Nely Galán, Media Entrepreneur and Adelante Movement Founder
Nely Galán understands that to give authentically, you must first take personal care.
“I believe giving starts with yourself, otherwise you become a wounded healer,” she said. This understanding has allowed Galán to not only become successful but to begin a meaningful conversation around Latina empowerment.
In 2012, Galán founded The Adelante Movement with the goal of encouraging young Latinas to become financially literate entrepreneurs. As stated in the organization’s mission: “We need to take ourselves to a higher place for the sake of our children. We need to own more businesses, raise more money … and become a powerful voice for our community.”
Through Movement seminars and activities around the country, Galán wants young Latinas to know that they are creative and fully capable of blazing their own path toward economic, personal, and professional success.
She has applied this message in her personal life.
Galán’s family left Cuba when she was two years old and moved to New Jersey, where she grew up. She was the first ever Latina to become President of Entertainment of a U.S. television network, Telemundo.
The head of GaLAn Entertainment is also an Emmy Award winning producer, a public speaker, the first Latina to appear on “The Celebrity Apprentice” with Donald Trump, and a vocal proponent of philanthropy.
“I feel that Latinos are very giving,” Galán said. Early in her career, one of her bosses in the television industry passed along a lesson that she has embraced as a guiding principle: “Leave the world better off than you found it.”
“We give to our families and to our communities first,” she said, “which is as it should be.”
Through trainings and national tours, The Adelante Movement has taken Galán’s vision of empowerment, self-sufficiency, and entrepreneurial spirit to young Latinas across the country.
Galán is realistic. She knows that the challenges Latinos/as face in life. That is why, she said, “giving to my community starts with first having given to myself … financially, psychologically and physically, so I have something to give back.”
As a media mogul and self-made businesswoman, she is a very successful role model for young Latinas.
The 31 HIPGivers recognized in 2015 are collectively altering the landscape for our country. They are pushing the envelope by asking for more – more consideration, more awareness, more compassion, more action, more giving. Be there when the next 32 leaders are honored at our 2016 HIPGiver Gala.