Fashion Designer Wayne James Launches $50,0000 Annual Grant to Travel the World for One Year!

Fashion designer and former Senator of the United States Virgin Islands Wayne James is no stranger to single-handed philanthropic endeavors. So, when James prevailed against the United States of America in the four-years-long Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) case for the loss of vision he suffered while incarcerated after a conviction that is currently under review for violations of his 5th and 6th Amendment rights, it was no stretch for him to immediately thereafter focus on how he could use the monetary award for the public good. Enter: The Wayne James World Explorer Grant, an annual award of $50,000 to be given to recent university graduates of any university anywhere in the world to travel the planet for one (1) year. There is also the “Students of Life” component of the Grant which makes eligible anyone 21 years of age or older who, for whatever reason, was not able to travel during early adulthood: family obligations; work commitments; visa bureaucracy; indigence; international conflict; military duty; etc.

“I, in retrospect, fortuitously, saw the world in my young adulthood years as I traveled far and wide to source fabrics, for inspiration, and for craftsmen for my fashion collections,” James said. “So, when I lost my vision in 2020, the pill was less bitter to swallow, for I had seen the world several times over by then. I want young people to take nothing for granted, including retirement travel. I also don’t want them to squander the gift of youth during their youthful years. People should travel while they are endowed with vigor and vitality—after all, who wants to attempt climbing the pyramids of Egypt or the Andes Mountains of Ecuador at age 70?

“The mission of the Grant is: “See the World, Love the World, Help the World,” James added. “And the younger you are in your early adulthood when you embark upon that journey, the better.”

On May 15, 2024, in a federal courthouse in Pensacola, FL, Wayne A.G. James joined an elite club: He defeated the United States of America at trial, an achievement realized by fewer than 1% of all litigants who go up against “Uncle Sam.” By the time both sides had rested their cases, “Uncle Sam” had cried “Uncle!” being assigned 50% of the negligence that resulted in James’ blindness occasioned during the 16-month leg at FPC Pensacola, FL, of his 30-month sentence to federal prison for his alleged embezzlement of approximately $75,000 while serving as Senator of the United States Virgin Islands from 2009-2011. (The Court generously pinned the other 50% of the negligence onto two “independent contractor” Bureau of Prisons optometrists.) The 2018 conviction that led to James’ incarceration is—after making its circuitous way all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States—currently under review for gross violations of James’ 5th Amendment right to Due Process of Law, and his 6th Amendment rights to present witnesses to testify on his behalf, and to effective assistance of counsel. The §2255 Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct is pending before the District Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands since October 1, 2021.

“We are expecting approximately 100,000 applicants from around the world in our inaugural year of the Grant,” James said. “International travel is at the top of many people’s ‘Bucket Lists.’ So, to be afforded the opportunity to travel for free for a year is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many people.

“The online application process for the 2025 grant cycle opens on October 12, 2024—Columbus Day—at http://www.WayneJamesGrant.com and closes on June 30, 2025, with winners announced on August 3, 2025, and departing from Cadiz, Spain, on October 12, 2025, Cadiz being the Spanish province from which Christopher Columbus launched his fateful voyage in 1492. Columbus’ 15th-century interaction with the ‘New World’ is regarded as flawed by today’s sensibilities. Our aim is for our 21st-century World Explorers to approach the world more wholistically,” James said.

Winners determine their own itineraries but are required to visit a specified number of continents, depending on the level of prize. Prize monies will be credited to winners’ Wayne James World Explorer Grant debit cards with international ATM access.

The Wayne James World Explorer Grant is by no means James’ first foray into public giving. In 1999, in recognition of the closing of the 150th anniversary celebrations of Emancipation in the Danish West Indies (present-day United States Virgin Islands), James founded the Homeward Bound Foundation, the organization that oversaw the lowering of the 17-foot- wide, 12-foot-tall Middle Passage Monument onto the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, thereby serving as a gravestone to the estimated millions of African people who perished en route to slavery in the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries. James was awarded the International Humanitarian Medal for his historic endeavor.

“I am excited about the Wayne James World Explorer Grant and the opportunities it offers,” James said. “When we travel, we witness first-hand the oneness of humanity. We see that we are much more alike than we are different. And that is an invaluable lesson that leads to the overall upliftment of humanity. I am honored to have been blessed with the opportunity—albeit at a personal price—to be able to give this great gift to the people of the world,” James concluded.