Background
The GO travel fund is organized as a financial scholarship for MGP members to attend the often cost prohibitive industry conferences, training seminars, networking functions and educational courses. Financial awards are given upon application and require that a report be submitted upon completion of the activity.
The Go Fund Is a fiscal sponsor of the Passport Project, an initiative to inspire young Americans to get passports and to participate in global culture.
Founded by MGP Co-Founder Kenji Summers, Passport Project has (2) working initiatives including “The Coalition”, a network of Millennial global travelers and citizens across various industries and “Passport Life Grants”, a fund that helps young non-passport owners in subsidizing passport application fees and facilitating travel abroad experiences. For more information visit: http://thepassportproject.com
“Let’s start a coalition so even the broke can go”
- Pharrell (Paris, Tokyo Remix)
The beginnings of Passport Project can be traced back to a song, “Paris, Tokyo Rmx”1 and a trip to Spain. The trip transformed the life of Kenji Summers while imparting an idea. An idea with the objective of changing a generation’s perspective on global travel, culture, and their perception of social entrepreneurship. In the world we live in today there are more Americans with a Facebook account than with a passport2. Kenji took note that money was a major issue in whether someone had a passport. U.S. states where people have higher incomes are more likely to have people with passports and a willingness to travel out of the country3. Passport Project believes the youth are the key to the future of every country and this movement was designed to embrace the duality of an age where hip-hop and Givenchy are bedmates and teenagers grow up with dreams of creating culture rather than simply consuming it. The goal, in addition to increasing passport ownership, is to inspire and empower young people to consider their existence in relation to the rest of the world as opposed to their immediate reality.
