Making a Lasting Impact in the World

My passion is to make a difference in the world, which is why I founded Ortega Counseling Center, to help injured workers back on their feet by finding schools so they can train and get the jobs they love. (Just like I did when I was injured and found myself with no options but to transform my life through education.) My passion for making a difference was reinforced when I met Vania MasĆ­as, a professional ballerina with a heart for her people -- to provide hope and social transformation to marginalized kids in Lima, Peru.


I met Vania last in August when I was in Peru on a learning tour with a group of entrepreneurs to listen and learn from Peruvian entrepreneurs on best business practices founded on social impact.


Vania MasĆ­as is an internationally acclaimed professional ballerina, having been in the main roles of classical repertoire. She also performed as a modern dancer in Europe and the Caribbean, danced at the Irish National Ballet, and performed for Cirque du Soleil.


When Van...

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Education = Opportunity

Too many of America’s children grow up without the skills needed to thrive in the twenty-first century. Low levels of performance among the most disadvantaged create long-term problems, particularly in an economy in which higher skill levels are more and more valued and the wages available to less-skilled workers are deteriorating. Inequality persists.

In the photo above, I am in 9th grade, posing with the neighborhood gang's graffiti. I grew up in Downtown LA in an 800-square foot apartment building. The kids in my neighborhood were routinely involved in drugs and gangs. Teen pregnancy was a huge issue. My family was on welfare. Ours was a five-kid, one-parent household. And I was a direct beneficiary of the programs where the city reinvested in at-risk youth programs.

When I was in 12th grade, I was hired to work at a courthouse, and I was paid through the Joint Training Partnership Act which aimed to keep at-risk youth off the streets. The courthouse positioned me in a job where I...

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