The Team in Cuba 

Michael Kerman

Inspired by a personal interest in Cuba where he began traveling over 25 years ago, Michael Kerman has been curating and organizing "insiders tours " to Cuba for the past 19 years.

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The relationships Michael has cultivated both personally and professionally after 25 years of visiting Havana have enabled him to provide tours that offer a true insiders'  perspective. Fueled by endless enthusiasm and curiosity, Michael continues to delight in discovering new aspects of Cuban life as well as finding out-of-the-way places, the best and most interesting restaurants and avoiding typical tourist sites wherever possible.

 

He is the founding owner and president of Leading Edge Seminars, a Toronto company that specializes in continuing education programs for mental health professionals and that is responsible for experiencerealcuba.com. While the Cuba programs are not formal continuing education, they are certainly educational and fun. 

 

Rita and Roberto

Our Cuban hosts, Rita and Roberto have both worked with Michael for over 15 years and central to facilitating to the rich and engaging experience that our Cuban tour participants have come to expect and enjoy. 

 

Rita was trained as a lawyer and worked as a senior official for the Cuban Women's Federation for 25 years. Raised in New York City by Cuban-born parents who decided to return to Cuba after the revolution, Rita has traveled and lectured extensively throughout the world. Since leaving the Federation, Rita completed a Masters degree in gender studies and has been an advocate for changes in Cuban policies concerning gender issues.

 

As one of Cuba's leading environmentalists, Roberto works as a program developer for a foundation dedicated to "nature and humanity." He has organized many programs focusing on environmental sustainability and has spoken to environmental groups throughout the world on his work. He is also affectionately known as the "Walking Google" for his encyclopedic knowledge about Cuban history, politics, sports, architecture, city planning and many other topics.

 

The many people who have gone to Cuba with Leading Edge have consistently praised Rita and Roberto for their knowledge, warmth and generosity of spirit. As in the past,  tour participants will meet them as "guides" and along the way they will become "friends."

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Interested in joining us? Click here to learn more. We hope to see you in Cuba!