Eyitemi Popo (MDEI ’16) Founder, Girls Trip Tours Eyitemi Popo (MDEI ’16) wants to change how people explore Africa. That’s why she founded Girls Trip Tours , a travel experience designed to empower and connect future leaders. She started the venture shortly after graduating with a Master of Digital Experience Innovation (MDEI) from Waterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.
She is now a Forbes-listed social entrepreneur who is invested in products, services and ecosystems that help women thrive. Why did you choose the MDEI program? When I discovered the program, I was thrilled to find something predesigned at the master’s level that seamlessly integrated the creative and the technical. It felt like a natural next step, and it was exciting to join a community of like-minded individuals who valued both innovation and entrepreneurship.
The program provided an opportunity to deepen my understanding of using design as a tool to develop scalable business models and lead innovative projects with real-world impact. Why was creating a travel experience for women important to you? The idea for Girls Trip Tours came to me after a year of continuous travel. As someone who had lived in several countries and traveled extensively growing up, I noticed a gap in the tourism industry – few experiences focused on creating safe, intentional spaces for women, especially Black women, to explore and thrive.
I wanted travel to be more than ticking places off a bucke.
