{"id":158974,"date":"2021-06-16T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=158974"},"modified":"2021-06-16T06:01:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T11:01:50","slug":"ictp-159-fostering-greater-inclusion-and-empowering-the-lgbtq-traveller-with-donnya-piggott-of-pink-coconuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2021\/06\/ictp-159-fostering-greater-inclusion-and-empowering-the-lgbtq-traveller-with-donnya-piggott-of-pink-coconuts\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 159:  Fostering greater inclusion and empowering the LGBTQ+ traveller, with Donnya Piggott, of Pink Coconuts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>The LGBTQ+ community worldwide still experiences considerable discrimination, but is a segment with significant spending power, which frequently, is overlooked. Donnya \u2018Zi\u2019 Piggott is the CEO of Pink Coconuts, a new LGBTQ+ travel start-up focused on creating spaces for queer travellers to thrive.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1069417309&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" title=\"ICT Pulse Podcast\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">ICT Pulse Podcast<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\/ictp-159-fostering-greater\" title=\"ICTP 159: Fostering greater inclusion and empowering the LGBTQ+ traveller, with Donnya Piggott, of Pink Coconuts\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">ICTP 159: Fostering greater inclusion and empowering the LGBTQ+ traveller, with Donnya Piggott, of Pink Coconuts<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This episode is also available in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/playmusic.app.goo.gl\/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;apn=com.google.android.music&amp;link=https:\/\/play.google.com\/music\/m\/Icau5acn2xiyl5yjuh7orl2mt54?t%3DICT_Pulse_Podcast%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Play Music<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3d0U4ZYX80e5lenYLdzyX4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotify<\/a> (NEW!!) and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we think of inclusion, frequently, gender and\/or race are likely to be at the forefront. With regard to gender, we tend to think along binary lines \u2013 male\/female, him\/her, boy\/girl. However, there is a broad (and potentially growing) spectrum as it relates to sexual orientation or gender identity, evidenced by acronyms, such as LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer\/Questioning-plus), which give some insight into the ways in which individuals may identify themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, many societies, including those here in the Caribbean, still think along binary lines. As a result, little or no provision is made for individuals whose gender identity or sexual orientation is outside of what is considered \u2018the norm\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, depending on the source, the spending power of the LGBTQ+ community ranges from between USD 1 trillion in the United States (Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/debtfreeguys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/KantarConsulting-Hornet-LBGTQ_6_1_reducedfilesize-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kantar Consulting<\/a>), to USD&nbsp;3.9 trillion globally (Source:&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lgbt-capital.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LGBT Capital<\/a>). Hence, for Caribbean countries whose economies are tourism and services dependent, it could be argued that the LGBTQ+ community is not only an untapped market, but also is a community that desires services that complements its needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is through that lens that we are resuming our series on technology-based social enterprises \u2013 that is, tech businesses that have social impact (or a social good) among their core objectives. In this podcast episode, we will be focussing on the tourism and hospitality industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pinkcoconuts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Pink Coconuts<\/strong><\/a> is a new LGBTQ+ travel start-up focused on creating spaces for queer travellers. Established in 2019, Pink Coconuts is a for-profit venture that has hubs in New York, California, Barbados and Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introducing our guest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"377\" data-attachment-id=\"158976\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2021\/06\/ictp-159-fostering-greater-inclusion-and-empowering-the-lgbtq-traveller-with-donnya-piggott-of-pink-coconuts\/donnya-zi-piggott-pink-coconuts-cropped\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?fit=400%2C377&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,377\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Donnya &#8216;Zi&#8217; Piggott (Pink Coconuts) cropped\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;https:\/\/www.pinkcoconuts.com\/our-story&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Donnya &#8216;Zi&#8217; Piggott&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?fit=300%2C283&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?fit=400%2C377&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?resize=400%2C377&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-158976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Donnya-Zi-Piggott-Pink-Coconuts-cropped.jpeg?resize=300%2C283&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption>Donnya &#8216;Zi&#8217; Piggott<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/donnya-piggott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donnya Piggott<\/a><\/strong> (also