Starting a Non-Profit for 18-21 year olds

Will's Bio: Will Soiland is a Santa Rosa, California native with a passion for adventure that drives everything he does. A graduate of both Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California, he holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's in Green Technologies. Will’s professional experience includes working in the electric automotive manufacturing industry, but his personal passion has always been travel. Having journeyed across 20 countries with his family throughout his childhood, he embraced solo travel for the first time in 2024, backpacking through Thailand and completing the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. These transformative experiences deepened his appreciation for world exploration and ignited a desire to share the life-changing benefits of travel with others.

Bradford's Bio: Bradford Holladay, a Nashville, Tennessee native, has a strong background in youth-serving nonprofit work, with leadership roles in fundraising and program direction at Pepperdine University’s International Programs office and as a District Executive for the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from Pepperdine University with dual degrees in International Business and Philosophy and studied International Business at Fudan University in Shanghai. An Eagle Scout and avid solo traveler, Bradford has explored 34 countries across Asia, Europe, South America, and Australia, gaining first hand insight into the transformative power of intercultural education. In high school, he received study abroad grants to study Spanish at Middlebury College and later in Nicaragua and Cuba. These life-changing experiences inspire his commitment to providing others with similar opportunities to promote and expand international education.

Our Topic: We are starting a nonprofit to help 18-21-year-old Americans, who have been accepted into a college program but have never traveled internationally, to embark on a self-guided and self-directed international expedition to a country of their choosing. Through our program, we envision a world where young Americans gain the opportunity to develop leadership, global citizenship, language skills, intercultural awareness, entrepreneurship, and professional development through meaningful international travel experiences.