Nely Galan (Credit: nelygalan.com)

Social Entrepreneurship: Nely Galan (Telemundo president)

Empowering Latina Entrepreneurs

When she was 5 years old, Nely Galan and her family left their native Cuba to begin a new life in the United States. As a child, Galan admired Sherry Lansing, the first female president of Paramount Pictures. Today, Galan is following in Lansing’s footsteps, becoming the first Latina president of the Miami-based TV network Telemundo. The “Tropical Tycoon” also went on to found her own business, Galan Entertainment, which launched TV channels in Latin America and produced original programming from sitcoms to telenovelas (soap operas).

Being an entertainment mogul was not enough though. Galan founded Adelante (theadelantemovement.com), a movement “designed to empower Latinas in the U.S. economically through inspiration, training, and resources on entrepreneurship.” Galan believes helping Latinas become more financially successful positively impacts their communities and families. The potential ripple effect is significant when considering that the Latina population in the United States is expected to grow to about 13 percent of the U.S. population by 2050.

Galan has also joined forces with Coca-Cola’s effort to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020. Citing a personal goal to train 30,000 Latinas in the United States to become entrepreneurs, Galan sums up her passion this way: “I am a woman that believes in ownership and entrepreneurship as the way for most women to have financial freedom and become actualized.”

In 2016, she published her manifesto for doing just that. Her book Self Made: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way hit #1 on The New York Times bestseller list. In it, she shares her knowledge and experience as an entrepreneur. Seeing that Latina-owned businesses have increased at more than twice the national average in recent years and contribute almost $700 billion to the U.S. economy is a sign that Galan’s message is getting through.

What do you think motivates Galan to help Latinas become successful entrepreneurs?

Galan believes helping Latinas become more financially successful positively impacts their communities and families. The potential ripple effect is significant when considering that the Latina population in the United States is expected to grow to about 13 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. Galan also believes that ownership and entrepreneurship are the best ways for most women (esp. Latina women) to have financial freedom and become independent. Inspiring and training Latina women could empower other Latina women and that is the prime motivation for Nely Galan.

Why do you think Coca-Cola is collaborating with Galan to empower female entrepreneurs?

Galan has joined forces with Coca-Cola’s effort to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020. Citing a personal goal to train 30,000 Latinas in the United States to become entrepreneurs, Galan sums up her passion this way: “I am a woman that believes in ownership and entrepreneurship as the way for most women to have financial freedom and become actualized.”

Coca-Cola is collaborating with Galan as a part of its Social Entrepreneurship agenda. Coca-Cola wants to be seen as a social enterprise organization. Organizations that engage in social entrepreneurship apply business models and leverage resources in ways that address social problems. It does so by using market-based methods. Social entrepreneurship creates social value by stimulating social change or meeting social needs.

Recent research shows spending money on corporate social responsibility is no longer seen as a detriment to a company’s profitability. Stock analysts now view such expenditures as essential to a company’s long-term brand and value. Coca-Cola is one of the many companies that are making efforts to tackle the world’s greatest societal challenges — water scarcity, climate change, and even the rights of women and girls in the developing world. Over the past several years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has evolved from simply being an isolated “do good” arm of a company to something more profound that is changing the way organizations do business every day. Coca-Cola has always been focusing on its Triple Bottom Line. They continue to prioritize their sustainability goals as the business emerges stronger from the global pandemic, as outlined in our 2020 Business & Environmental, Social and Governance Report.

The Coca-Cola Company is a perfect example of a company with a thriving corporate social responsibility (CSR) department. In 2013, the Coca-Cola Foundation awarded one hundred million dollars, positively impacting 134 million people in 122 countries. The Coca-Cola Foundation has three major priorities:

• Women: economic empowerment and entrepreneurship
• Water: access to clean water, water conservation and recycling
• Well-Being: active healthy living, education, and youth development

With its focus on Women and Well-being, it partnered with Galan to empower women entrepreneurs. Coca-Cola is the perfect example of a company with a commitment to CSR and philanthropy. The company created a charitable foundation to give back to the global community. It recognized the importance of marketing and operational budgets aligning with customer expectations so it can better brand itself.

Sources:

1. https://hbr.org/2014/05/the-ceo-of-coca-cola-on-using-the-companys-scale-for-good
2. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainable-business
3. https://www.finelinesolutions.com/academy/blogs/14-corporate-with-a-cause/50-philanthroship-the-coca-cola-company.html