Mariah Cherniss

Founder and President

World Beyond

At World Beyond, we believe travel is much more than a vacation. We believe it’s an opportunity to learn about oneself while reaching across borders to build global community. We thoughtfully design each of our trips as a unique experience, providing our travelers with opportunities to connect with people in a meaningful way, explore  new places, experience local traditions and ways of life, and expand personal horizons.

We partner with highly respected people and organizations that are tied in to the local destination and that can provide meaningful and tailored experiences. And we keep groups small, to ensure a more personal experience with opportunities to venture off the well-traveled path to learn from locals while getting to know fellow travelers.

To learn more about our team and partners, read on...

It’s not just a trip, it’s a journey...

Mariah founded World Beyond in 2010, wanting to share her passion for travel with others after ten years of venturing independently to more than 40 countries and living in four. It was her first trip to Europe in 2000 where she discovered how deeply enriching travel could be – in expanding perspectives, creating meaningful connections, spurring learning and growing personal confidence and leadership. Since then, she has taken every opportunity possible to embark on “learning journeys” around the world to observe and experience different cultures, understand global issues, and build her network as a citizen in a growing global community. Through World Beyond, she hopes to create unique and transformational travel experiences for individuals, leaders and teams who also want to do their part in fostering a connected and compassionate world where every person has the opportunity to realize their potential. Mariah is based in California and also works as a management consultant for Blue Beyond Consulting.

The World Beyond Team and Partners

Dave is the President, Co-founder, and Fearless Leader of Not For Sale – an innovative non-profit that engages business, government and grassroots to incubate and grow social enterprises that economically empower enslaved and vulnerable communities. His “tripolar” background in education, investment banking and journalism give Dave the experience and vision to tackle human trafficking from every angle and drive the organization forward at an unprecedented pace. Dave has authored five books, is the recipient of two national journalist awards, and was named National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the University of San Francisco for his work in technology and ethics. He is currently a professor in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco. Today Dave leads the strategic and financial opportunities at Not For Sale, guides the team towards the organizational mission, and has proven to have an inhuman immunity to jet lag. He’s the lucky father of four rock star kids, and yes… Bruce Willis does have a striking resemblance to Dave.

David Batstone

President and Co-Founder, Not For Sale

1. Blue Beyond Consulting

Website best viewed in Safari, Google Chrome, or Firefox.

Tanya is a global facilitator and coach specializing in cross-cultural understanding. She works with individuals, teams and organizations to build highly collaborative work environments that achieve desired results. She serves as a coach for the Global Women’s Leadership Network’s (GWLN) “Women Leaders for the World” program and is passionate about empowering women to express their unique gifts and talents for global harmony. She has twenty years of high-tech leadership experience working in finance and corporate management in the Silicon Valley. She also has a calling for working with the women of Turkey and will be relocating to Istanbul in February 2012 to expand her work with women in the region and further develop GWLN’s Turkish women’s leadership network.

Linda Alepin

Founding Director, Global Women’s Leadership Network

Linda is the founding Director of the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) and the Dean’s Executive Professor of Leadership at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. She has more than thirty years experience in high tech, having spent more than ten years as a Vice President and officer of a Fortune 200 IT company as well as serving as the CEO and Founder of an early Internet start-up. Linda has also spent ten years teaching leadership in the corporate arena and is a noted public speaker on leadership and management. She has a personal passion for Turkey, having led both women’s trips and business school trips to Istanbul that focus on leadership, business and entrepreneurship. Her commitment is to help forward understanding of this important country by Americans as well as to support Turkish women in building their leadership capacity.

Tanya Monsef Bunger

Director of Global Development, Global Women’s Leadership Network

Christina (aka: “Tini”) has been involved with Not for Sale since 2006 when, as a student at the University of San Francisco, she participated in the initial mapping of slavery across the city. Christina continued her work towards justice and international development when researching the use of micro-credit as a tool for poverty reduction for her studies in Northern Ghana. In the summer of 2009 she returned to Ghana on behalf of Not for Sale to map slavery and child trafficking in the fishing industry. Today Christina manages all of the International Projects at Not For Sale, enabling Not For Sale’s front line work across the globe. Christina, along with David Batstone (NFS President and Co-Founder) and Cheryl Fields Tyler (NFS Board Chair), will accompany this learning journey to Thailand to visit a number of Not For Sale partners and projects in the region that have demonstrated truly meaningful and life-changing results for vulnerable populations.

