Speakers for 2023

Erika Cruz is a Coach, Speaker, and Founder of Courage Driven Latina. She helps her community align with their purpose, lead with courage, and find fulfillment. After eight years in the tech industry, Erika created a business by following her passion. As the proud daughter of Mexican Immigrants, Erika is aware of the lack of available resources growing up. She is on a mission to connect others with the tools and resources to be the best they can be. Erika has been featured in the NY Times, CNN, LA Times and she is just getting started.   

Tinabeth Piña is an EMMY® award winning multi media journalist who has worked on air and behind the scenes for ABC, FOX, PBS & Oxygen to name a few! She is also the creator, executive producer and host of the EMMY® nominated and award winning show GLOBE SCHOLARS™ – a travel program about study abroad airing nationally on local PBS stations.

When not creating travel content – Tinabeth is also the managing editor at CUNY-TV – The City University of New York’s EMMY® award winning television station as well as the creator, show runner and host of LATiNAS – the channel’s monthly magazine show that celebrates the women of the Latinx community nationwide.  

Victoria Leandra is a Latina award-winning journalist, recognized as “A Creator to Keep an Eye On” by Instagram in 2020.

Previously at VICE and Bloomberg, Victoria is the founder of Leandra Media and has developed herself into a culture and travel influencer sharing entrepreneurial stories from around the world through her podcast, EL ADN, and social media presence: @VictoriaLeandra.

Kim Haas is Executive Producer, Host and Creator of “Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haas,” a travel show celebrating the African influence in Latin America. She has traveled extensively throughout Latin America. Kim has been active in Afro-Latino issues for more than a decade and is founder of losafrolatinos.com, a blog celebrating Afro-Latino culture.

Kim has extensive experience in media and communications. She served as Director of Marketing for WWSI TV Telemundo in Philadelphia. Kim is also the owner of Haas Media LLC, a multilingual community outreach firm located in the Greater New York City area.    

Hola, mi gente! We’re Danny and Laurie Navarro, and we’re so glad you’re here! We share our lifestyle in the skies and on the ground with a spanglish twist. Viajando por el mundo (traveling the world) is our passion, and we like to do it in style by optimizing award points and miles while keeping a zero-based budget.

As first-generation Latinos, we’re reclaiming the “first” in first-class flights and lounges and top-tier hotels. Originally from Miami (Danny) and Seattle (Laurie), we now reside in Washington, D.C., where we fuse our Colombian and Mexican heritages in the nation’s capital. When in casa, find us sharing our work in the government and non-profit sectors, hanging out at must-see and eat spots, and enjoying local events around town.

f you’re ready to travel, we hope our travel and dinero tips help you reach the skies sooner! As you’ll always hear us say, “Vamos viajando. The world needs to see us!”  

Celebrity Makeup Artist Discovering Beauty Through a Global Lens. Stephanie has worked with some of the most influential celebrities out there from Mariah Carey to Sting, Dasha Polanco, Santana and more. She’s traveled to over 35 countries on her quest to diversify the beauty conversation and was the Beauty Director of Unearth Women.

She is the founder of Around the World Beauty, an indie beauty brand & boutique travel company, where she guides women around the globe on exclusive beauty field trips to cultivate roots and celebrate the cultural source for modern day beauty rituals. Stephanie has been featured in Forbes, Oprah, Yahoo, Refinery 29, Marie Claire,Vogue, Instyle, and more.

She is a Dartmouth Fellowship Alumni by Shea Moisture, and Beauty United Mentee Recipient Winner and has been named, Latina magazine’s “Young & Inspiring: Ones to Watch” list. Beauty Vanguard and Marie Claire featured her as “Making Her Mark”.

Robin DeGracia, founder of Around the World with Kids, did her first international trip at 10 months old, to visit her mother’s homeland of Honduras, and has refused to stop traveling since.

With her husband and two kids in tow, she travels near and far and shares tips on traveling with kids, how to save on travel, and detailed destination guides.

Robin is a working professional with her own marketing and strategy consulting firm providing flexibility to take the family on adventures from their home base in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Arianna Davis is the Editorial Director of TODAY Digital, overseeing news, trending, and lifestyle across TODAY’s digital platforms. She was previously Senior Director of Editorial and Strategy at Oprah Daily. Arianna is also the author of What Would Frida Do? A Guide to Living Boldly, inspired by the life of icon Frida Kahlo.

Additionally, she has served as an adjunct professor at New York University’s Digital & Print Media Master’s program, teaching writing and editing for digital. Arianna is currently working on a novel; she lives in New York City, where she can be found planning her next travel adventure with her dog, Leo, surrounded by way too many stacks of books.  

Miguel is a luxury travel content creator and resort photographer specializing in creating high end digital media content for some of the world’s finest luxury resorts, boutique hotels and villa properties all around the globe.

As a creative, he strives to capture the essence of an experience in a way that captures and embraces the unique blend of luxury living all while immersing oneself with the enriching experiences, surrounding nature, culture and history that the destination and property have to offer.

Prior to taking his leap into the professional photography world, he spent almost 4 years serving as a Project Engineer. Fueled by his lifelong passion for travel and photography, it only seems fitting he has been able to merge both mediums together and turn his passion into a business.   

