Global Action Institute was founded in 2020 and has already raised over half a million dollars to help communities around the world. What makes this non-profit unique is its 100% volunteer-based framework and transparency with donors, allowing donors to steer their efforts to causes they care about. From sponsoring community gardens to their first project teaching women self-defense in Israel, the organization is dedicated to providing effective, immediate aid.
In this episode, Jamie Truman is joined by co-founder Ceila Cortes to discuss Global Action Institute’s work and philanthropic goals for the future. She also talks about their hands-on approach to delivering aid to those in crisis, highlighting their response to Israel’s October 7th tragedy. This leads into a conversation on the misconceptions being portrayed in the media about the events in Israel, including what support Israeli families actually need.
Tune in to hear more from Global Action Institute’s Ceila Cortes, and find out how you can help them make a difference!
Connect with The Global Action Institute:
Connect with Jamie at Truman Charities:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Website
YouTube
Email: info@trumancharities.com
This episode was post produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/
Global Action Institute was founded in 2020 and has already raised over half a million dollars to help communities around the world. What makes this non-profit unique is its 100% volunteer-based framework and transparency with donors, allowing donors to steer their efforts to causes they care about. From sponsoring community gardens to their first project teaching women self-defense in Israel, the organization is dedicated to providing effective, immediate aid.
In this episode, Jamie Truman is joined by co-founder Ceila Cortes to discuss Global Action Institute’s work and philanthropic goals for the future. She also talks about their hands-on approach to delivering aid to those in crisis, highlighting their response to Israel’s October 7th tragedy. This leads into a conversation on the misconceptions being portrayed in the media about the events in Israel, including what support Israeli families actually need.
Tune in to hear more from Global Action Institute’s Ceila Cortes, and find out how you can help them make a difference!
Connect with The Global Action Institute:
Connect with Jamie at Truman Charities:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Website
YouTube
Email: info@trumancharities.com
This episode was post produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/
All right, Celia, thank you so much for coming on to talk with me today.
Speaker 2:Yes, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to kind of get into your trip, your recent trip to Israel. But before we talk about that, I want to talk a little bit about exactly what is Global Action Institute. I mean, if you formed it in May of 2020, so it's kind of it's a few years old, right. I was going to say it's kind of like a little baby, but not really. You're a few years in, but you have accomplished so much. I was reading on your website that you've been able to help and raise over a half a million dollars to helping people around the world in different type of which. We'll talk about some of the different projects that you guys have taken on. So absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so let's talk about a little bit about your background and why you decided to create this organization.
Speaker 2:Sure. So my husband Ariel and I we are we've always been philanthropic people. We have a successful security company called Tureko Group based in Atlanta, georgia, and we found ourselves donating money to organizations and then not knowing where that money was going. We had no idea what they were doing with it and who was benefiting from it. So after a while, we said you know what? We hear this complaint from our friends as well. We're going to create our own 501c3 organization and we are going to promise 100% transparency to our donors. So, with the help of an amazing attorney, we did just that, and it allows our donors to say hey, I have a project that's special to my heart. We're working on one right now. That's in Orfinage in Tanzania, and this was a big donor of ours and that's what's important to him. So we said, okay, your donation will go to that project. So we wanted to create global action because we wanted a solution for people that didn't know how to donate and be comfortable with where their money was going.
Speaker 1:I do, I hear that a lot when I talk to people and that's actually kind of why I started. The podcast in a way was kind of a catalog for people to roll through, because then I talked to founders and they can find an organization that resonates with them and they can feel comfortable. So I love what you're doing. Tell me about the first project that you guys took on after you created this organization.
Speaker 2:So the very first project is called Women of the Frontier. It actually was in Israel. Our first project ended up being in Israel and our most recent one is in Israel, but this project was specifically for women, so these were mothers and teenage girls and above, to learn how to defend themselves. We here in the United States are so blessed not to have to wonder what it's like that our neighbors trying to break into our house and slaughter our children, not to have to worry about driving down the road and people throwing rocks at our cars. So we have. We brought this group of women together and we taught them every form of not I shouldn't say every form multiple forms of self-defense, from in their home to in the street. If they're in their vehicle and their husband is driving and he becomes incapacitated, how to take over that vehicle so that you don't crash with your children in the backseat. So that was our very first project and it lasted a while and then COVID kind of took us out. But it's one that's close to our hearts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think a lot of times, because we live in the United States, we don't even, we can't even comprehend that type of fear that a lot of women and, you know, men and just the families in general, they have every day, all the time.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:We can't even process that. So tell me about what you guys are doing right now. You were just in Israel. Tell me everything about that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, this was. It's been our life changed. On October 7th, our life changed completely. My husband is Israeli special ops. He served 11 years in Israel. He's still considered a reservist over there. So when October 7th came, he knew that this was gonna impact us greatly. So he initially got a call and then when his commander realized, like wait a minute, you guys have a nonprofit, you can do a lot better with your nonprofit that help us than you can coming here, we turned our sites to that. Our business got put to the side, our kids got. They jumped in to help. So we started raising funds immediately and buying equipment and supplies that are needed over there.
