Entrepreneur Jalisa Whitley '11 builds community and advances equity through the power of story — inviting others to see themselves, and the world, anew.
Growing up in Geneva, N.Y., Jalisa Whitley '11 found her first passport in the pages of Geneva Public Library books. Her love of reading propelled her to receive HWS scholarships, a career that has spanned travel to 50 countries and a desire to help people see the world through one another's eyes.
She is the founder of two groundbreaking ventures, which at their core focus on building community and advancing equity.
Whitley founded two businesses that, at their core, focus on building community and advancing equity.
Where her love of reading meets her love of travel.
Whitley hosts immersive trips that bring novels to life through food, culture and place. She was inspired to launch the business after reading Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, with the book's peach cobbler scene making her imagine hosting a weekend in Savannah, Georgia built around a cooking class.
When Whitley thinks back to the first books and novels she read, she is struck by what was missing. "I didn't have examples of little Black girls traveling, free and exploring the world," she says. "I didn't know it was possible until I studied abroad in Hungary and Romania during my time at HWS."
Designing strategies that advance racial equity.
Through her second venture, Whitley partners with nonprofits, foundations and corporations to design strategies that advance racial equity. Currently, her projects include helping a health organization embark on truth and repair processes to address disparities and working with funders to direct more unrestricted dollars to grassroots groups tackling education, housing and justice.
Selected Clients
Through BOOKED Trips · A spark, passed forward
$27,500+
Maya Angelou Travel Scholarships awarded
Recently, BOOKED Trips awarded more than $27,500 in Maya Angelou Travel Scholarships to women of color in Kenya, India, Germany, Mexico and the U.S. — using the spark Whitley first found at HWS to create space for others.
The deeper I get into my career, the more I become convinced that anything done successfully and sustainably is not done alone. We all need community. Whether it's a community of support, encouragement and introduction, or a leg up. None of us are self-made.Jalisa Whitley '11
At HWS, support from the Piltch Family Centennial Scholarship and a Geneva Scholarship Associates Endowed Scholarship gave Whitley the chance to represent her hometown in the classroom and in service experiences. "It reinforced the important relationship between Geneva and the campus community," she says. "It showed that local students weren't just 'townies,' but classmates with perspectives that enriched what we were learning." She graduated cum laude in public policy, sociology and political science.
Whitley says entrepreneurship wasn't always part of her plan. But after earning her master's degree in public policy from the University of Maryland, College Park, she realized consulting offered the flexibility to shape her own path. "I didn't set out to be an entrepreneur," she says. "But I discovered it was a way to make impact on my own terms, with people who share my values."
Whitley's first passport was a Geneva Public Library book. The two HWS scholarships that followed gave her the chance to travel and help people see the world through one another's eyes. Help the next student do the same.
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