We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Valorie Evans, LMSW. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Valorie below.

Valorie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I started The Brown Explorers, a travel group for Black youth with the mission of exposing black youth to the world through travel, because our culture is underrepresented in travel and overrepresented in negative areas such as poverty, single parent households, substance misuse, etc. After years of traveling with my children abroad and consistently being slapped in the face with the lack of black American presence abroad I officially launched The Brown Explorers in 2023.

Our program is specifically for Black youth because there is a lack of resources, access, and program availability available to them. According to the Institute of International Education’s annual Open Doors report, of the American students who studied abroad in the 2019-2020 academic year, only 5.5 percent were Black. Studies have shown that traveling abroad in-creases confidence, creativity, life satisfaction and appreciation, knowledge and understanding of other cultures, and builds human connections. Our Black youth deserve this!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For my entire career I have worked to advocate for others and provide access to resources.

My travel experiences started early with annual trips to Florida, Maryland and South Carolina to visit extended family; however, It wasn’t until my first trip abroad during my Junior year of college that I really understood the power of travel. My first trip out of the country was a Spanish immersion trip to Spain and Gibraltar. During this trip my eyes opened to the world being more than just what I knew and it sparked my curiosity to see who is all on this Earth with me! New faces, languages, food, architecture, customs, and ways of being. My first abroad experience opened my heart’s travel door and I hold travel experiences as one of my top priorities in life. Since then I have traveled to Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Guatemala, & Mexico.

As a black girl born to a teenage mother residing on the westside of Detroit, losing my father at the age of 5, and having easy access to drugs and alcohol, etc. statistically I am not supposed to be where I am today. Being taken out of my “world” as I saw it, showed me that I can be different, that I do not have to be what I see around me. To date, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the first in my immediate family with a graduate degree. My travel experiences have changed my view of the world and all of its possibilities, and most importantly the trajectory of my life. I would probably be dead without it.
My high value of travel often spilled onto my friends and family, especially my children. I always invited others on our trips. In 2014 I started a youth international travel program at a Non-profit in SW Detroit, as their Prevention Director, where I successfully led travel experiences for groups of Middle & High school aged youth to Guatemala and Costa Rica. I left that agency to start my own Mental Health Private Practice, but I still maintained my love for travel. I always held the idea that I would start my own travel program for youth in the future, so I did!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The Brown Explorers launched in 2023 and was primarily funded out of pocket and through fundraising efforts. For 2024, we have increased our fundraising goal and will begin pursuing grant funding to accommodate doubling the number of youth we serve in 2024.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I launched The Brown Explorers with a partner. Due to her own mental health she quit her role as Administrative Director two months after we launched services. Her resignation was completely unexpected and fostered some doubt about continuing the program. Instead of giving up I continued the program, absorbed her responsibilities, and provided the same level of programming that was planned with two people. In 2023 I served 15 youth consistently providing 52.5 hours of workshops, 8 local field trips, 2 domestic trips and one international trip!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebrownexplorers.org
• Instagram: @thebrownexplorers
• Facebook: The Brown Explorers

Image Credits
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