Meet the team

Son Dos Alas is a Latin owned and employee driven educational travel company. We were officially established as an LLC in the state of Minnesota during the peak of the 2020 pandemic when the educational travel industry suffered an impasse. Our founder and director, Dr. Melisa Rivière, had worked for over a decade at some of the larger corporate study abroad agencies and state universities designing and executing Cuba educational programming. During the pandemic, she reassessed her professional goals and decided to break away from the larger agencies that tend to focus on streamlining programs or profit-driven margins, to start a niche company solely dedicated to Cuba as a destination. As part of the launch, Melisa looked back upon her years of service in the industry and recruited some of her key colleagues whom she had the opportunity to work with who shared her vision. Today, Son Dos Alas’ core team is made up of Raiko Valdés (Executive Programs Director), Jorge Escala (Program Manager), Liliana Montalvo (Program and Media Manager), Ivan Fontanez (Marketing Consultant), Lily Garcia (Office Professional), and Candela (Resident Labrador Retriever).

At Son Dos Alas we recognize that Cuba is a unique location of its own, as such we aim to maximize Cuba’s particularities, accentuate its historical, cultural, political, geographical uniqueness, and never streamlining a single program. Our rates reflect a boutique style of program design, management, and execution whereby vendors are paid healthily and sustainably, and quality monogrammed travel service is at the forefront of our business model. We design our programs with long-term ethical goals in mind. We strive for our engagements between travelers and locals to be just as beneficial for local Cubans as they are for the visiting foreigners. Our programs support Cuba’s emerging post-socialist working class, foster self-entrepreneurs, develop life-long commitments and relationships, and build civic or academic associations that can lead to internships, service-learning opportunities, shared publications, and institutional agreements.

 As teammates at Son Dos Alas, we operate with a horizontal organizational structure that gives control to our program managers over the distinct arenas each excels in. Each program is co-managed by the team. Rather that one manager handling all aspects of a program, we divide management into differed aspects such as institutional affiliation, accommodations, cultural content, gastronomy, and academic expectations to provide our clients with a wholistic approach. Once you are on site, we will often alternate our presence with delegations to maximize each member’s areas of expertise. We believe this model provides us with enhanced flexibility over program design and execution, allows for faster reaction times to grasp opportunities or resolve problems, increases our communication with one another and with our clients, and improves our creativity to make each Son Dos Alas Cuba travel program unique.

In Collaboration with Yazmin & Beat Zero

This special program was developed in partnership with Yazmin & Beat Zero, whose longstanding relationship with Cuba brings a unique dimension to the educational experience. More than a performer, Yazmin has spent years studying, collaborating, and building friendships within Cuba's musical community, developing a deep appreciation for the island's artistic traditions and contemporary cultural life.

As a singer-songwriter and pianist, Yazmin blends Cuban influences with Folk, Rock, and Jazz traditions, creating a musical language shaped by years of engagement with Cuban artists and educators. Through Beat Zero, those influences expand into a dynamic ensemble that celebrates cultural exchange, creativity, and connection.

Together, Son Dos Alas and Yazmin & Beat Zero have designed this program to provide participants with opportunities that extend beyond traditional experiential travel. Through rehearsals, performances, conversations, workshops, and direct engagement with artists, travelers will experience Cuba's musical culture as active participants in a broader dialogue about rhythm, identity, community, and artistic expression.

This collaboration combines Son Dos Alas' expertise in educational travel and People-to-People programming with Yazmin's firsthand knowledge of Cuba's musical landscape, creating an immersive experience rooted in authentic relationships, cultural exchange, and a shared passion for the transformative power of music.