Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge H. Gonzalez.
Jorge, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My passion is helping people realize their full potential and working in ways that foster the achieving of that potential. My career and personal life have developed around this.
I owe much to the public education I received here in Miami and the incredible teachers and mentors that have remained to define influences. It was in a sociology class at Miami Dade College that my professional ambitions as a business student and sense of purpose crystallized as one and became what has guided me ever since: to maximize social impact by leveraging the best practices of a for-profit business. Shortly thereafter, I co-founded Beacon of Hope, a nonprofit organization focused on youth development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Continuing my studies in New York and living in three of its boroughs made me realize that my previous, rather homogenous world in Kendall was far from representative of the country as a whole. It was working with high-potential but high-need communities in Latin America that made me more appreciative of our global interconnectedness and Miami’s strong ties to the region.
Coming back to Miami in 2014, I was all in on my career in marketing at an ad agency and my growing moonlighting effort on the nonprofit I was running. This two-pronged career path went on for some time until both aspects of my career and passions converged when I joined The Children’s Trust. Now, I work fully at the intersection of social impact and innovation.
All the while, I’ve gotten to live in, work in and enjoy vibrant spaces of Miami that were entirely new to me when I moved back. Miami feels more like home now that it ever has before.
Has it been a smooth road?
I am thankful for and honest about my journey being much smoother than what it could’ve been, and what it is for many others. That being said, there have been moments of personal and professional struggle, of questioning my purpose, of questioning my conviction and feeling intimidated by my own ambition.
Above all, I would characterize my journey as more unexpected than arduous. My outlook has come to be that as long as life is moving in a general direction aligned with my conviction and purpose, then it is on me to show up, be authentic and put my heart into everything I do.
Noticing that the direction I was going in didn’t feel right anymore was a big challenge. It taught me to be humble and flexible enough to learn from the experience and pivot. This led to a year-long sojourn that began with leaving my full-time job at the ad agency to go on to work more fully on the nonprofit while teaching digital marketing and doing consulting work, and eventually seeing the nonprofit take on a new life of its own while I joined The Children’s Trust.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Children’s Trust/Global Shapers Miami – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
At The Children’s Trust, I work in a space where we are pushing the envelope in leveraging technology to help our partners in the community maximize their impact by using insights about what’s working and creating efficiencies that allow them to focus more on people over process. We partner with organizations doing great work across the county to deliver programming that serves children, youth and families.
While automation is a great threat that we face as a society and an economy, I am thankful to work in the technology and innovation space with the intention of leveraging it in a way that creates more rather than less: more opportunities, more impactful ways to help youth reach their full potential, more-informed ways to invest in our community.
Outside of work, I am the vice curator of the Miami Hub of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. This community is a big part of the reason why I have stayed in Miami since returning in 2014. Our hub is comprised of young professionals who are passionate about the city and, more so, passionate about shaping it into a city that has more opportunity for all, is truly inclusive and not just diverse, and is a coastal city aiming to be at the forefront of environmental sustainability.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
The proudest moment of my career has been when Beacon of Hope, the nonprofit that I co-founded and lived for, came to walk on its own two feet with our team in Nicaragua stepping in to lead it. The team is comprised of people who have worked in our program for several years, people who have been participants in our program and others who have also been drawn close to the mission. They have stepped up in a way that has all the love, compassion and passion that I have had for it and that I always hoped to spread to others.
The goal was always to create something in a community that was akin to planting a seed that would someday grow into something more. Growing plants from seeds is a very tedious and delicate process. It took a lot of people to help plant the seed in Nicaragua and care for it so intently – from those in the community who have interacted with our programs in different ways to an amazing network of family, friends, and supporters here in Miami who shared the vision. Over time, the effort has grown and now it is fully becoming a community garden.
Now, at The Children’s Trust, I am thankful to be working with great organizations, communities, and people to plant many more seeds of positive change here at home that we hope will empower the next generation to create a better Miami for all of us.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://thechildrenstrust.org, https://www.globalshapers.org/hubs/miami-hub
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhgonzalez7/
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