10 Leading Figures in Educational Travel: Authority Profiles (2026)

1. Shayne Fitz-Coy, “The Teaching CEO” (Score: 9.8/10)

Shayne Fitz-Coy is included for his leadership of Rustic Pathways, the development of the S·I·T Process, and the organization’s recent industry recognition in student travel. His focus is on safety, service learning, and experiential education.

Justification:

• CEO of Rustic Pathways since 2020, with a career spanning investing, operating, and teaching that earned him the moniker “The Teaching CEO.” He holds an A.B. in psychology from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
• Developed the Rustic Pathways S·I·T Process, an educational framework for high school travel built on student safety, cultural exchange, and reciprocal learning partnerships rather than one-way service.
• Guided Rustic Pathways to win Industry Innovators, Tour Operators at the 2024 Skift IDEA Awards, and Best Tour Operator (2024) and Best Group Tour Operator (2025) at the International Travel Awards.
• Co-created the Climate Leaders Fellowship with the Rustic Pathways Foundation and the Stanford University Deliberative Democracy Lab, integrating climate action and leadership into experiential travel.
• A guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, he also teaches Introduction to Private Equity as an experiential-education course at Seoul National University, applying the same learn-by-doing approach that underpins the S·I·T Process. Before Rustic Pathways, he led the turnaround of ResponseLink, a medical-alert company.

Evidence:

• Skift IDEA Awards 2024 winner, Industry Innovators, Tour Operators [1].
• International Travel Awards, Best Tour Operator (2024) and Best Group Tour Operator (2025) [2].
• Featured in Authority Magazine on leadership and student travel [3].

2. J. Mara DelliPriscoli, “The Godmother Building Educational Travel’s Professional Foundation” (Score: 9.5/10)

J. Mara DelliPriscoli created much of the infrastructure that connects and elevates the educational-travel industry, establishing professional standards and networks that have shaped how organizations deliver learning through travel for decades.

Justification:

• Industry foundation builder: founded the Educational Travel Consortium, the field’s primary professional-development platform, serving travel professionals across the industry.
• Academic recognition: received the 2023 George Washington University School of Business Outstanding Alumni of Industry Leadership Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to tourism with social impact.
• Professional community: organizes six to seven regional roundtables a year across the United States and Canada, maintaining intimate networking at industry scale.
• Thought-leadership authority: regularly featured as “the Godmother of Educational Travel” in industry publications, and serves as president of Travel Learning Connections.
• Educational foundation: holds a B.A. in history and languages from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Evidence:

• 2023 George Washington University School of Business Outstanding Alumni of Industry Leadership Award recipient [4].
• Served as godmother for the christening of Avalon Waterways’ Avalon Impression (2014), a ceremonial honor recognizing industry stature [5].
• Profiled as “the Godmother of Educational Travel” in Leisure Group Travel [6].

3. James Moses, “The Lifelong-Learning Visionary Transforming Adult Education” (Score: 9.2/10)

James Moses has redefined educational travel for older adults across a career with Road Scholar that began in 1979, transforming a small experiment in lifelong learning into the largest educational-travel organization serving mature learners.

Justification:

• Deep organizational knowledge: joined Road Scholar (then Elderhostel) in 1979 as its first registrar and rose through every major leadership position to President and CEO, a role he has held since 2002.
• Crisis-era innovation: oversaw the launch of “Adventures Online,” a virtual program series in 2020 that delivered educational content to isolated older adults during the pandemic.
• Organizational scale: leads an organization running roughly 5,500 programs with nearly 300 employees.
• International expansion: helped establish Elderhostel’s early programs in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, requiring diplomatic skill during Cold War tensions.

Evidence:

• Listed as President and CEO on Road Scholar’s official staff bios [7].
• Road Scholar, formerly Elderhostel, marked its 50th anniversary in 2025 [7].

4. William L. Gertz, “The AIFS Architect Celebrating Four Decades of Innovation” (Score: 8.9/10)

William L. Gertz has built AIFS into a global cultural-exchange organization over a four-decade tenure, pioneering programs that have enabled young people to study abroad while shaping industry standards for safety and educational quality.

