A Shared Passion
With over 30 years of experience in student travel and international education, our leadership team has the passion, expertise, and global connections to create unique programs for teen travelers looking for a truly life-enriching experience.
Steve Hart
Co-founder
A true citizen of the world, Steve, was born in Germany to a Spanish mother and English father, he spent his childhood in Bahrain, Kenya, England, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. He attended Bristol University in England, where he studied Spanish and Portuguese and started leading groups of students on educational programs through Spain and Portugal during school breaks.
After graduating from university, he led groups abroad most of the year, while taking time for his own travel adventures with family and friends, including motor biking throughout the United States, cycling along the Camino de Santiago and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
After 30 years working for larger educational travel companies and moving to the United States, Steve realized his dream of creating his own smaller, more personalized educational travel company with a tighter focus on academic content and cultural enrichment with the founding of Hart Travel Partners and The Global Citizen Program.
Get in touch with Steve at SteveHart@HartTravelPartners.com
Jeff Rahilly
Co-founder
Growing up in a small town in Western Massachusetts, Jeff’s first international trip was during his late teens when he went on an educational travel program. Those two weeks changed the course of his life. Jeff graduated from Providence College with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Education. During college he studied abroad in London, and after that experience, he knew he wanted an international career that would allow him to work, travel, meet new people from all over the world and most importantly - have a positive impact on youth. He experienced firsthand the profound impact international travel had on his own life at a young age and strongly believed those experiences better prepared him for college and his future career goals.
For the last 25 years, Jeff has worked with large and small student travel and international student exchange programs. He has traveled to over 45 countries and 6 continents. He brings a wealth of experience, a strong passion for student travel and international student exchange and an unfaltering commitment to his teacher leaders and student travelers.
Get in touch with Jeff at Jeff@TheGlobalCitizenProgram.com
Experienced Leaders
“I love seeing a group of students from different states, schools and backgrounds come together as strangers at the beginning of our program to blossom into a cohesive group of young adults, challenging and encouraging each other to be their best selves.”
Amy, English Teacher from Massachusetts.
2022 “France, Italy and Greece” Leader
Eva Luther
Vice President of Operations
Eva is responsible for all the flights, accommodations, travel directors, local transport, meals and millions of other details, large and small, that make up a fantastic travel program. She brings over 25 years of experience working in all aspects of educational travel, hospitality and the airline industry, as well as a dedication to service driven by her commitment to helping others get out and explore the world.
Her love of travel developed early on, as she spent most summers in Germany with her grandmother. She later went on to study abroad in Strasbourg, France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international hospitality and tourism management from Schiller International University.
Roger Hart
Global Affairs Advisor
Born in London, Roger joined the British Diplomatic Service after studying modern languages at the University of Birmingham, England. He has served as the British Ambassador to Peru, Angola and Sao Tomé & Principe, and Consul General in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. He was decorated by HM The Queen in 1997 for services to British diplomacy.
Both Roger and his wife, Angeles, love to travel. In the course of their diplomatic career, they worked in ten countries and have visited over 80.
Jay Borkland
Academic Advisor
Jay is a marine and environmental scientist, geophysicist, geo-engineer, and offshore energy specialist with more than 30 years of industry, teaching, and research-related experience. He is the principal and part owner of a national environmental and engineering firm. He has been the project director for numerous large-scale government and private geo-environmental and geo-construction projects. Highlights of his work include Boston's Central Artery and Third Harbor Tunnel, the Love Canal superfund site, and a USGS geologic conditions research study of the Gulf of Maine. He was part of a team that was awarded a $125 million grant for Nassau County Long Island in President Obama's Rebuild by Design competition for a more resilient coastline in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He is currently a member of the Tufts University team in the Massachusetts Research Partnership for the advancement of U.S. offshore wind research and standards.
Local Pride and Expertise
We are proud to work with some of the most professional and experienced Travel Directors in the industry. Our Travel Directors will be with you 24/7 and share their passion, expertise and culture, all while taking care of all the logistics, so that our Teacher-Leaders can focus their attention and time on their students.
Michal - France
Michal is a natural born traveler. He made his first solo trip at the age of 18 traveling from Warsaw to Sicily and back. This experience changed his life forever; it was then that he decided to spend his life abroad. Originally from Poland he is living in Paris on the crossroad of 5 different cultures: Spanish, French, Polish, English and American.
He has more than 10 years of experience guiding travelers from different countries and more than 20 years of experience working with students in different international educational institutions.
Raffaella - Italy
For over 20 years, Raffaella has been leading travel programs for student groups, choirs, orchestras and even professional rock bands. Originally from Cesena in Northeast Italy, Raffaella now frequently travels between Italy and her adopted home in London.
Following her degree in English language and literature from the University of Bologna and a masters in marketing management for the travel and tourism business, she began her career in tour managing and operations. This has given her the opportunity to travel extensively across Europe and the United States while working with a large variety of clients and educational travel groups.
Jasmina - Slovenia
Jasmina, a Travel Director from Slovenia, was destined to be a traveler. Her father was a tour guide and she grew up listening to the stories of his travel adventures. She also frequently visited her family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Jasmina started working as a guide in 1996, while still a student, focusing on history and journalism. Both her career as a journalist and as a travel director have given her opportunities to travel the world extensively but Slovenia, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe are still the destinations she holds most dear. She currently lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Richard - U.K.
Richard has two decades of experience in tourism and quite frequently works with institutional travel organizations, such as museums and church organizations, and students from the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada. As a result, he spends much of his time traveling all over Europe. He brings this cosmopolitan and pan-European experience to bear on his work with HTP, constantly making connections to other cities and countries in the course of his travel programs.
Originally from England, Richard Bowen has lived in Rome for over 20 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Middlesex University, and a master's degree in medieval and twentieth-century history from University College London.
