Depart Smart
Your Safe Travel Starts Here
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
136M US citizens take the RISK of serious injury, rape, illness, arrests, and even death due to terrorism, civil unrest, natural disaster, dangerous animals, or disease during travels abroad. When people travel to countries they have never been to before, they are at risk because their well-being is not well-protected by consumer travel safety policies or procedures. People don't know how to identify and avoid risks or get help when needed so they can return safely. Our founders know this painful truth personally. Their sixteen-year-old son, Tyler, died a preventable death on a student trip to Japan. He would be alive today if he had received appropriate medical help. Their tragedy illuminates a lifesaving purpose! Reporting tragic stories like theirs helped Depart Smart bring hidden risks into the open and led to the creation of cost-effective solutions.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
TRAVEL SAFETY TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
If your travel abroad goes wrong, will you know what to do?
Avoid risks and enjoy worry-free global adventures with a customized Travel Safety Plan. This online travel safety course is comprised of six 10-15 minute teaching modules, complete with mini-games, testimonials and an end-of-chapter assessment. As learners complete each chapter, they progressively compile a travel safety plan to guide them through the steps they should take for safer international travels. The six modules are:
1) Geopolitical Context: Learn how to navigate State Department Consular Affairs and Overseas Security Advisory Council websites to identify country-specific warnings and alerts and ascertain their severity.
2) Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP): Learn the value of STEP services and how to successfully register for STEP before each international trip.
3) Health & Wellness: Discover resources at the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization to identify destination-specific health risks and preventive medicines to include in your plan, and vital personal medical information in mobile applications.
4) Geography & Housing: Learn how to build a custom Google My Map of your destination(s), featuring area-specific risks and warnings. Locate nearby hospitals, fire and police departments, embassies, airports and evacuation services, and your housing and transportation resources.
5) Travel Insurance: Learn the difference between trip and travel insurance, and how to determine the best insurance for your particular excursion.
6 ) Security & Communications: Increase your financial security with helpful tips and prepare to use mobile technology to contact local and international agencies and emergency contacts.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
ComPsych's Health at Work Silver Award 2018
MN Cup Impact Division Finalist 2018
MN Cup Semi Finalist 2016
Telly Award, Health and Wellness Division 2018
Omni Intermedia Award, Education Category 2018
"Walking on Sunshine" written by Sheryl Hill, U.S. Book News Award-winning spiritual memoir 2015
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of media partnerships developed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
TRAVEL SAFETY TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Media Relations, Inc. helped us earn 2017 media -20,000,000 impressions on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, more. TCPT is a 3-year partner, offering 12 60 secs & 12 90 sec public service announcements.
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
TRAVEL SAFETY TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Depart Smart Eye-Opener workshops for large groups, conferences, designed to be awareness raising and training based for the audience. 2019: 25
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We are aiming to inspire, develop and transform world travelers into safety heroes with our Travel Safety Training Course. We want to train your employees, family, and students to avoid risks and get home safely. We want to create awareness as the trusted leader in travel safety education to help you and your loved ones Depart Smart for the world.
Through our online Travel HEROES Safety Certification Course, we want more vacationers, employees, and students to Depart Smart with a personalized Travel Safety Plan. As a result, they will be better prepared by knowing their destination’s local emergency phone numbers, getting the proper vaccinations and insurance, making digital copies of personal records, registering trips with the US Department of State to get alerts and warnings, asking the right questions, mapping out destinations like hospitals, airports and the U.S. Embassy, investigating neighborhood surroundings to ensure they’re not duped into risky area hotels, and more.
We also want to make travel service providers more aware of the need for travel safety training and inspire them to encourage safe travel planning with their customers.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
* Publicity
We extend publicity to help Depart Smart reach more than 50,000,000 major news impressions on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the Saturday Evening Post, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Huffington Post, Inside Higher Education, and more. We earn media attention as the trusted resource for travel and tourism safety. We have been featured in many local and national newspapers and periodicals.
* Blog Articles, Social Media, e-News, Training Materials
Freelance writers contribute articles on compelling industry trends, policy, safety and security published on our blog. An electronic newsletter is published periodically for subscribers.
We post captivating entries on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn 5-7 days/week.
We publish award-winning online, interactive learning to help travelers build their own travel safety action plans.
* Public Appearances
Executive Director, Sheryl Hill, and Depart Smart Advisors speak at many events on tourism safety. We provide workshops and group orientations. In 2019 to date, Ms. Hill spoke at:
- The Worldwide ERC Global Workforce Symposium 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA) Annual Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Great Lakes Relocation Council 2019 closing keynote presentation in Detroit, Michigan.
- Rocky Mountain Relocation Council’s Spring Conference in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
- Travel Safety Workshop for Professional Insurance Women of Minnesota members.
- Travel Safety Workshop at the “Are We There Yet?” Minnesota Employee Relocation Council (MERC) Conference in Minneapolis.
Scheduled for 2019:
- Ms. Hill will lead an educational session at the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) 2019 Annual Symposium in Branson, Missouri.
- Education Travel Adventures in New York City
* Presentations to companies looking for opportunities for their employees and customers to become travel safety savvy; 23 to date in 2019.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a league of advisors across several areas of expertise: global health and safety, academic medical, legal.
Our online course is live and in use. We have piloted it successfully with St. Cloud State University Confucius Institute.
We are in the process of implementing an affiliate program to attract organizations into promoting the importance of travel safety.
We have a very important relationship with a very large insurance company that offers travel insurance and is writing a customized policy for our customers. We have also opened the door with several Employee Assistance providers to offer our training as a part of their product offerings.
Our participation in the MN Cup competition for two years has brought us invaluable mentoring from local industry leaders.
We have 3 marketing professionals who identify organizations and "open the door" for our Executive Director ro talk with, based on their involvement with international travel.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Social Media - xxx,xxx followers.
AIG Travel sponsors Depart Smart and we are working with them to build a way to partner on travel insurance sales via the Internet.
Federal Government: Depart Smart has the attention of the White House Office of Public Engagement, USDOS, USDOE and USDOJ.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Depart Smart
Board of directorsas of 12/02/2019
Amy Swedberg
Maslon LLP
Term: 2019 -
Allen Hill
Frauenshuh HealthCare Real Estate Solutions
Tim Malecha
CliftonLarsenAllen Wealth Advisors
Amy Swedberg
Maslon LLP
Jana Webster
Airport Foundation MSP
Dr. Kathryn Johnson
St. Cloud State University, Confucius Institute
Michael Bowers
Center for Student Travel Safety
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data