Greetings from Zambia where our trip has been in full swing since Sunday. All 16 trip participants are already making fast friends. As always, we kicked off our first day with a warm welcome filled with music and exuberant dancing, a bit of which...
Read More
Our Director of Social Impact Investments, Lucy Jodlowska, also happens to be our in-house photographer extraordinaire. Thanks to her incredible skills, you are able to see our work in action in vivid detail - and since she's in the field so frequently, we get lots...
Read More
Over the last seven years, Spark has developed a world-class impact travel program, hosting over 300 participants on trips to Nicaragua and Zambia. What do we mean by "Impact Travel"? 1. A first hand look at Spark's international impact investing via our business driven philanthropy model 2. Volunteering...
Read MoreWhen people ask us about Spark Ventures' business driven philanthropy model or the impact this model has on hundreds of children in Nicaragua and Zambia, we often find ourselves saying at some point in the conversation: "Come and see for yourself!" Last week we had...
Read MoreWhat's better than traveling with Spark to engage with our partner organizations? Traveling with us twice! It seems that some Spark supporters have been bitten by a very specific travel bug...
Read MoreParticipants on our Nicaragua partnership trip do more than just see the sights--they interact with our partner organization, Las Tías, and the children the organization serves. In doing so they are able to gain an appreciation for the impact of programming for children of all...
Read More
The partnership trip to Nicaragua may be over, but the memories have stuck with our travelers! Some of the most fun and rewarding experiences during the trip come when we get to interact with the children of Las Tías through games and activities. The travelers started...
Read More
Exciting things are happening at Spark--both for our team and for our partner organization, Hope Ministries! Three of our friends from Zambia have come to visit us in the U.S. for a unique cultural exchange. We invest in our partners on multiple levels, not just...
Read More
The students from Allowance for Good and other youth who joined us for our August Partnership Trip to Nicaragua are leaving a powerful impact on the lives of the children they met at Las Tías. The trip, as with all Spark Ventures Partnership Trips, incorporated lots...
Read More
Our Partnership Trip to Nicaragua this August is unique - in addition to travelers who have been part of the Spark Ventures community for years, we're also traveling with 10+ travelers from Allowance for Good, a fabulous Evanston-based non-profit we have formed a powerful partnership...
Read More