Jen Ruiz is a lawyer turned full-time travel blogger and author. She is a 5-time Amazon bestselling author, 3-time TEDx speaker, and multi award-winning travel journalist.

She has been featured by The Washington Post, Forbes and ABC News and is the solo female traveler behind Jen on a Jet Plane.  

Ana Carreto has spent some time moving and traveling around the globe in more than 30 countries. She acquired a passion of mixing traveling with philanthropy, and has served various causes: from orphans and refugees to animals and environment.

She inspired others enough to join her on her adventures, and then she decided to organize her own group volunteering trips all over the world with her NGO called Let’s do it Amigos. She has used her voice to encourage others to travel with purpose.

Female solo budget traveler who has been blogging for 8 years at traveleira.com. One of her passions as a traveler is exploring off the beaten path destinations. Besides traveling, Brenda is the CEO of Eventurera Ediciones, a publisher house focused on printed travel resources and also works as an SEO consultant and Languages teacher.

Claudia Mendoza is a Dominican-American entrepreneur and philanthropist dedicated to creating safe spaces for women of color to heal and become empowered.

Her work has been recognized by national media outlets like the New York Times, CBS, and Telemundo. A proud Dove partner and global ambassador, advocating for the inclusion and representation of women of color in the beauty industry. Prior to establishing the Mami Chula Social Club, Claudia worked in public service where she worked on expanding opportunities to immigrants and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Her proudest accomplishments to date are raising $20,000 in 3 days for Latinas y Lideres, an all-girls leadership camp in the Dominican Republic through a bilingual production of the Vagina Monologues in 2020 and creating Mami Chula Social Club so that her mother can make friends.  

Gina is a half-Italian half-Mexican Chicago native who fell in love with Japan and Korea. After graduating from Illinois State University in 2012, she was accepted onto the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

After staycationing on the gorgeous island paradise of Okinawa until 2015, Gina moved to South Korea. She now resides in Texas. On her social media, Gina gives ultimate destination guides and tips for living your very best life.

She is dedicated to inspiring other women to travel and reach their dreams. She’s also self taught in social media, video and photo editing, and photography. 

Vanessa Fondeur-Adams is a fierce and adventurous Dominican Jefa. As a NYC educator with insatiable wanderlust, she wanted her hugely underrepresented high school students to experience the world beyond the textbooks and become more global-minded so Vanessa began leading students on educational tours to countries such as China, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, and Spain. Now as founder of Latino World Travelers – a global community for Latinos, she looks to expand on her passion for travel one Latino/x at a time, one passport stamp at a time. Her mission is to empower Latinos/x to experience the world, and diversify the face of travel. In her fight to have Latinos represented in the travel industry, this past March, she launched the first-ever Latino Travel Fest with over 50 speakers in 16 different panels and 5 culturally immersive experiences. The goals are to educate the Latino/x community about how they can make travel part of their lifestyle, and provide a platform to spotlight travel creators, bloggers, and thought-leaders.

Travel Blogger and Puerto Rico Tourism influencer. Author of children book “Carlitos the Wanderluster”.

Carlos is the first Puerto Rican to visit all 50 states and has traveled to many countries as well.   

Blogger and Photographer with 40 years of serving as a community development practioner who seeks to inspire folks to travel regardless of their limitations, to be creative, to explore, learn from other cultures and to be a better global citizen .  

Born and raised in Venezuela, Lu Colmenares is a Latina traveler, podcaster, speaker and adventure seeker. She is the Creator of The Solo Female Traveler Podcast a show that has reached more than 80 countries and has empowered thousands of women to step outside of their comfort zone to explore the world.

Taima Ramsey is a native New Yorker and proud Afro Latina who wears many hats – by day, she’s a savvy attorney, and by night, a passionate blogger.

Her focus is on sharing insider tips and tricks for affordable luxury travel, inspiring her readers to explore the world in style without breaking the bank.

Yenelsa is an Afro Latina traveler who started solo tripping in 2016. Her passion for travel ultimately led her to become a travel professional to support others in booking their own dream trips. In 2022, she founded her travel agency—Hay Planes to Travel.

As a travel consultant, she goes beyond the duties of a typical travel agent and supports her clients with researching, providing tailored options, and booking trips. She leverages her own travel experiences to curate the perfect trip for each request.

She believes everyone should have access to travel and aims to take off any stress that can come with planning trips, so all her clients need to do is show up at the airport.

She provides consultations for booking flights, hotels, excursions, dinner reservations, itineraries and even surprises for special occasions. When she’s not traveling, she’s cooking up new recipes and sharing them on her food based social media platforms.

Andrea “Your Global Voice” Mason, from AndreaMasons.com, has over 2 decades of experience in personal development in Social Work and in Psychology.

She is Certified as a Global Motivational Speaker and Coach under the mentorship of “The” one & only Dr. Les Brown, as well as, a Certified Small Business Entrepreneur, Certified Professional Organizer, and last but not least, Andrea is Your Personal Accountability Coach and Popular “Your Global Voice.”

@jetsetjose is a registered nurse based out of New York. Traveling is one of his passions. He enjoys diving into the local culture and finding the hidden gems during his trips.