Tu Cuba
To advance our mission, The CubaOne Foundation will facilitate a program of authorized educational travel to Cuba by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction under the label ‘Tu Cuba’. This program will be targeted toward young American leaders of Cuban descent and offer them a platform to explore their cultural roots and connect with their counterparts on the island, turning distant heritage into deeply meaningful relationships based on personal experiences. The trips will be run in cohorts of peers and subsidized in amounts of up to 100 percent of travel costs.
The trips will be organized under the auspices of The CubaOne Foundation and a general license for support for the Cuban people by Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as set forth in 31 CFR 515.560 (c), and under the category §515.565 (b) – General License for People to People Travel. These trips will be highly curated, with itineraries designed to encourage ongoing connections with Cuban peers. Itineraries for these trips will be carefully designed to follow the guidelines of the people to people exchange program as outlined by OFAC and contain a full time schedule of educational activities that will result in meaningful interaction between our participants and the Cuban people. A representative from CubaOne Foundation will accompany the group to ensure that each traveler has a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities.
2016 Trips
In our first year, we will sponsor four trips to Cuba. Each trip will host 10 young Cuban American leaders in selected cohorts designed to immerse them in the Cuban culture with a supportive peer group. The trips will be designed with the individuals in mind – for instance, doctors may visit medical schools and health clinics, entrepreneurs may meet with the Cubans founding the first generation of internet start-ups.
Over multiple visits to Cuba over the course of 2015 we have created an itinerary that flows through a four stage framework designed to foster a transformative experience and connections with Cuban peers:
1) Welcome
2) Realization
3) Forming Connections
4) Celebration
Explore Cuban Identity and Personal Heritage
We believe that taking young American leaders to Cuba to engage with the Cuban people will allow for a deeper understanding of identity and advance cooperation between the United States and Cuba in key areas of mutual interest. We intend that our participants in these trips will form a committed alumni network that translates their experience into ongoing conversation within their communities and spark a discourse that will foster informed advocates for Cuba and its people in the years to come.
Connecting Young Leaders from the U.S. and Cuba
We believe that empowerment and change are facilitated by leaders who work together toward the common good. As an integral aspect of The CubaOne Foundation’s mission, these leaders are represented by Cuban Americans in the U.S. and by young leaders from a variety of fields in Cuba. We will engage in programming that creates peer-to-peer connections between these leaders, including cohort-based travel to Cuba and facilitating roundtable discussions.
Creating a Cross Cultural Organization
It is our intent to form an organization with ties in both Cuba and the U.S. A major criteria for our selection of vendors, partner organizations, and major funders will be evidence of actions that further the dialogue and collaboration across the United States and Cuba.
Additionally, in order to facilitate closer ties with the Cuban People, Cuban nationals may be invited to participate in the ongoing governance of CubaOne Foundation through membership on the board of directors and/or advisory board.