Built by someone who went.
I went. I know what it changes. I'm building the infrastructure so more queer students can find out. — Michael Eisinger, Founder
The story behind Wandering With Pride
When I was ten, in 1995, my family saved for years to take a month-long trip through seven countries in Europe. My mom took us to Dachau because she'd seen it when she studied abroad at sixteen. That trip changed my life.
At sixteen, I did my first study abroad. In college, I went again, self-funded — every meal a calculation. In grad school, I scraped together money for vaccines, travel medicine, and flights to Rwanda for a research program.
Being gay made every trip harder. On the Rwanda trip, another attendee verbally accosted and physically threatened me for being gay. That is the part no study-abroad advisor prepares you for: not just whether you can afford to be there, but whether you will be safe as yourself while you're there.
"I was there. I was also, the entire time, counting. Every meal, every train ticket, every decision. You don't build yourself in a new place when your brain never left survival mode. That's what I want to eliminate for others."Michael Eisinger
Wandering With Pride is a scholarship program for low-income LGBTQ+ students who want to study abroad. It is also a community, a creator platform, and an organization built on the conviction that the world is not something you earn access to.
I have invested over $40,000 of my own money over two years to build this. We are a 501(c)(3) in Washington, DC. We publish our financials. We are still small, and we are honest about that. What we are, without question, is serious.
$17M managed. $4.5M reviewed. 50+ organizations. One scholarship.
Michael Eisinger has spent over 13 years running complex programs for large nonprofits — including a $17M federal initiative that distributed funding to 50+ organizations and served 15,000 people across the United States. At JFNA's Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care, he managed $4.5M in annual grant awards for fiscal compliance and wrote the RFP process that ran the program for three consecutive years. He served on initiatives with ASCO and major national health and human services coalitions.
Wandering With Pride Inc. was founded in 2024. Washington, DC. $40K invested personally by the founder — before accepting a single external dollar.
501(c)(3) verified · Washington, DC · Registered with Candid (GuideStar)
Board of Directors
Every board member serves because they believe LGBTQ+ students deserve the same access to study abroad as everyone else. No one is paid.
Over twelve years in nonprofit program and grant management, including growing a grant center from three people to $10M in funding. He founded WWP so the next generation of LGBTQ+ scholars could study abroad with support, not just survival instincts.
Senior Program Manager with nine years in customer success and project management. Digital Research Coordinator in Human Rights at Quorum Analytics. Master of Biochemistry, Boise State University.
Head of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding at Subaru of America. People & Culture and DEI leadership at Gap Inc., American Eagle, TJX, and Campbell's. Board member at Campus Philly and From Baltimore.
Senior Program Officer at DOROT. Over twelve years of nonprofit leadership in supportive and geriatric services. MSW from University of Michigan. Fluent in French.
Senior Director of Institutional Advancement at Sesame Workshop. Co-Founded Community Sponsorship Hub, growing it from $800K to $10.3M in 18 months. Secretary Blinken called the program "the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades."
Board of Advisors
Our advisory board is forming in 2026. We're recruiting advisors with expertise in higher education, travel, nonprofit finance, LGBTQ+ advocacy, legal, and marketing. This is a volunteer role with real impact.