United States
$1.5M in Grants Issued to Organizations Working to Remove Barriers to Travel
Today on Giving Tuesday Expedia® announced its Made to Travel™ Fund, a new program that awards grants to nonprofits that share the common goal of removing barriers to travel. In its first year, the Fund has awarded more than $1.5M in grants to a diverse set of organizations working with underserved or underrepresented travelers. Whether it’s making air travel more accessible, sponsoring birthright trips to Africa or helping kids in under-resourced communities get passports, each grant recipient is committed to creating greater access to life-changing travel experiences.
The Made to Travel Fund is part of Expedia Group’s Open World™ global social impact and sustainability strategy, which focuses on enabling more accessible and inclusive travel. Expedia is now accepting Fund applications and will be awarding grants on a rolling basis.
“We launched the Made to Travel Fund because travel is transformative and has the power to change perspectives and serve as an economic driver for many communities,” said Aditi Mohapatra, vice president, Global Social Impact and Sustainability at Expedia Group. “We have a vision to power travel for everyone, everywhere, and through these grants Expedia is able to invest in a diverse group of organizations that are doing impactful work to increase equity and access to travel in their communities.”
Here’s a look at 2022-23 Made to Travel Fund grant recipients:
Visit http://www.madetotravelfund.com/ to learn more about the grantees and the Made to Travel Fund, and read about Expedia Group’s Open World ™ programs here.
More information on how these organizations are putting travel grants to work can be found below.
- All Wheels Up’s mission is to increase awareness for safer and more dignified accessible air travel through research and advocacy.
- ARRAY Alliance works to advance social justice through art. Myriad programs range from grantmaking, mentorship, education and more.
- Birthright AFRICA helps youth and young adults of African descent to explore their cultural roots and legacy through free educational trips to Africa.
- Boyz N The Wood aims to build connection, fortify mental well-being, provide personal development opportunities and strengthen community for Black men through nature and outdoor-based experiences.
Quote from the organization: “We believe that Black men deserve to live full and thriving lives. At Boyz, we use the outdoors to help them restore & reignite the best versions of themselves. Historically, Black people have not had a high degree of access to travel and the outdoors. These grants will support us in co-creating a world where Black men are able to travel and immerse themselves in the outdoors, embracing them both as environments for personal transformation. We will be able to remove barriers of awareness, cost, and gear while simultaneously introducing them to new experiences that provide opportunities for adventure, challenge, and growth. We are thrilled to see what happens when barriers are removed, and Black men can actively apply tools that support their total well-being and authentically show up for themselves, each other, and their communities.”
- Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance’s vision is to create broader access, diversity, inclusion and equitable opportunity for small BIPOC businesses to fully participate and profit in the global travel and tourism industry.
- Disability Rights Fund is a grantmaking collaborative between donors and the global disability rights community that provides resources to organizations of persons with disabilities.
Quote from the organization: “In-person connection is a key tool for activists – one that is often inaccessible to the global disability rights movement. The Expedia Made to Travel Fund’s generous grant will support disability rights activists’ movement-building by resourcing accessible travel accommodations. Safe and accessible travel opens the door to building and mobilizing a more inclusive movement. DRF appreciates the Expedia Made to Travel Fund for recognizing that equitable access is critical for organizing and advocating to realize human rights.”
- Family Holiday Charity helps in-need families get time away together, often for the first time ever, to create happy memories, reconnect and build hope for the future.
Quote from the organization: “At Family Holiday Charity, we serve the community of families with dependent children who are currently excluded from travel for reasons of low income and a multitude of other circumstances which aggregate to create barriers to their inclusion in tourism. We aim to transform their lives with the anticipation, enjoyment and memory of a break by providing a chance to connect, revitalize and discover. The grant from Expedia will enable us to develop our services to unblock barriers to travel and help even more families facing tough times to benefit from improved well-being, confidence and hope for the future. To give them a chance to enjoy time away together. To explore. To have new experiences. To meet new people. To have fun.”
- Girls Going Global empowers African American and other underrepresented girls to give them the tools to explore the world at large and become global citizens.
Quote from the organization: “The Made to Travel Grant will allow Girls Going Global to invest in our capacity-building efforts which will create long-term effectiveness, scale, and sustainability! We are unblocking barriers to travel by exposing our students to the diversity of travel experiences available such as study abroad, interning abroad/int’l careers, and serving abroad!”
- Global Glimpse empowers students from diverse backgrounds to work together, build empathy, connect with the world, and prepare for the future.
Quote from Eliza Pesuit, founding executive director of Global Glimpse: “This grant will provide travel scholarships to hundreds of high school students from low income and underrepresented backgrounds across the United States, unlocking a world of opportunity and allowing them to believe that they too are made to travel.”