Speaker 2:A lot of people don't realize this, but as a reservist, you don't have gear.
Speaker 2:You don't have your own gear that you need to keep yourself safe a bulletproof vest, a tactical helmet, things like that.
Speaker 2:So this is the first time in Israel's history that they've had to call up this many reservists or that they've had this many reservists show up without the call.
Speaker 2:So a lot of them needed equipment. But outside of that, we have hundreds of families who were displaced as a result of a rocket fire on their home, as a result of their homes being burned to the ground. Now these families are living in a community that they're not used to, where they don't know anyone, and the men are all in the reserves and the women are taking care of their children in a strange city in an empty apartment that has nothing in the cupboards. So we have been supplying like re-stocking kitchens, supplying food and clothing and cold weather gear to help these families get back on track, and one of my favorite things to buy is toys and games for kids, because they lost everything. So our most recent trip, we took over 2000 pounds of equipment and supplies in 41 distinct packages and it was worth about $300,000. And we managed to get that out of the United States into Israel and into the hands of the people who needed it most.
Speaker 1:Wow, what was it like for you personally when you landed in Israel and you looked around. What did you see? How did it feel?
Speaker 2:Well, we've been there several times and again. My husband lived there for a long time, so it's very much home for us. It feels very comfortable.
Speaker 2:The airport was really quiet, which, if anybody's ever been to Israel you know that the Tel Aviv airport is not a quiet place at all, so it was kind of eerie that the airport was so quiet. El Al is one of the only airlines that's flying is the Israeli airline, so strangely quiet. When you step outside the airport, though, it feels kind of normal right. There are people outside kind of hustling and bustling about, and when you're in the smaller towns and cities you don't really feel it. It's as you start to get closer to the borders that you feel the tension rise in the communities and the people that are there. You know rocket fire overhead is not unusual, so you could feel the tension. It didn't feel like the calm and comforting place that it usually is, but it also is not a war zone that's being depicted on the media.
Speaker 1:Okay and how? So Explain a little bit about that Cause I think there's a lot of misconceptions. So I feel like, since that just recently been there, can really clear up these misconceptions.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's been frustrating for us because we're watching social media and we're seeing this young generation be educated by 30 second clips on TikTok, where they have no historical context, they know nothing about what's going on. And then mass media is not helping by just putting out bits and pieces of what they want us to see. So the people within Israel they're extremely united. There are Arabs that live inside Israel very happily, palestinians who live inside Israel very happily, and if you were to say to them, do you want to go live in Gaza, they'd say no, I don't. I'm happy with my life here in Israel. I'm happy with my Israeli neighbors. We have a good relationship.
Speaker 2:But none of that is depicted. So on the news you see pictures of Gaza torn to the ground and it looks terrible and honestly, gaza looked that way. The buildings weren't all bombed, but Gaza didn't look much different before the war. It is very much a could be developing area if they were to give them the money that they have been given by the international community. But Israel is a peaceful place and it is clean and it looks good and it's not disastrous trick and like some people would want us to believe, so can you tell me a little bit about some of the people that you met while you were there?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Some of the first people were soldiers with need right, people who had an immediate need, like I've got to get my guys outfitted or I'm gonna start losing people. So one of them, for example he's an older guy, he's in his late 50s, he's got a family and he is a very successful professional and he decided I've got to go take care of my country, I've got to go do what I have to do. So he's got an elite team of warriors and he jumped and said this is what I'm gonna do, because I know what the right thing is to do. Some of the most difficult for me were the mothers who either lost their husbands on the 7th or they have their husbands in active reserve duty right now and they have their kids. They can't work, they're in a strange place and they don't. Their whole lives have been turned upside down. So the moms have been really impactful for me. Husband and I have three kids. I can't imagine. I can't imagine having your world turned upside down like that, and they have profound stories to tell.
Speaker 1:So what are you guys doing to be able to help these moms?
Speaker 2:So we're just providing funding. Right, we're working with an organization over there that is providing food vouchers. They're getting them. So Israel is a really amazing place because people are giving and caring and they come together. This war has really brought people together there. So, for example, there's a family that owns real estate and they just gave away apartments. Just stay here for as long as you need until you can get back into your home and rebuild your lives. So we at Global Action Institute are now helping to stock those homes. You've got kitchens with empty cabinets, so we're stocking them with their food and their essentials and their kitchen appliances so that they can cook their meals. And then for the moms, clothing that they need and toiletries. For the kids, clothes and shoes and toys, just to give them a sense of normalcy again. And so what? How do?
