – www.worklifetravel.co

Michal Alter, Founder of Visit.org

Michal Alter has been working in technology and social development for over 15 years. In 2015, she founded Visit.org, the world’s leading platform for social impact travel experiences, combining her love for technology with her dedication to social development. As one of the first female pilot cadets in the Israeli Air Force and a Computer Science Engineer, Michal worked as Systems Architect at Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN), and at Risk Modules, both part of the thriving Israeli high tech industry. Her passion for social development began as the Director of Refugee Affairs at the City Government in Tel Aviv, where she led social service delivery and programming to serve 20,000 refugees from Darfur, South Sudan, and Eritrea. After moving to New York, she consulted at various leading nonprofit organizations, including New York Cares, Solar One, UNESCO, and Women’s World Banking. Michal holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Tel Aviv University, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion). She speaks English, Spanish, and Hebrew.

Nika Hedrick, Founder of Earthling Magazine

Nika is the founder of Earthling Magazine, a lifestyle brand and digital media company designed to inspire the use of mindfulness as a tool for sustainability. Earthling’s travel vertical, The Wanderlust, aims to promote sustainable tourism by providing readers with information to make the most ethical choice when traveling. An entrepreneur at heart, Nika also spends her time working with both The Culture Collective, a boutique creative agency, and Impact Travel Alliance, a nonprofit and global community aimed at improving the world through tourism. Nika holds a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications from FIT.