We recently connected with Daniel Morales and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Some of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on were the development and implementation of our 20 de Julio foundation which is non-profit organization dedicated on providing youth and families with essential resources to overcome poverty We equip them with educational tools that help unlock their potential to overcome life’s challenges and shape a brighter future. We equip children with school supplies kits each year for the upcoming school year. We raise funds to grant fully funded scholarships for undergraduate studies and provide children and their families with food boxes and hygiene kits for Nutrional assistance as well as professional pyschological resources. Myself along with my co-founders Keily Zuniga and Kelly and Brian Hayes, Jonathan Polo, Anelisse Torrico and Jamal Givens are all committed to helping youth find success through education.
I’m also a local Tucson author who has published two books my first being Born Again Leader my true story on how I came to grow to became born again as better leader and a true Servant Leader through trial and tribulations. Born Again Leaders is self-help book for anyone who is a current, seasoned leader or someone looking to grow and become a leader one day. I take your through my triumphs and pitfalls as someone trying to navigate the professional world. A great easy to read story on perseverance, accountability, handwork and humbleness that can help anyone looking to grow.
My newest and one of my proudest projects is my newly released book Chasing Malcolm a homage to one of my hero’s Malcolm X. This book is my way to celebrate and pay homage to Malcolm X for all the contributions and positive impact that his autobiography and contributions to society had on my upbringing and adulthood. I pay homage to Malcolm by using his quotes and messages to tell the impact they had on my thoughts on family, religion, education, health and wellness and many more life topics! I had the opportunity to give local artist an opportunity to contribute to my book through poetry, art and literature. I’m very proud of this project as I hope it can help others grow in a positive way and lead them to a life of divines and prosperity.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As long as I can remember I always wanted to find a way to give back to the community and to people who helped me along my path. I came to this country as an immigrant and faced many barriers such as not speaking the language, low social economic status, not fitting in and many other social ills and risk factors. However, through the grace of God and the love of others who came across my path to provide resources, skills, compassion, education and care I was always able to advance through each chapter in my life. Life was not always easy but through the help of others it wasn’t’ impossible. ang through those experiences I became a very humble, grateful and loving person despite many challenges around me.
Due to this upbringing, I felt in my heart I was called to give back to society in some shape way or form. I recall the help we received as a family whether through neighbors, churches, programs, schools, teachers and or coaches. Those people have remained engrained in my heart and mind, and I always wanted to make sure I would find a way to give back. I just wasn’t sure how to do so but I always volunteered for projects at church and at school it was just in me. My parents also when they would take us back home to Colombia to see how far we came from, and I believe this also humbled and made my siblings and I appreciate the things we had even if it wasn’t much there were people who always had less. Seeing families and friends still living in poverty and their lack of opportunities had a huge impact on us. This made us very grateful for the sacrifices our parents made to bring us to the USA to have better opportunities.
As I became an adult, I always seemed to gravitate to jobs that helped others such as social services, education, sports and non-profits. Eventually I became fully engaged in non-profit work as it made me fill more driven and fulfilled knowing that our work and efforts helped youth, families and the over-all community. I always had the vision of having my own non-profit to help others in need. Through the help of my co-founder Keily Zuniga who is from the same barrio in Cartagena Colombia we discussed ways to help the youth of our community back home. The community is one of the most impoverished communities in Cartagena that faces many risk factors such as lack of resources, poverty, joblessness, drugs, gangs, violence, school dropout along with just hopelessness. We made a pact to work together to try to combat these issues by working with the next generation of youth to empower them through educational resources and positive factors to show them that education is the key to success. We work tireless throughout the year to collect funds for basic school supplies, Nutrional /hygiene supplies and school scholarships to help as many children in our community as possible. You may visit our website to get more details of the work we do and how you and others may donate or contribute to our efforts: www.fundacion20dejulio.org This has been a dream come true to be able to help my community and leave a legacy behind for my family. Furthermore, my projects as an author have also been a personal goal of mine to share my story to others so that they may find value and inspiration to grow and be better. My testimonies are real examples that many people may be willing to relate and find inspiration to be better and learn a new skill. Even if just one person can gain something from the books, I will be more than proud to know I was able to help someone!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an artist is the opportunity to create something from scratch and watch it grow into something. The opportunity to be able to leave a legacy behind to not only your family and friends but to the world. To help others find value, motivation or happiness in the work that you created. This is the best feeling knowing that you gave more to this world than you took! It truly is a blessing.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
When I think of a goal or mission when driving my creative journey, I always think of what is my intent with my project? Is my intent to help others, to help myself, to send a message or fulfill some type of goal. I always refer back to my intent so that I stay the path of my project. It’s what guides me if I stray away from what drove me to do the project. It serves as my value system to ensure I stay on track and driven. If my project doesn’t align with my intent, then it’s not the right project and I need to revisit the purpose of what I’m trying to achieve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fundacion20dejulio.org/
- Instagram: Dm_leadership
- Other: [email protected] https://www.danielalfredmorales.com