The practice came first. The institution comes now.

TTI exists for wellbeing, peace, and stewardship of the places that host us.

It is a charity that learns how experiences change people, places and the living world, then shares what works through standards, training and community-led projects. It starts with travel and hospitality.

Where It Began

In 2000, Jake Haupert was on Dog Beach in Solana Beach, California, reading about the emerging Ecotourism Society, when he made a decision:

“I wanted to dedicate my life to helping travel and experiences create a better world, one person at a time.”

— Jake Haupert

The instinct was right, and it arrived years ahead of the tools to make it reliable, repeatable and teachable. TTI exists to build them.

Why TTI exists

But an experience guarantees none of this. Most of us have come home with good intentions that didn't last. TTI exists to learn what helps that change last, and who benefits, with communities defining what benefit means in their own places. No single business can do this alone, because the answers belong to everyone. That is why TTI is a charity.

TTI and the Transformational Travel Council

The Transformational Travel Council is a separate company that shares founders with TTI. For eight years it did applied work in public with tour operators, guides, hotel and lodge teams, retreat leaders and destination organizations, and more than 600 alumni across more than 40 countries have come through its programs, with more than 200 practitioners in its community

TTI is its own charity, with its own board, budget and accounts. Its standards and research are written in the open, with practitioners, researchers and host communities, and belong to no company.

What an experience can do

Meeting a challenge we thought was beyond us can give us the confidence to change direction. Listening to someone whose life runs differently can change how we treat each other. Time in nature can move us to care for the places around us. And it reaches past travel: a museum, a concert, an afternoon with neighbors. TTI studies the moments that do this, from awe and wonder to the exchange between guests, hosts and place.

From a trust to an institute

TTI began in 2009 as The Travelers Conservation Trust, set up by Kurt Kutay so money from travel could flow back to the places travelers visit. In 2026 it relaunched as the Transformational Travel Institute, a 501(c)(3) public charity with a wider job: shared standards, open research, and training that reaches people one program alone never could.

Meet the Team

jake haupert

president of the board
kurt kutay

chairperson of the board
Sunniva Sorby

vice president of the board
Dana Smith

secretary of the board
Heather Morse

executive director

be the change

Your support comes in many forms—whether a one-time contribution, a monthly commitment, or something more substantial, it's the lifeblood that propels our mission forward, allowing us to flourish.

If you're passionate about making an even greater impact through a significant donation, sponsorship, or impact investment, we invite you to connect with Jake Haupert via email. Rest assured, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of financial integrity.

Our commitment to transparency means we will keep you well-informed about precisely how your resources are utilized.

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