CRAFT + CULTURE & FLORA + FAUNA
Regenerative Travel + Design
ARTIST & NOMAD is an impact business with a non-profit arm focused on making a positive impact in the world through the promotion of regenerative travel and design practices. We achieve this through 3 core areas of focus: ethical travel experiences, consultation of impact-minded businesses, and collaboration with global artisan cooperatives. All core initiatives foster the empowerment of women and artisans to break cycles of poverty and exploitation.
Ethical Travel: We believe travel can be a transformative experience. ARTIST & NOMAD trips are curated to give you an insider journey that explores the intersection of Craft, Culture, Flora, and Fauna in the special places you visit. Each small group journey invites you to consider ways to practice slow living, mindfulness, and creation care in your everyday life beyond the journey itself. Curated Journeys include destinations such as: MOROCCO, INDIA, PORTUGAL, MEXICO, AND KENYA.
Impact Consulting and Artisan Sourcing: ARTIST & NOMAD offers years of award-winning experience in sourcing and collaborating with artisans, implementing ethical design for collections and interiors, and mentoring global impact businesses and entrepreneurs. Through our dedication to regenerative practices that honor people and the planet, we have helped to curate products for brands, transform physical spaces, and guide emerging leaders who desire to make a positive impact in the world. We love fostering meaningful connections between brands/buyers/designers and the craft sector. For client list and examples, contact us.
The Artisan Fund: ARTIST & NOMAD is the nonprofit arm of ARTIST & NOMAD, offering support to artisan communities around the world in an effort to help locally-led cooperatives and artisan businesses thrive. We come alongside artisan leaders to support their dreams and visions to grow their business, preserve traditional crafts, and thrive through direct trade opportunities. Many artisans are exploited by middlemen and the marketplace, so we aim to create opportunities that encourage equity and agency for the artisans. We offer mentorship, design/marketing support, visual story telling, small grants, and meaningful connections to encourage artisan ownership and empowerment. All our tours give back to this fund. We also welcome donations anytime to support The Artisan Fund. Our big initiative for 2025 is a feature length nonprofit documentary film. Contact us for the pitch deck if interested in learning more. (note: all donations are tax deductible in the USA).
Your HOST + GUIDE.
Kirsten Dickerson is your curator and guide for ARTIST & NOMAD trips and retreats. She is passionate about living mindfully, empowering women on the margins of society, and promoting ethical design in the artisan craft sector. She has traveled extensively (over 40 countries), building meaningful long-term relationships with artisans, designers, local guides, and hoteliers around the world.
Kirsten Dickerson is a thought leader with over 25 years of experience in social business and the non-profit sector. She has curated travel for groups for over two decades. As a visionary leader she has helped to launch and grow both impact businesses and global nonprofits such as Raven + Lily and Tirzah International. She has also helped design and renovate large projects such as retreat centers in the US, Kenya, and Portugal as well as the interiors of multiple homes, storefronts, and nonprofits. She has developed branding and websites for many impact businesses, and she has served as an art director and production designer for film projects ranging from commercials and music videos to feature films. Kirsten is a nature enthusiast and former Master Naturalist as well as an active artist who loves to paint in nature and invite others to join her.
With ARTIST & NOMAD, Kirsten offers her experience and expertise to curate travel experiences, develop and source ethical products, and empower people to think about all levels of ethics involved in our everyday choices, especially revolving around the world of design. As a mentor and coach, she thrives in casting vision and growing engagement for organizations that want to make a positive impact in the world. As as a contemplative and naturalist, Kirsten invites you to slow down and pay attention to the beauty that surrounding you and the importance of creation care. Each trip is designed to challenge and inspire you through local experiences and interactions that will invite you to consider ways you can live more thoughtfully and intentionally.