known as \u2018Zi\u2019) is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pink Coconuts. She is a Tech Entrepreneur, User Experience (UX) Designer, and an award-winning LGBTQ Advocate and Public Speaker, with a particular focus on inclusion and diversity in business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zi is the recipient of the prestigious Queen&#8217;s Young Leader Award by Queen Elizabeth II for her work as an LGBTQ Caribbean Advocate and as the co-founder of B-GLAD, an LGBTQ organisation, located in Barbados. B-GLAD is focussed on advancing the social, political and economic environment for LGBTQ people to live, work and play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zi became a Watson University Scholar (Boulder, Colorado) focused on Social Entrepreneurship, in 2017. In 2019, She was named the winner of the Sustainable Development Goal 10 Challenge by One Young World, a worldwide organization and competition, which saw thousands of entries from all around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Insights into our conversation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone who started in the non-governmental organisation (NGO) space, Zi is painfully aware of the challenges inherent in running a non-profit, which can adversely affect not only the extent to which its operations can remain aligned with its core objectives, but also extending to whether it can realise the goals it has established. To that end, and as discussed during our conversation, she was very intentional in creating Pink Coconuts as a for-profit venture. However, she uses some of its proceeds to support queer-focussed ventures and non-profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a tech entrepreneur, Zi readily admits that she had a steep learning curve \u2013 not only with respect to tech, but also in running a for-profit, as opposed to an NGO. She also had to grapple with COVID-19, which crippled the tourism and hospitality industry worldwide. With regard to Pink Coconuts, the well-conceptualised strategy, which should have been executed last year, was turned on its head. Zi thus had to go back to the drawing board, listen to her customers, and pivot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below are key questions posed to Zi during our conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>To start us off, tell us a bit about yourself, and what drove you to set up Pink Coconuts?<\/li><li>Do you think of Pink Coconuts as a social enterprise? What is the social good or social impact Pink Coconuts is pursuing?<\/li><li>How do you balance the social impact versus the&nbsp; sustainability\/profitability imperatives you might have for Pink Coconuts?<\/li><li>What are the ways in which Pink Coconuts is leveraging technology?<\/li><li>What are some of the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) or markers of success that are important to Pink Coconuts?<\/li><li>What has been the biggest lesson you have had to learn in running Pink Coconuts?<\/li><li>How would you describe yourself as a manager, as the leader of your organisation?<\/li><li>What do you consider your greatest strength?<\/li><li>What is the best piece of advice you would give a tech start-up that wants to start a social enterprise?<\/li><li>Where would you like to see Pink Coconuts in the next 3 to 5 years?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>We would love to hear from you!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a> pages, or via Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>@ICTPulse<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Select links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Donnya \u2018Zi\u2019 Piggott&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donnyapiggott.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Website<\/a>&nbsp; | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/donnya-piggott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pinkcoconuts.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;Pink Coconuts<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/gaycenter.org\/about\/lgbtq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LGBTQ definitions<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Image credits:  <a href=\"http:\/\/pinkcoconuts.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pink Coconuts<\/a>;  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/infomatique\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">William Murphy\/Infomatique<\/a> (flickr);  Lorax20 (<a href=\"http:\/\/pixabay.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pixabay<\/a>); Teajunior <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(Wikipedia<\/a>);  <a href=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Music credit:  Ray Holman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Podcasting editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The LGBTQ+ community worldwide still experiences considerable discrimination, but is a segment with significant spending power, which frequently, is overlooked. Donnya \u2018Zi\u2019 Piggott is the CEO of Pink Coconuts, a new LGBTQ+ travel start-up focused on creating spaces for queer travellers to thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[355],"tags":[71,205,470],"class_list":["post-158974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-businesses","tag-entrepreneurship-2","tag-social-entrepreneurship","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Featured-Image-Pink-Coconuts-Donnya-Zi-Piggott.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-Fm6","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158974"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158996,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158974\/revisions\/158996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}