Detroit native Sanya Weston practically grew up in a travel agency. Her mother, Shirley Hogue, founded the first African American-owned agency in town; that was around 1978, and right when cruising was really growing.
“It truly was a cruise agency when my mother started it,” Weston said. “I always had the Carnival Cruise Line commercial, ‘Ain’t we got fun?’ in my head. Over time, she gravitated toward FITs, and selling the Caribbean, too.”
Her mother came to be an advisor serendipitously. She was a Girl Scout troop leader, and one year, she agreed to drive a busload of kids to Walt Disney World — no easy feat from Detroit in the late 1970s. But while executing the trip and all that it entailed, Hogue discovered her career. She started her agency, and was the first in Detroit to have her own ticket machine. She sold travel for years and, upon her passing in 2004, her daughter stepped right into her shoes; it was an easy transition, having worked alongside her mother for quite some time. (The name of the parent company remains Caribbean Travel of Detroit, but Weston does business as Your Premiere Travel Service.)
“We sell everything now, across the board,” she said. “We’ve been around so long; about 75% of our business is Europe, Asia and Africa, but we still sell the Caribbean, too.”
Further honoring her mother, Weston founded nonprofit Young People Travel (YPT) Global Edge in 2019. The organization supports young people ages 8-19 as they become global citizens, learning about the world through international travel experiences and curated lessons focused on the destinations they’ll visit.
We spoke to Weston in July, just before she flew to South Africa with a group of “delegates.” Here’s what we learned about the amazing work she’s doing with YPT Global Edge.
Our young people only know what we pour into them. If we give them different opportunities, they can dream bigger, they can want more.
Tell us about what inspired you to start YPT Global Edge. Did you have a chance to travel as a young person?
We weren’t well off at all when I was young, but I believe that my mom had a way of not making us feel like we were poor, either. It was a mindset she gave us: No matter the situation, you always look at the brighter side. I love that I inherited that from her. My vision with YPT Global Edge is to take inner-city youth and change their mindset, to give them a vision of what is out there, so they can achieve more. Our young people only know what we pour into them. If we give them different opportunities, they can dream bigger, they can want more.
You’ve taken students to Greece, Dubai, Belize and more. What kinds of experiences do students participate in before they leave the U.S.?
Our program pillars are cultural immersion, educational opportunities, career opportunities, sports and financial literacy. To that end, the students participate in learning journey sessions during the year, either face-to-face or online. We invite guest speakers to expose them to the art, food, culture and language of a place they’ll soon visit. So, they’re learning without traveling, too.
Our program pillars are cultural immersion, educational opportunities, career opportunities, sports and financial literacy.
We have partners who help with these teachings: Gail Perry Mason of Money Matters for Youth handles financial literacy, and Brenda Rosenberg helps with our cultural immersion component, teaching our students how to appreciate different cultures and backgrounds. She actually educated me [and our students] on how to attend a mosque, for example, so when we went to Dubai, the students appreciated the clothing, they were excited to buy the [proper] attire and you didn’t hear any negativity from them. They had already been taught to appreciate other people’s differences.
Sanya Weston, founder of YPT Global Edge
Credit: 2023 Sanya WestonWhat about experiences once the students are abroad?
When we travel, we do seven to 10 days, and they are packed, but so much fun. We will visit a university, we will go to a school and collaborate with local students in some way, we will do a community give-back. But let’s talk about South Africa, which I leave for today.
This year, we’ve partnered with JP Morgan Chase, who will host our kids for a day at their headquarters in Johannesburg; we will visit the financial district, which is like our Wall Street. The kids will meet and have conversations with real ambassadors from South Africa, Nigeria and Antigua, and know that they are representing the U.S. in a way. We will tour the UPS headquarters and learn about exporting and importing. Then we’ll go to a prep school that’s sponsored by UPS, and that’s where we’ll host a lacrosse camp. And they’re each going to receive one share of UPS stock — they don’t know it yet — and now they're building financial wealth. That is amazing. Even the 8-year-old will get that. Imagine what her stock will be worth 20 or 30 years from now.
For the school visit, why is YPT hosting a lacrosse camp?
I actually designed YPT with sports in mind, because I was an athlete in high school and college, and I remember that if there was any traveling opportunity, I was limited because I was running track or playing in the band. I wanted to design a program that allows our delegations to be spread around — we are aiming for four trips per year.
My daughter is a D1 lacrosse recruit, and being a minority in the sport gave her this vision to expose other people to it. We did a collection of hockey and lacrosse equipment that we’re bringing with us, and we’re hosting a lacrosse camp while we're there. My daughter will be there, and we’ll leave the equipment for the local students.
On your website, you share the statistic that 5% of African American college students study abroad. How does YPT take aim at this number?
It’s important that our young people are at least prepared to travel abroad, but unfortunately, a lot of students in the inner city are in one-parent families, and in order to get a passport, you need both parents or a court document — that’s tough. I want to change the statistics. I want parents to be prepared to get their kids a passport at 16, because at 16, that passport lasts for 10 years — that’s half of their adult life, and now they have the keys to the world, and it allows them to do an exchange program in college. With a passport, the chances of them doing it are greater.
I want parents to be prepared to get their kids a passport at 16, because at 16, that passport lasts for 10 years — that’s half of their adult life, and now they have the keys to the world.
Participants in your program are traveling internationally even younger than 16, so you’re already changing that stat. How else has YPT Global Edge impacted your students?
The program gives our students a global edge; it’s not just kids from the U.S. they have to compete with, they have to compete with kids from all over the world.
YPT Global Edge started four years ago, so our very first class of [college] seniors just graduated. There were five of them, and they all received full rides to HBUs [Historically Black Colleges], and they all wrote their essays on their experience in our program. One gentleman even received an Oprah Winfrey scholarship to attend Morehouse, which required him to travel to South Africa. These are decorated kids. When you talk to them, they are just amazing.
How do you fund the program, and how can people support YPT Global Edge and your students?
What the students pay is very minimal: a $200 registration fee that shows their commitment, covers their year-round programming and allows us to fundraise for a specific person, versus, “We’re fundraising for kids.” Supporters can donate through our website, either with dollars, miles or travel vouchers.
And any commission we make, we give back to the students. With Delta Vacations, for example, if I use their services for our airfare, they’re going to pay me commission, but then we donate that back in a scholarship. Last year, we donated $30,000 back as scholarships. We were able to do that just with the students we had traveling. That's my give back, to assist them.
Get in Touch With YPT Global Edge
To support Young People Travel Global Edge, visit the program website, or reach out to Weston via the contact page.
