We were lucky to catch up with Celia Cortes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Celia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?
We have been philanthropic people for as long as I can remember. As my husband and I found ourselves more and more concerned with tragedies and difficulties for communities around the world, we felt less satisfied to just donate money somewhere and expect things to be better. We found ourselves more and more dedicated to a hands-on approach. In 2020, we realized that we could use the money we normally donate and we could involve many of our friends, colleagues, and even clients, to create our own non-profit organization to help those in need. Global Action Institute was created from a desire to help communities around the globe that are experiencing serious challenges. We realized that with our extensive international work experience, that we could succeed in taking on challenges to help communities that most other organizations would never consider. Now, not only do we know exactly where the funding is going, but we also know that we can get the mission accomplished in the way we think is best for the local communities we work with. Even though the process of starting a non-profit was long and detailed and required working with attorneys and government officials, we feel a tremendous reward in being personally involved in assisting communities around the world. While we are still a small organization, we continue to grow each year. My advice to those looking to start something… do it! True wealth is not measured in how much you can personally accumulate, but in the good you can create for others.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have been in the security and investigations industry for 20 years. My husband and I have run DRACO GROUP, a boutique security consulting agency that has taken us all over the globe and forced us to operate against difficult challenges. This experience really set the stage for our non-profit because it taught us to be bold, to trust ourselves, and to know what risks to take. We first started considering setting up a non-profit when we realized how many people there are in the world who are in need and how few of them can pay what it takes to get what they need. As we made the move to assist certain communities, we began to offer the opportunity to others to help, and the rest was history.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
YOU! You, the reader, are how we find our donors and recipients. We have taken individual donations from $18 to $50,000 and that is all thanks to people just like you. We have helped local and international communities because of people like you, who share the needs they have seen or experienced. People who see or read about what we are doing are the ones who feel compelled to donate.
None of our members takes a salary, so all donations go directly to our programs. We have created an easy to navigate website, (www.globalactioninstitute.com
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When we first started, we were not really comfortable asking people for money. It just seemed weird and almost embarrassing to ask someone to give money away. In my normal business life, I had a mindset that if I was asking someone for money, they were receiving something of value. So I asked myself: “How does a non-profit provide the donor with value”? But as we developed, I realized that what we do is potentially of more value to those who give than it is to those who receive. Of course the communities we serve receive a blessing – sometimes even life itself. But what we provide those who give is the opportunity to be involved in actually making a difference for other people who are struggling. This is MORE valuable than something you can hold in your hands. This is an exclusive opportunity to actually do something really good in the world. How do you put a value on life, on food and water security, on peace of mind? We offer that to our donors by simply being willing to ask. We invite your readers to consider making a tax deductible donation to Global Action Institute today.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.globalactioninstitute.com
- Instagram: @GlobalActionInstitute
- Facebook: @GlobalActionInstitute
Image Credits
N/A. All Personal photos.