Christina Hebets

International Operations Manager, Not For Sale

Cheryl is founder and CEO of the Blue Beyond Family of Companies, which includes World Beyond. Over the last 20 years, she has served in a variety of executive roles in consulting and research, helping individuals and organizations make meaningful connections and create breakthroughs. She has been a speaker and teacher on a variety of subjects including organizational transformation, leadership, culture change, and people and organizational strategy. She strongly believes in the importance of purpose-driven travel experiences to promote global citizenship and grow one’s personal leadership. She believes World Beyond is a special vehicle to provide opportunities for deeply meaningful experiences that serve to enrich both people’s personal and professional lives.

Cheryl Fields Tyler

Founder and CEO

Blue Beyond Family of Companies

Nee was born and raised in Thailand’s northeast, and began traveling as a young child throughout her country, thanks to a father who loved to explore new places. After attending university and working in business in Thailand, she decided to study overseas and spent five years in Kansas earning her Masters degree in business while continuing her travels throughout the U.S. and other places around the world. Upon her return to Thailand, she decided to share her love of travel and knowledge of her own country by becoming a certified Thai guide and has now been leading tours throughout Thailand for nearly ten years. When she is not guiding, she can usually be found traveling, volunteering, meditating or spending time with friends and family.

Nee Mantaseveepong

Thailand National Guide

Chaiya received his degree in political science from Chiang Mai University and since has been working with NGOs and the Thai government to support the sustainable and healthy development of Thailand’s communities and people. He has worked as a government officer at the Office of the Narcotic Control Board and as a marketing officer for the UNDCP. He has also worked with the Thai German Highland Development Project, the Thai Worldview Foundation for Communication for Sustainable Development, and the IOGT III (a Swedish NGO working on community development in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai). Currently, he works with the International Development Association. Chaiya is extremely knowledgeable and well versed in development projects and initiatives in Northern Thailand and will serve as a key liaison as we visit Not For Sale projects, as well as other local NGOs focused on the issue of human trafficking.

Chaiya Assawapisanboon

Thailand National Guide

Sara was born in Cuneo in the south of Piemonte, beneath the Italian Alps. She earned an international PhD in Italian and French language and literature from the University of Turin. She teaches Italian and Latin to middle school and high school students, as well as tutors all ages. Over the past four years, her studies (and her husband Sam, who is a post-doc in scientific research) has taken her to live and work in Paris, France; Heidelberg, Germany; and most recently Palo Alto, CA (Stanford University). In addition to her recent excursions living abroad, she has traveled extensively in Italy and Europe, as well as through Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, South America and the U.S. She believes that learning about and understanding other cultures is a wonderful way to expand one’s horizons and is always eager to share the traditions of her own native country and culture.

Sara Bersezio

PhD Italian and French, Italy Guide

Elisa-Marie creates connections with true impact. With her guidance, Watermark women develop meaningful and fulfilling professional relationships that influence their careers, communities, and the world. She takes the time to truly get to know the women she works with. She digs deep, discovers their backgrounds, what they value most, what excites them, and where they want to be in their lives. Her passion, enthusiasm, and vast network of peers and colleagues makes her a glove-fit match for bringing people together, and her persistence and vision help create opportunities that didn’t previously exist. After 20 years of sales and executive recruiting experience across a variety of industries and disciplines, Elisa-Marie decided she wanted to use her talents for positive change in the world. She discovered Watermark and joined as VP of Sponsor and Member Development in 2009. She has personally made thousands of connections for the exceptional women leaders that make up the Watermark community.

Elisa-Marie Dumas

VP Sponsor and Member Development, Watermark