We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Javier Mendoza. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Javier below.
Javier, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Connect Global was born out of the simple idea that we could discover and implement sustainable, community-driven solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. Problems such as food and water scarcity, the lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare can all be solved if we just could just rally our friends and family around embracing solutions and empowering those around us to make a difference. One of the first issues we took on was food scarcity and the solution because creating a way for local leaders to gain knowledge around fish farming and help them source the materials needed to build basic, but efficient aquaponic food growing systems. These systems can grow fish and vegetation in the same space it takes to grow a traditional in-ground garden. We moved into providing quality education through scholarships and school infrastructure as well as partnering with local hospitals to help care for the most vulnerable.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
We sought out training from others who had expertise in each of these different disciplines as we knew that in order to make a long-lasting impact we would need to be able to provide holistic solutions. We called our plan, Connected Community. It would become our blueprint for helping communities in need and provide us with a way to measure our impact.. We sit with local leaders to hear firsthand what problems they are facing and we learn as much as we can. Being informed by those closest to the issue proves to be one of our greatest assets in the work we do. We have become relationship builders as much as we have become solution providers. Whether we are building water wells, replacing roofs and floors for widows, or investing in education we always start by building relationships. This is the best way to learn about the marketplace and find the gaps within the community that need support.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Over the past couple of years, our organization has had to make some tough decisions and change what our day-to-day looks like several times. One of the ways in which we have been able to make such an impact is by leading groups of individuals on week-long, mission tips. Essentially a week-long trek into the communities where we serve to introduce others to the needs and give them an opportunity to help us build relationships, and make tangible advancements in our Connected Community initiatives. This has looked like teams of skilled and talented volunteers helping us pour concrete floors for people living on dirt, assembling aquaponic fish farms, working alongside educators and healthcare workers, as well as leading seminars, and teaching moduals in order to leverage outside expertise for those we were serving. When the pandemic hit our area in early 2020, Connect Global had to move completely away from this model. We pivoted away from a template that had become very comfortable for us into a more grassroots, immediate-needs based movement. Our years of relationship-building gave us the favor and credibility needed to make this shift very easily. We began to rely even more on our in-country team and were therefore able to sustain the growth we experienced and we continue to meet the growing needs of our community without our “normal” influx of outside labor. I am so proud of the leaders we have working for Connect Global and I could not be happier with how we have been able to rise up and meet these new challenges together in order to continue to keep creating solutions every day.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I firmly believe that the reputation we have built with our supporters, our employees, as well as those we serve is in direct correlation to the emphasis we have placed on relationship building. Relationships are not always easy, but they are always worth it. Earning trust through transparency is something that comes over time. There is no fast track to building your reputation. It is built one impression at a time. Each time you clearly communicate, and more importantly, execute your plan is one more reason for which someone might trust you and your reputation is the accumulation of each of those instances. This will ultimately determine whether you have a good or bad reputation. Building a reputation and legacy on trust, kindness, generosity, and gratitude is essential to building and maintaining a successful endeavor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ConnectGlobal.org
- Instagram: iConnectGlobal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/connect-global-inc
- Twitter: iConnectGlobal
Image Credits
Connect Global