Kate McCulley is the founder and publisher of Adventurous Kate. Since being founded in 2010, the site has become one of the premiere resources for women seeking to independently travel the world on their own terms. This year, Kate was named was named one of Forbes’s 10 Most Influential Travelers in part for her promotion of intersectional feminist travel.

A graduate of Fairfield University and resident of New York City, Kate is a fifth-generation Irish American with roots in County Laois. Her ancestors immigrated to Prince Edward Island in 1823 before settling in Boston in the early 1900s.

“At one point the Irish were among the most reviled in America,” she says. “Today we are seeing history repeat itself as similar scorn is heaped upon Latin American immigrants today. As Irish Americans, I believe it is our duty to speak up for the immigrants of today. We must protect the people who came here to create a better life for their families, just as millions of Irish did before them.”