Nature Conscious
Tourism Initiative
a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Promoting Conservation Through Responsible Tourism
The Nature Conscious Tourism Initiative
Our Story
I got a degree in tourism on a whim. At the time, I was working for a company that offered free tuition, and I wasn’t ready to start paying off my student loans from my previous degrees. As long as I stayed in school, those payments could wait. None of the available degree options stood out to me, so I did what any rational person with a pet raccoon would do—I left the decision up to her.
I wrote out the options, placed almonds on each one, and let my rescue raccoon, Moonshine, decide. She chose Tourism and Hospitality Management at Johnson and Wales University. And just like that, I was studying tourism.
My family found this hilarious because, growing up, tourists were one of my biggest fears. I remember living on a Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans was pure chaos for me. As an autistic kid, I struggled with the noise, the crowds, and most of all, the litter. “They don’t respect themselves, the people around them, or the environment!” I would rant. Between living in New Orleans, Gatlinburg, and Folly Beach, I had spent my life watching unchecked tourism destroy communities, ecosystems, and local cultures. The idea of working in the industry? Absolutely not.
At least, that’s what I thought.
I didn’t plan to take my degree seriously, but as I got deeper into the program, something changed. I fell in love with the idea that tourism could be a force for good. Yes, tourism can be incredibly destructive—I had seen that firsthand. But when done right, it has the power to uplift communities, support economies, and even protect the environment. Even more exciting? I discovered that I could combine my zoological education and experience with tourism, particularly in relation to the critically endangered pygmy raccoon of Cozumel. Tourism is one of the biggest threats to the pygmy raccoon, and somehow, my own raccoon—the one who chose my degree—had unknowingly led me to the very field that could help save her wild counterparts.
The Birth of NCTI
Fast forward to 2024, and the Nature Conscious Tourism Initiative (NCTI) was born. The idea came after a visit to the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS) in Belize, where I was studying for my Master’s in Biology. Unlike traditional wildlife sanctuaries, CBS wasn’t a fenced-in refuge but a community-driven conservation effort. Instead, it was an agreement among seven villages to stop practices harmful to the endangered Yucatán black howler monkey (locally called a “baboon”). The results were amazing. Not only did the monkey population grew from 450 to nearly 5,000, but the sanctuary was also able to use tourism dollars to help the community. Through tourism, the CBS was able to fund fund job training, childcare, women’s health programs, and more.
However, I learned during my visit that despite their incredible success, CBS was struggling to compete. Because the monkey population was so abundant, tour buses were simply driving through the area, showing tourists the monkeys without ever engaging with the sanctuary itself. Without stopping for guided tours, visiting the museum, or supporting local artisans, foreign-owned tour companies were keeping tourism dollars from reaching the communities doing the conservation work.
I knew I could help. I had experience with website development and SEO, and I understood how online visibility could make or break a tourism-dependent organization. So, I built CBS a new website designed to reach tourists, highlight their conservation efforts, and connect visitors directly with the sanctuary.
That’s when it clicked.
There are so many conservation-focused organizations and ethical wildlife tourism attractions doing incredible work, but they often struggle with marketing, online presence, and reaching the right audience. Their expertise is in saving wildlife, protecting habitats, and supporting communities—not in building websites or keeping up with Google’s ever-changing algorithms. Meanwhile, profit-driven, unethical tourist attractions dominate the search results, burying the organizations that actually deserve attention and support.
That’s why I created NCTI—to level the playing field.
NCTI is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit dedicated to providing free services to ethical, conservation-driven tourism organizations. We help with website design, SEO, marketing strategies, and consultations—ensuring that good places doing good work don’t get overshadowed by places with bigger marketing budgets but worse ethics.
Because doing the right thing shouldn’t mean struggling to survive.