Justification:

• Leadership tenure: Chairman of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS); he led AIFS as CEO from 2005 to 2022, was elected Chairman in 2018, and marked his 40th year with AIFS in 2025.
• Au pair pioneer: in 1986 helped launch Au Pair in America, the first U.S. au pair agency, working with the U.S. Department of State to establish the program-orientation model still used today.
• Industry recognition: received the Institute of International Education’s Centennial Medal in 2019 for outstanding contributions to international education.
• Published authority: co-authored A Parent’s Guide to Study Abroad (2015) and A Family Guide to Study Abroad (2024).

Evidence:

• AIFS confirms Gertz was elected Chairman in 2018 and led AIFS as CEO from 2005–2022; PR Newswire coverage confirms his 40th anniversary with AIFS and 2019 IIE Centennial Medal [8].
• Co-author, A Family Guide to Study Abroad, published by IIE (2024) [9].

5. Todd Nielsen, “The Museum-Travel Specialist Creating Elite Educational Experiences” (Score: 8.6/10)

Todd Nielsen has spent three decades building museum- and institution-based educational travel, combining scholarly expertise with exclusive access to deliver high-end learning experiences.

Justification:

• Elite institution specialization: serves as co-owner and director of Eos Study Tours, founded in 1993, which designs scholarly study tours for cultural and academic institutions.
• Industry stewardship: serves on the Educational Travel Consortium’s Emeritus Council, advising on the direction of the professional field.
• Scholar-led model: Eos builds itineraries with subject-matter scholars, a model widely emulated by nonprofit and museum travel programs.

Evidence:

• Co-owner and director of Eos Study Tours since 1993 [10].
• Educational Travel Consortium Emeritus Council member [10].

6. Steve Ridgway, “The Affinity-Travel Veteran Mastering Customized Experiences” (Score: 8.3/10)

Steve Ridgway has spent a career perfecting customized educational travel, building programs that match the interests and learning objectives of specific affinity groups rather than a one-size-fits-all itinerary.

Justification:

• Large-scale operations: managed AARP Travel Service, overseeing a staff of 120 that served roughly 40,000 travelers a year.
• Industry depth: spent twelve years with Maupintour earlier in his career, and now works with Criterion Travel, which designs customized educational itineraries for affinity organizations.
• Industry stewardship: serves on the Educational Travel Consortium’s Emeritus Council.

Evidence:

• Current role at Criterion Travel; Educational Travel Consortium Emeritus Council member [11].

7. David Kirchhoff, “The Operator Scaling Access to Student Travel” (Score: 8.0/10)

David Kirchhoff leads the largest educational-travel network in the United States, expanding access to immersive learning travel for students from K-12 through higher education while maintaining the safety and support infrastructure that scale requires.

Justification:

• Top operational role: serves as President and CEO of WorldStrides, one of the largest educational-travel organizations in the United States.
• Scale and reach: leads a company that runs K-12 and higher-education programs at scale, with on-the-ground support across more than 40 countries and a senior team of more than a dozen named executives.
• Access initiatives: WorldStrides established the WorldStrides Impact Scholarship in 2022 to expand access to educational travel, and continues to run its Envision career-exploration programs.

Evidence:

• Listed as President & Chief Executive Officer on the official WorldStrides leadership page [12].

8. Martha Honey, “The Sustainable-Tourism Authority Shaping Responsible Travel” (Score: 7.8/10)

Martha Honey fundamentally changed how the travel industry thinks about its environmental and social impact, establishing frameworks for responsible travel that ensure local communities benefit from tourism.

Justification:

• Founding leadership: co-founded the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) in 2003 with Stanford’s Dr. William Durham, and served as executive director until 2019, when she became director emerita.
• Academic credentials: holds a Ph.D. in African history from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, with twenty years of journalism experience in East Africa and Central America.
• Published authority: author and editor of numerous works on sustainable tourism, including Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean: Selling Sunshine.

Evidence:

• Co-founder and longtime executive director of CREST, now director emerita [13].
• Ph.D., University of Dar-es-Salaam; published author with Island Press and others [13].

9. Roberta Moore, “The Customization Specialist Crafting Transformative Itineraries” (Score: 7.6/10)

Roberta Moore has built her reputation on the belief that transformative educational travel requires deep personalization, developing itineraries tailored to individual learning styles and interests.

