Help Us Take Young Leaders From Chicago to Cuba

YourPassion1st is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to empowering under-resourced youth and young adults, ages 11–24, to find, define, and follow their passions.

Through mentorship, leadership development, workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, mental wellness, workshops, collaborative events, and cross-cultural experiences, we create opportunities that help young people build confidence, expand what they believe is possible, and turn their passions into meaningful careers, businesses, and community impact.

The Cuba Mentoring Experience✈️

This year, we're taking that mission beyond Chicago through our Cuba Mentoring Experience—an immersive leadership, cultural, and mentoring journey designed to expose young people to a completely different way of life, learning, entrepreneurship, and community.

Our young people will have an opportunity to experience Cuba firsthand while exploring leadership, mental wellness, entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, arts, music, food, sports, culture, storytelling, and community impact.

This isn't simply a trip.

It's mentorship without borders.

We believe some of the greatest learning happens when young people step outside of what they know, experience another culture, build relationships with people whose lives may look very different from their own, and return home with a broader understanding of themselves and the world around them.

The $7,200 Youth Fundraising Challenge 💪🏾

We're asking our young people to do more than pack their bags and get on a plane. We're challenging each participant to become part of making this experience possible.

Each young person is taking on a $7,200 Youth Fundraising Challenge.

To be clear, $7,200 is the youth fundraising challenge—not the cost of the Cuba experience. Each participant's Cuba experience costs approximately $5,300.

Why challenge them to raise more?

Because this is about more than funding one person's trip. We want our young people to learn what it means to set an ambitious goal, tell their story, advocate for themselves, build relationships, engage their community, and help create opportunities for others.

Funds raised through the challenge can help support the broader Cuba Mentoring Experience and our collective effort to ensure that finances don't prevent a deserving young person from participating.

The fundraising itself becomes part of the mentorship.

Our young people will practice leadership, entrepreneurship, communication, relationship-building, storytelling, accountability, and community engagement—skills they can carry with them long after Cuba.

And you can be part of it.

$20 gets them closer.
$40 gets them closer.
$100 gets them closer.
$500 gets them closer.

Every donation matters, and every person who shares their story expands their network of people who believe in them.

More Than a Trip. A Bridge. 🌎

But the impact doesn't end when the plane lands back in Chicago.

Our goal is for these young leaders to return home with new perspectives, stronger confidence, deeper cultural awareness, meaningful relationships, and ideas they can pour back into their families and communities.

That's why we call experiences like this mentorship without borders.

YourPassion1st is based in Chicago, with our impact and relationships reaching communities across the globe, including Brazil, South Africa, and now Cuba. Our mission isn't simply to change individual lives—it's to create a ripple effect of opportunity, innovation, wellness, leadership, and hope.

When you invest in one young person, you never know how many lives they will go on to impact.

Help us build bridges, expand horizons, and give our young people an experience they will carry for a lifetime.

Help a Young Person Take on the $7,200 Challenge

Donate. Share. Sponsor a young person. Rally your network. Be part of their journey.

Whether you give $20 or $2,000, you're helping a young person see that their community believes in them—and giving them an opportunity to experience the world beyond their own backyard.

Remember, in order to achieve your dreams, you have to follow #YourPassion1st.

800 Voices for Cuba

Help 9 Young Leaders Experience Cuba Through Leadership, Culture & Entrepreneurship

Team Leaderboard

Team Members