- IGLTA Foundation has a long-standing commitment to promoting equality and diversity within the travel industry, supporting initiatives for industry organizations, leaders and communities to advance LGBTQ+ travel around the world.
- Paralyzed Veterans of America serves Veterans with spinal cord injuries or diseases like MS and ALS, and helps them live full, independent lives.
Quote from the organization: “Expedia’s funding helped PVA continue our efforts to improve access to air travel for passengers with disabilities, particular wheelchair users. We continue to work to educate PVA members about their rights and responsibilities under the Air Carrier Access Act. We also advocate for improvements directly with the industry and other stakeholders to address the lack of properly trained assistance, injuries to passengers, and damage to wheelchairs. These efforts have raised awareness of the difficulties encountered by passengers with disabilities and fostered opportunities to make improvements in the future.”
- Rainbow Railroad helps at-risk LGTBQI+ people get to safety worldwide.
Quote from the organization: “Rainbow Railroad is an international organization with a mission to support at-risk LGBTQI+ people around the world who are facing violence and persecution and help them get to safety. Support from Expedia’s Made to Travel Fund will assist our organization in its core Emergency Travel Support and Complimentary Pathways programs which help plan a pathway for individuals out of their current location to a safer country where they can live openly and authentically. Funds will also assist in our ongoing crisis response in Afghanistan and Uganda. The individuals who reach out to Rainbow Railroad are facing an immediate and severe threat to their lives and well-being and often do not have the means to escape their current country. Through the support of our organization, and thanks to the generosity of the Expedia Made to Travel Fund, we can help vulnerable LGBTQI+ people travel to safety and begin new lives.”
- The National Park Foundation™ helps guide charitable giving to the greatest needs within the National Park Service to sustain the vast landscapes and history of our national parks.
Quote from the organization: “Our national parks have the power to reveal things about ourselves and the world. However, not everyone has an equal opportunity to have those formative experiences. With the generous support of the Made to Travel Fund, the National Park Foundation will continue its work to close that gap and connect diverse audiences to our national parks. Our work spans a continuum that starts with our nation’s youth and builds inclusivity and belonging for all at every stage of life. Our programming also ensures that natural and historical spaces are protected so people will have safe spaces to travel and cultivate connections for decades to come.”
- The Venture Out Project® leads backpacking and wilderness trips for the queer and transgender community, and conducts inclusion workshops for educators, adventure professionals, summer camps and more.
Quote from the organization: “The Made to Travel Fund equips The Venture Out Project with the financial resources necessary to run our first-of-its-kind programming for the LGBTQ+ outdoorsy community nationwide. Contributions from the fund enable us to pay our queer and trans staff and instructors an equitable wage for their expertise, reducing representation-related barriers to travel; to provide educational activations for beginner and experienced outdoor enthusiasts alike, reducing information-related barriers to travel; disperse big-ticket equipment items to participants, lowering gear-related barriers to travel; and offer sliding-scale pricing on all trips and events, creating a trust-driven and community-oriented payment system radical in the industry of trip-leading. We are so grateful to be a recipient!”
- Too Fly Foundation equips students from under-resourced communities with passports, travel grants and educational experiences so they, too, can see the world.
Quote from the organization: “The grant received from the Made to Travel Fund will equip the Too Fly Foundation with resources to continue our work in creating a world where every student has the opportunity to travel. The funds that are awarded to Too Fly will be granted to students from under resourced and/or underserved communities that have displayed a need for financial assistance to aid their efforts in exploring the world, as a part of their educational endeavors. As some students have never been offered an opportunity to leave their neighborhood, hometown, city, or state, the Made to Travel Fund will allow Too Fly to support students in obtaining their passports, equipping them with luggage, affording them a chance of a lifetime in seeing the world outside of their daily lives, and more! Through the support of Expedia, the Too Fly Foundation will be able be the bridge between students and opportunity by providing travel resources and experiences that will transform the minds and creativity of the next generation and, hopefully, generations to come.”
- UnTours Foundation supports small businesses that create jobs and support Fair Trade, economic justice and a green economy through financial support and mentorship.
- World Affairs Council works to advance global understanding and cultivate engagement around critical global issues within its local community through global exchange programs, community events and more.
Quote from the organization: “The mission of the World Affairs Council of Seattle is to advance global understanding and cultivate enduring relationships within our local community and with the world, one conversation at a time. We do this in part by bringing youth from around the world to Seattle for in-person exchanges with local peers. Youth from around the world who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to travel to Seattle come and experience the rich culture of our region. In turn, youth from Seattle interact with peers from around the globe, sparking their interest in becoming lifelong consumers of global culture—and becoming lifelong global travelers. When we travel, we build bridges and break down walls. Thanks to funding from Expedia, we will be able to enhance our youth exchange work, promoting greater mutual understanding and leadership development for the next generation of global leaders.”
