A Shared Commitment
With 30+ years of experience in student travel and international education, our leadership team brings the passion, expertise, and global connections needed to create unique, life-enriching programs for teen travelers.
Steve Hart
Co-founder
Steve grew up in London, Madrid, and across the world while his father served in the British diplomatic service, giving him a global perspective from an early age. He started his career by leading American students and teachers around Europe, and over the years has managed and led many student groups abroad. These experiences gave him a deep appreciation for the responsibilities teachers carry when leading travel, and the importance of true partnership in student programs. With decades of expertise in student safety, logistics, and leadership, Steve has worked closely with schools to create programs that are high-quality and go far beyond simple sightseeing. His focus is on building meaningful, hands-on experiences that immerse students in culture, while ensuring teachers feel fully supported every step of the way.
Get in touch with Steve at SteveHart@HartTravelPartners.com
Jeff Rahilly
Co-founder
Jeff grew up in a family of teachers and always knew he wanted to follow that path. He studied education and psychology at Providence College and began his career in the classroom. As a high school student, Jeff participated in an educational travel program that had a life-changing impact, a passion that only deepened during his own study abroad experience in London while in college. Over the past 30 years, he has worked in international education and student travel, visiting nearly 50 countries and leading countless student groups abroad—giving him firsthand insight into what it’s like to be in a teacher’s shoes when leading students abroad. Jeff has dedicated his career to partnering with teachers—working alongside them to design programs that supplement their curriculum, while ensuring they feel fully supported every step of the way.
Get in touch with Jeff at Jeff@TheGlobalCitizenProgram.com
Eva Luther
Vice President of Operations
Eva’s passion for travel began early, spending summers in Germany with her grandmother and later studying abroad in Strasbourg, France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from Schiller International University.
With over 25 years of experience in educational travel, hospitality, and the airline industry, Eva oversees all logistics—from flights and accommodations to local transport and meals—ensuring every detail is handled for a seamless and enriching travel experience.
Tamsin Trail
Director of School Relations
Tamsin grew up in an English family in America, spending summers in England, Scotland, and France, where her passion for travel began. She has lived in Salamanca, Florence, London, and Paris, and holds a BA in History of Art and Architecture from Middlebury College.
With 12 years of experience in the travel industry, Tamsin has dedicated her career to supporting and training educators in leading successful student travel programs. She has worked closely with teachers to ensure they have the resources, guidance, and confidence to create impactful and enriching experiences for their students.
Roger Hart
Global Affairs Advisor
Born in London, Roger studied modern languages at the University of Birmingham before joining the British Diplomatic Service. He has served as British Ambassador to Peru, Angola, and São Tomé & Príncipe, as well as Consul General in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. In 1997, he was honored by HM The Queen for his services to British diplomacy.
Roger and his wife, Angeles, share a passion for travel. Throughout their diplomatic career, they worked in ten countries and have visited over 80, enriching their lives with global experiences.
Jay Borkland
Academic and Environmental Advisor
Jay is a marine and environmental scientist with over 30 years of experience in industry, teaching, and research. As a principal and part owner of a national environmental and engineering firm, he has led major government and private projects, including Boston’s Central Artery, the Love Canal Superfund site, and a USGS study of the Gulf of Maine. Notably, Jay was part of a team awarded a $125 million grant for Nassau County, Long Island, in President Obama’s Rebuild by Design competition. He is currently involved in offshore wind research with Tufts University.
Local Pride and Expertise
Our Program Directors will be with you 24/7 and share their passion, expertise and culture, all while taking care of all the logistics, so that our Teacher-Leaders can focus their attention and time on their students.
Michal - France
Michal is a natural born traveler. He made his first solo trip at the age of 18 traveling from Warsaw to Sicily and back. This experience changed his life forever; it was then that he decided to spend his life abroad. Originally from Poland he is living in Paris on the crossroad of 5 different cultures: Spanish, French, Polish, English and American.
He has more than 10 years of experience guiding travelers from different countries and more than 20 years of experience working with students in different international educational institutions.
Raffaella - Italy
For over 20 years, Raffaella has been leading travel programs for student groups, choirs, orchestras and even professional rock bands. Originally from Cesena in Northeast Italy, Raffaella now frequently travels between Italy and her adopted home in London.
Following her degree in English language and literature from the University of Bologna and a masters in marketing management for the travel and tourism business, she began her career in tour managing and operations. This has given her the opportunity to travel extensively across Europe and the United States while working with a large variety of clients and educational travel groups.
Jasmina - Slovenia
Jasmina, a Travel Director from Slovenia, was destined to be a traveler. Her father was a tour guide and she grew up listening to the stories of his travel adventures. She also frequently visited her family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Jasmina started working as a guide in 1996, while still a student, focusing on history and journalism. Both her career as a journalist and as a travel director have given her opportunities to travel the world extensively but Slovenia, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe are still the destinations she holds most dear. She currently lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Richard - U.K.
Richard has two decades of experience in tourism and quite frequently works with institutional travel organizations, such as museums and church organizations, and students from the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada. As a result, he spends much of his time traveling all over Europe. He brings this cosmopolitan and pan-European experience to bear on his work with HTP, constantly making connections to other cities and countries in the course of his travel programs.
Originally from England, Richard Bowen has lived in Rome for over 20 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Middlesex University, and a master's degree in medieval and twentieth-century history from University College London.
