Dominique Callimanopulos
dominique@elevatedestinations.com
www.elevatedestinations.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ELEVATE DESTINATIONS LAUNCHES NEW SCENE + HEARD INITIATIVE
EMPOWERING VISUAL STORYTELLING IN LOCAL DESTINATIONS
Philanthropic tour operator Elevate Destinations is launching a new initiative Scene + Heard, designed to augment the voices and perceptions of local youth in destinations around the world through film and video.
A thought leader in the travel industry, Elevate Destinations has won awards for its Buy A Trip Give A Trip initiative, that organizes excursions for local youth to get to see touristic sites in their own backyard.
“Scene + Heard will further expand the perceptions and voices of communities in the destinations we serve by facilitating visual storytelling about their everyday realities,” states Dominique Callimanopulos, founder of Elevate Destinations. “While the world is afloat in visual content, the voices and messages by marginalized youth often don’t find a platform and the emphasis in social media is on quick sound bites of experience, designed to get ‘likes’ rather than the opportunity to communicate their experience and stories more deeply.”
Elevate Destinations’ first beneficiary for Scene + Heard is The Leo Project, based in Nanyuki, Kenya. The Leo Project believes that everyone should have the right to access educational and health services and is piloting, implementing, and sustaining programs as a means to unite, empower and – most importantly – drive social change.
Elevate Destinations will sponsor a course for The Leo Project to teach and facilitate storytelling through video and film and will provide equipment and teaching to this end. The course would allow participants to learn to make and edit 10 short videos/films all showcasing a day-in-the life of Nanyuki from different perspectives, culminating in the Nanyuki Creative Festival slated for December, 2023.
The company hopes to add new beneficiaries of the Scene + Heard initiative annually.
About Elevate Destinations: Elevate Destinations is a luxury tour operator that facilitates sustainable and philanthropic journeys worldwide. Elevate Destinations’ Buy A Trip, Give A Trip initiative sponsors excursions for local youth to get to see sights in their own backyard that are usually reserved for tourists, contributing to the democratization of travel.