A Passport to Possibilities: How Travel is Transforming Local Youth

“Miss White, why are you sitting up there lying to us?”

That was one of the questions students directed at Claudia White-Ross, while she was a young substitute teacher at a predominately Black Indianapolis middle school about 10 years ago.

It made her pause.

At the time, White-Ross had been talking about her own travel experiences to different countries while going over the curriculum for the day. To the students, it seemed impossible that anyone who looked like them had traveled internationally.

“It was mind-blowing for me to realize that they didn’t see themselves being able to do these things,” White-Ross recalled.

She couldn’t shake it, especially after reflecting on how her own travels transformed her life. White-Ross, who had originally studied with aspirations of becoming an attorney, was studying political science and Spanish at Butler University when she was given the opportunity to study abroad.

“While I was there, it changed my life,” she said. “I didn’t realize how close-minded I was and how uneducated I was about myself as an African-American woman. That experience woke me up and made me look at life differently.

A few years later, while studying for a master’s degree in sociology, White-Ross decided to invest in the youth of her community by launching the organization Youth Global Perspectives (YGP), a nonprofit organization that connects underprivileged youth to various cultural experiences throughout the United States and abroad. The goal is for them to gain a better understanding of their own cultures, as well as those of other people they come across, White-Ross said.

The organization recently was a recipient of the Elevation Grant Program, a four-year program that supports organizations that address the root causes of violent crime.

Not right or wrong; just different

As part of YGP’s programming, White-Ross is intentional about focusing on people of color and their cultures. “That was important to me — to do it through the lens of people of color because we don’t see ourselves in the classroom,” she said. “I asked myself, ‘If students learn by seeing themselves in their lessons, would they be more engaged?”

Since launching YGP, White-Ross has escorted dozens of students to destinations as close as Atlanta, Alabama, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans to faraway countries, including Spain, Jamaica, Ghana, and Cuba. Typically, she will host 20 to 50 students and some of their relatives on trips to domestic destinations, and about 10 to 16 on international trips.

“During these trips, we learn about different cultures and different ways of life,” she said. “It’s very important for teenagers to learn to experience these different ways of life.

“For instance, if they’re facing peer pressure to do things they really don’t want to do, they can remember that there are other options … other ways of doing things. These trips can inspire them to choose another path.”

White-Ross also said that the YGP program also encourages the students to respect other cultures. “It’s important for us to teach them that even though people may act differently, you don’t have to judge them for their differences. You can just respect them.”

After returning from a trip, the students often engage in a YGP-sponsored community engagement event, where they share details about their travel experiences and what they learned. For instance, after the Ghanaian trip, students talked about their interactions with various tribes during a community event, which also featured foods from various African restaurants in Indianapolis.

Expanding possibilities

Markessha Vertner, along with two of her children and niece, joined YGP on several trips, including one that took them on a life-changing trip to Ghana.

Today, several years later, her son Bryan Foley, 17, is exploring the possibility of moving to Ghana long-term after he graduates. That first trip opened his eyes to opportunities abroad, including buying land and working in Ghanaian schools, Vertner said.

Most importantly, the trips helped them connect to opportunities to learn about their African heritage, experience different cultures, and gain valuable life skills.

At the time, Vertner recalled, the family was dealing with significant personal traumas, including the death of her sister following a car accident, the death of the children' s father, and another son being shot and paralyzed.

“They learned so much,” said Vertner, who had applied for a passport for the first time in preparation for the trip. “We were able to get closer to our culture … where we come from. They learned how to heal using different methods from trees and plants. They welcomed us into the tribe.”

She also said that the YGP trips, which included tours of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), impacted her daughter, Makenzy Foley, 16,  who now wants to attend one.

“As a family, we were able to experience that things are bigger than just Indianapolis,” Vertner said.

Impact that lasts a lifetime

Many YGP students talk about how being in our program empowered them to do things they never imagined were possible, White-Ross said.

“We call some of them ambassadors … students who have gone on to college or started careers, but still stay connected and involved with our program in some way,” she said. “Several of them even launched their own businesses while they were still with us, and others are now in college applying what they learned here to their social and academic lives.”

One of those students applied to a summer program at Harvard University while she was still in high school,” White-Ross said.

“During her interview, she spoke about her experience traveling to Cuba through our program, and she said that all they wanted to talk about was her time with us and what she learned abroad. She got in, attended the summer program, and later was accepted to Harvard. Inspired by that experience, she even launched her own nonprofit … at just 17 years old.”

White-Ross said while the YGP program has resulted in many success stories, travel is not a fool-proof solution for addressing some of the challenges youth face.

“I don’t think any program can confidently claim that it singlehandedly diverts youth from negative paths — because the reality is more complex,” she said. “We can pour our hearts into this work, empower a young person, help them see new possibilities. But if they return to a toxic home environment, much of that progress can be undone.“

Recognizing that, White-Ross has incorporated relationship-building programming to address some of those complexities.

“What I can say is this: We do make an impact. We help shift mindsets, we expose kids to what’s possible, and we equip them with tools to communicate — especially with their parents.,” White-Ross said. “We even hold family meetings where we talk directly with caregivers about the importance of listening to their child and supporting the growth they’re experiencing. That’s where real, lasting change begins.”

She trusts that those seeds planted through YGP — no matter how small — will eventually have a ripple effect.

“They may not get it now, but give it a few months or a few years, and they will never forget,” White-Ross said. “And they'll remember what they experienced. That’s what drives me — seeing how their lives play out, seeing the type of person they’ve become, and how it brings families together. That’s what keeps me going.”

After returning from a trip, the students often engage in a YGP-sponsored community engagement event, where they share details about their travel experiences and what they learned. For instance, after the Ghanaian trip, students talked about their interactions with various tribes during a community event, which also featured foods from various African restaurants in Indianapolis.

Brandon Kennedy, one of the original members of Youth Global Perspectives, is grateful for the places and cultures he had the opportunity to experience thanks to Youth Global Perspectives. These experiences shaped his career path.

“It also just helped me grow as a leader, because with being in news, you have to be assertive and not be scared to reach out to people,” he said.

Now 23 years old, Kennedy works for FOX59 as an assignment editor after majoring in communications and broadcasting at the University of Louisville. He remembers fondly the places he went during his time with Youth Global Perspectives.

“We were learning about people outside of ourselves, like when we went to Cuba,” he said.

Not only did Kennedy travel to Cuba, he traveled to Spain, Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Virginia, Washington D.C., Chicago, and New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans was one of his most memorable trips, because Kennedy was able to assist residents in impoverished neighborhoods.

“We were handing out supplies, groceries and everything like that, and just seeing families come out and be grateful made me grateful for everything I have,” he said. “People were super friendly and loving that we were coming out there, and they were able to see how people actually care about them, even if we're not from the same place.”

Forming these types of connections across states and countries creates understanding and appreciation for other cultures, said Kennedy, who  emphasized how continued funding of Youth Global Perspectives is important, because it gives kids from low-income communities a chance to see and learn about places and cultures they had never seen before.

“It might help people actually understand each other and be able to work with each other,” he said. “It also helps people grow and find themselves, because sometimes you just don't know who you are when you're just stuck around the same people all the time.”