550: Transform Your Next Vacation: Volunteer Abroad and Create Lasting Impact with Kimberly Haley-Coleman

What if your next vacation could transform lives—including your own?

In this inspiring episode of the Leaders of Transformation podcast, host Nicole Jansen welcomes Kimberly Haley-Coleman, founder and executive director of GlobeAware - an award-winning nonprofit that has mobilized volunteers across more than 25 countries through service adventures that create lasting social impact.

Kimberly shares how voluntourism, when done responsibly, goes far beyond traditional travel. These immersive experiences cultivate cross-cultural leadership, deepen human connection, and shift how people see the world - and themselves. From her own journey leaving the corporate world to building GlobeAware, Kimberly breaks down the power of meaningful service and the practical steps for participating in global volunteer projects.

This conversation reveals why service travel isn’t just about helping others - it’s about developing resilience, gratitude, empathy, and a renewed appreciation for humanity. If you’ve ever wanted your vacation to mean more than photos and souvenirs - or you’re seeking a powerful way to grow as a leader, family, or team - this episode may spark your next bold step.

What We Discuss in This Episode

• How Kimberly’s passion for cross-cultural service travel began
• What “voluntourism” really means—and how GlobeAware ensures ethical, responsible impact
• How volunteers and local communities benefit from service-based travel
• Why working alongside - not above - local populations creates sustainable change
• Who can participate in GlobeAware projects and how it works
• How COVID-19 forced nonprofits to innovate in international service travel
• The unique growth families and corporate teams experience through these programs
• How volunteers fund their trips and how GlobeAware remains financially sustainable
• The leadership challenges of running global programs in dynamic environments
• The lasting personal transformation participants experience—and why joy is central to it all

10 Key Takeaways

1. Accessible Voluntourism: GlobeAware offers short-term service travel—often described as a “mini Peace Corps”—making global volunteering accessible to families, professionals, and corporate teams.
2. Ethical, Community-Led Service: True impact begins with equality. Projects are designed and led by local communities, ensuring their needs and voices come first.
3. Transformative Learning Through Experience: Side-by-side service fosters empathy, gratitude, and cultural awareness—especially powerful for families and young people.
4. A Powerful Perspective Shift: Exposure to different ways of living reshapes views on privilege and consumption through experiential learning—not lectures.
5. Simple, Supported Participation: Trips are tax-deductible and easy to join, with logistics like food, lodging, and bilingual coordinators fully managed.
6. Leadership & Team Development: Corporate groups use GlobeAware experiences to build trust, resilience, gratitude, and cross-cultural leadership skills that translate back to the workplace.
7. Sustainable Operating Model: Only 15% of program fees support operations; the rest directly funds project materials and local labor—without government funding.
8. Resilience Through COVID: GlobeAware survived global shutdowns by pivoting to virtual programs, adapting health protocols, and reimagining community engagement.
9. Redefining Impact: Success isn’t measured by numbers alone—but by the lasting shifts in perspective, gratitude, and connection participants experience.
10. Joy at the Core: Beyond impact, volunteering creates enduring joy—rooted in shared humanity and the simple act of serving together.

Podcast Highlights & Timestamps

00:00 – Transformative Travel with Kimberly Haley-Coleman
03:23 – From Tourism to Purposeful Travel
07:49 – Lessons on Water Conservation
10:27 – Creating Meaningful Engagement Through Service
14:02 – The Ethical Evolution of Voluntourism
16:44 – Building Homes and Changing Lives
22:40 – Overcoming Barriers to Girls’ Education
25:35 – Ending Child Labor Through Sustainable Solutions
28:19 – Adapting Service Travel During COVID
30:18 – Measuring Impact Beyond Numbers
34:46 – Reconnecting to Our Shared Humanity
39:15 – Traveling for Growth and Perspective
42:55 – Why Now Is the Time to Act
43:40 – Team-Building Through Shared Service Experiences

Listen and empower your next journey to be one that transforms—not just the world, but you.

Favorite Quotes

It changes how you see the world, and it brings joy you can’t get anywhere else.

We often lose sight of what our standard of living is in North America. In Cambodia, you can have access to neither running water nor electricity and still be considered middle class.

Experiential learning is so valuable—no lecture needed.

Episode Resources: https://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast/leadership/550-transform-your-next-vacation-volunteer-abroad-and-create-lasting-impact-with-kimberly-haley-coleman

 

Check out our complete library of episodes and other leadership resources here: https://leadersoftransformation.com

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