Our vision is to build a pipeline of globally competent students and educators who will succeed in and steward the 21st Century global community.

Our Story

2023

Today, Reach the World remains at the cutting edge of virtual exchange, bringing the world into hundreds of K-12 classrooms each year through a variety of programs. The Traveler Program matches college-aged travelers and K-12 classrooms in a personalized 1:1 model. The Explorer Program connects classrooms with adventurous explorers who are sharing research from the field and modeling STEM careers. The Meet the World Program invites Fulbright’s foreign scholars into U.S. classrooms for intimate cultural exchanges. From the most isolated communities to the heart of urban centers, more U.S. students are forming positive, personal connections with the world than ever before.

Read more in Reach the World’s most recent annual reports:

By 2009, technology improvements allowed Reach the World to begin engaging hundreds of new travelers around the globe. In partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program and Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, RTW began matching volunteer travelers who are studying, working or exploring abroad with individual K-12 classrooms. Since 2009, thousands of travelers have shared their journeys online with more than 35,000 youth in the U.S., publishing more than 20,000 first-person travelogues in the process. By using technology to enable youth to form relationships with global travelers, RTW sparked a process of personal development that can truly be described as “reaching” the world.

1998

Reach the World (RTW) was founded by Heather Halstead and Marc Gustafson. During its first ten years, RTW operated a single adventure journey per year, connected to hundreds of classrooms. RTW’s first such journey was the world circumnavigation of the Makulu, 43-foot sailboat operated by young educators who shared their adventures online, for the first time in history, with public school classrooms in underserved communities in the U.S.

OUR TEAM

Heather Halstead, Executive Director

Timothy Jacob, Director, Traveler Programs

Sophia Kreutz, Program Manager, K-12 Programs

Kalady Osowski, Development Manager

Nova Nobi, Traveler Program Associate

Su Yilmaz, K-12 Programs Associate

REACH THE WORLD BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Katy Huberty, Global Head of Research, Morgan Stanley (Board Chair)

Bob Altman, Executive Producer, Altman International Productions

Jane Atherton, Managing Director, Temasek Holdings

Melissa Biggs Bradley, CEO & Founder, Indagare Travel

Potoula Chresomales, SVP, Product Management, Skillsoft

John Delaney

          Michael Granne, Partner, Provenzano Granne & Bader LLP

Heather Halstead, Executive Director, Reach the World

Vishal Saxena, Chief Technology Officer, Reorg

Nic Tat, Director, Capgemini Invent

Radha Tilton, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

REACH THE WORLD ADVISORY BOARD

Lauren Beebe, Founder & CEO, Like A Local Tours (Board Co-Chair)

Michael Beer, CFO, FreeWire Technologies

Sayako Seto, VP, Analytics Product Management & Commercialization, Experian

Richard Wiese, Explorer and Host, “Born to Explore”

REACH THE WORLD YOUNG PROFESSIONALS BOARD

Tyler Bordick, Enterprise Account Manager, Bloomberg L.P.

Grace Cole, Senior Associate, Operations & Finance, Blueland

Stephanie DiFazio, Corporate Counsel, Citiblock Health

James Duong

Katherine Eilers, Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Elizabeth Porter, Equity Research, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley (Co-Chair)

Alex Epstein, Investment Banking, LEX

Kieran Kenny, Equity Research, Vice President, Morgan Stanley (Co-Chair)

Osman Khan, Senior Customer Success Manager, Udacity

Sean Klein, Investment Banking Analyst, Jefferies

Georgia Lubrano, Associate, Bain Capital

Saeed Mouzaffar, Senior Associate, Willett Advisors

Sid Puri, Consultant, Deloitte

Sean Saggi, Associate, Apax Partners

Will Stark, Consultant, Bain Capital

Nicholas Zigerelli, Municipal High Grade Trading Associate, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Our Partners

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