The Victor Pineda Foundation

Victor Pineda, founder of the Victor Pineda Foundation, has traveled the world on a mission to promote the rights and dignities of children and young people with disabilities. Victor is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Award and has emerged as one of the young global leaders of the international disability rights movement and was the youngest delegate negotiating the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. Victor will join Travel'n On to talk about his efforts to educate, inspire and inform a global audience about the capabilities and potential of young people with disabilities. Then adventure travel and volunteer travel experts, Alexia Nestora of Lasso Communications and Christina Heyniger from XOLA Consulting, will join Travel'n On to discuss the emerging best practices in adventure travel and voluntourism.

Episode Segments:

Victor Pineda Part One Victor shares the story of his disability and how he came to the United States from Venezuela to fulfill his dreams. He has devoted his life to educating people about the huge potential of young people with disabilities.
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Victor Pineda Part Two Victor talks about his worldwide travels to influence public policy on behalf of disabled young people. In many countries, preventable diseases are not a government priority, which results in far too many disabilities.
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Voluntourism Part One How much do you know about voluntourism? Christina and Alexia say the travel industry is starting to pay attention to volunteer service vacations. They say there are many wonderful benefits to this rewarding type of travel.
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Voluntourism Part Two Christina and Alexia outline several examples of volunteer service vacations and what the most popular destinations are. They also talk about several online destinations that assist people interested in voluntourism.
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Christina Heyniger In the adventure tourism industry, Christina works with entrepreneurs and community tourism interests to develop and market niche tourism products and services. She has supported adventure travel tour operators and associations operating in Cambodia, China, Ecuador, India, Morocco, Nepal, and the United States and speaks regularly at industry and academic conferences on topics ranging from small business management to humanitarian aid and international development through responsible tourism. Through Xola, Christina and her team regularly produce general and specialized adventure tourism industry research reports. Click here to visit her website

Victor Pineda Victor stopped walking at age 5 and by the time he was in high school he used a machine to help him breathe. His mother quickly realized her son would have few opportunities in their home of Venezuela so the family moved to California. It was opportunity and resilience that allowed Victor to flourish. His physical condition never stopped him from living his life fully. Victor has studied and documented the socio-cultural factors that kept people with disabilities marginalized and stigmatized all over the world. The Victor Pineda Foundation (VPF) is part of his dedication and commitment to the advancement of the human rights of young people with disabilities. Victor emerged as one of the young global leaders of the international disability rights movement and was the youngest delegate negotiating the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. Victor is a recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service for his life-long efforts for promoting equal rights and opportunities for children and young people with disabilities. Victor has presented his work to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Aid, the US Department of Justice, the US Treasury, the World Bank, the United Nations, as well as to the governments of Thailand, Serbia, Cuba, Venezuela, Bosnia, Qatar and soon the United Arab Emirates. Victor Pineda studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained degrees in Political Economy, Business Administration, and a masters in City and Regional Planning. He is currently at the University of California Los Angeles completing his PhD. Click here to visit his foundation's website

Alexia Nestora Alexia is the director of Lasso Communications, a consultant firm that specializes in developing strategy and marketing communications for the voluntourism industry. Alexia previously ran the North American division of volunteer travel provider i-to-i and increased profits by over 50% in her first year. She recently supported research for prestigious Mintel reports on volunteer tourism and gap year as well as articles published in the Wall Street Journal, Smart Money and New York Times. She has been a speaker on volunteer tourism at the Adventure Expos, APTA National Conference and NY Times Travel Show and runs a blog for voluntourism providers: voluntourismgal.com