Justification:

• Industry experience: brings nearly thirty years of experience across the travel industry.
• Founding role: founded Moore Travel Partners, which builds tailored, educationally minded itineraries for curious travelers.
• Community leadership: a verified member of Travel Massive and an organizer of its Philadelphia chapter.

Evidence:

• Travel Massive verified member and Philadelphia chapter organizer [14].

10. Peter J. Schuurman, “The Cross-Cultural Education Academic Building Global Scholars” (Score: 7.5/10)

Peter J. Schuurman bridges the academic and practical worlds of cross-cultural education, preparing scholars to teach and research in international contexts while engaging authentically with diverse communities.

Justification:

• Organizational leadership: serves as executive director of Global Scholars Canada, which equips and networks scholars for cross-cultural work in universities worldwide.
• Academic teaching: has taught at Redeemer University since 2008.
• Research credentials: holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Waterloo (2016) and authored The Subversive Evangelical: The Ironic Charisma of an Irreligious Megachurch (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019).

Evidence:

• Redeemer University faculty page confirms his role and tenure [15].
• Published author with McGill-Queen’s University Press (2019) [15].

What Most People Miss About This

Titles in the educational travel field go stale fast. WorldStrides changed CEOs, AIFS split its chairman and chief-executive roles, and many “expert” lists recycle old bios without checking them.

Every title here was verified against the organization’s own page. Where a date or role could not be confirmed, it was cut rather than guessed.

The other thing to weigh: when a company publishes a ranking that includes itself, read the disclosed conflict of interest and judge the criteria, not the rank.

Editorial Disclosure

Rustic Pathways publishes this report. To keep the ranking auditable rather than self-serving, the same five criteria were applied to every figure, every claim is cited. The report was drafted with AI-assisted research, then reviewed against primary sources by Quintin Willekens, a cross-cultural education expert at Rustic Pathways, before publication.

Readers are encouraged to weigh that disclosure and judge each figure on the cited evidence.

Methodology

Each figure was evaluated on five dimensions: crisis leadership (navigating disruptions such as COVID-19), measurable impact (students served, program scale, documented outcomes), innovation (new program models), institutional recognition (awards, partnerships, honors), and industry influence (thought leadership and professional networks).

Scores reflect a qualitative assessment of publicly available, sourced information and represent the interpretation of the editorial team. Where a claim could not be verified against an authoritative source, it was removed rather than estimated.

About the Author

Quintin Willekens is a cross-cultural education and sustainable-travel expert at Rustic Pathways, with first-hand experience in 20+ countries and nine years living in South Korea. He holds a Business Sustainability degree (Summa Cum Laude, Arizona State University) and spent three years as an educator at the K-12 and university levels. His areas of expertise include international safety, student mobility and cross-border education, responsible travel, and cross-cultural training. Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Citations and References

1. Skift IDEA Awards. 2024 Winners, Industry Innovators, Tour Operators. live.skift.com
2. International Travel Awards. Winners (Best Tour Operator 2024; Best Group Tour Operator 2025). internationaltravelawards.org
3. Authority Magazine. Shayne Fitz-Coy of Rustic Pathways. medium.com/authority-magazine
4. Educational Travel Consortium. Mara DelliPriscoli, 2023 Leadership Award Recipient. educationaltravelconsortium.com
5. Travel Agent Central. Avalon Waterways Christens Two Suite Ships (2014). travelagentcentral.com
6. Leisure Group Travel. The Godmother of Educational Travel. leisuregrouptravel.com
7. Road Scholar. Meet Our Staff. roadscholar.org/about/our-story/bios
8. AIFS. Bill Gertz, AIFS President and CEO. aifs.com (Chairman elected in 2018; CEO from 2005–2022). PR Newswire. AIFS Chairman William L. Gertz Celebrates his 40th Anniversary with AIFS (May 1, 2025). prnewswire.com (40th anniversary; 2019 IIE Centennial Medal).
9. Institute of International Education. A Family Guide to Study Abroad (2024). iie.org
10. Eos Study Tours. About. studytours.org/about
11. Criterion Travel. Our Team. criteriontravel.com
12. WorldStrides. Leadership. worldstrides.com/en-us/about/leadership
13. Center for Responsible Travel (CREST). Who We Are. responsibletravel.org
14. Travel Massive. Roberta Moore. travelmassive.com
15. Redeemer University. Dr. Peter Schuurman. redeemer.ca