Speaker 1:you plan to continue to help, since you've been back, so we're actually leaving again.
Speaker 2:We've been back two weeks and we're leaving again in two weeks and our goal is just to continue raising funds. As we were there, we learned about what was needed, so there's a lot of big organizations that are collecting big dollars and they're sending over things that are not needed, and that's what we're doing. We're not needed enough was one of the biggest complaints that we heard from people on the grounds.
Speaker 1:Well, what kind of things that they've been. Yeah, what kind of things have you been sending that really isn't necessary, or?
Speaker 2:Toiletries, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks these are things that people think oh, they need that.
Speaker 2:But these soldiers will tell you I brought that from home. I have a toothbrush and toothpaste. I'm okay on that. I don't need that. But what they do need is gear to keep them safe. They need to keep themselves protected. So we have just focused on raising the funds and answering the immediate need. We're not providing anything that hasn't been asked for specifically and multiple times. So we keep a list of everything that people are asking for and if we hear it over and over and over again for example, multi-tools right, a Leatherman we don't think much of a Leatherman, but they need it in the field. It's a multi-tool, it's a, you know, it's got tools and it's a bigger version of a Swiss Army knife.
Speaker 2:Right, that's a lot more you can do with it, so it's very necessary, not just for people in the field, but to have it in your junk drawer at home is very helpful, because it's got a bunch of tools on it. Something like that was very, very much needed Tactical helmets to keep yourself safe, vests and bulletproof plates. And for the women, it was just I need my kitchen back. I need to be able to prepare for my kids. So we're just focusing on raising funds to be able to provide those kinds of items.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the best way for someone to help you guys right now would be to monetarily donate to your organization 100% Funding is where it's at right now and there are a lot of people who want to donate, like what can I buy and give? But folks don't really know what's needed right now. So if you say, okay, we need backpacks, then you might get, you know, 500 Jansport backpacks that are not useful. You can't take that kind of backpack into a mission for a long time, so you need a very specific type of tactical backpack. So that's why we're just asking for funding from our donors, and most of them are happy to oblige because they understand that it's a very specific need that they're not really aware of.
Speaker 1:No, what I really love about what you and your husband are doing is you're on the ground, so you're not hearing from somebody, and it's from secondhand. Like you're there, you know exactly what's needed.
Speaker 2:And the situation Okay, so how long?
Speaker 1:do you guys plan on being in Israel for your next trip? Do you have any idea? Yeah, our next trip is going to be about 12 days.
Speaker 2:It ends up being 12 days on the ground and 14 day trip, because it's a day to get there and kind of a day to get back, but it's a long. It's a long way away.
Speaker 2:So it'll be about 12 days on the ground over there. Our kids are actually going with us. We didn't let them go the first time because we wanted to assess how it really was, and so Ariel's brother lives in a community there that's quite safe and it's pretty peaceful right now, so we feel comfortable taking our kids with us. They're very excited to come and be a part of it because since day one they're 14, 13 and 10, they were helping with packing and organizing and sorting, and our oldest found discounts on some of the backpacks that we got and the multi-tools. So it's just been amazing to have them involved and for them to care so much about what's going on and to want to be there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean their family's there too, so it's very, very close to the heart right there, so I want to know how long do you think that? You'll be working on this particular product. Do you not have like an end date? Do you have anything else that you're doing as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's tough right, Because this is Global. Action Institute is a global organization and we do projects all around the world. So we do things from sponsoring community gardens to self-defense classes for women's, providing emergency equipment and medical supplies. So a lot of that stuff has been put on hold because our donors came to us and said again, we're an organization that we allow our donors to dictate where we send our kids to. So the majority of our donors have come to us and said this is what I want to put my money towards. So this is what we're focused on right now. We do have a large donor who cares about an orphanage in Tanzania and Africa and that's going to be a project for us next summer that we're going to focus on, despite what's happening in Israel, because he's a major donor and we want to honor our donors and their requests. But for the long haul, I think this is kind of where we're going to have to focus our time and energy, because there's such a great need.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Is there anything that we haven't covered about this that you think people should know?
Speaker 2:I think it's really important for each of us to understand that we can't trust solely what we're seeing on social media and that we have to do our own research. We have to understand history, how it came to be, why we are in this position, and recognize that there is a very long, deep-rooted history to this conflict that social media is not going to be able to fill you in on. And if you really dig back and you look and you understand what's going on, it's very clear who the good guys are in this situation. So it's important to me that every time I talk to someone, I try to say please do your own research. It's there in books that existed far before the internet existed. So take the time, do a little research and find yourself on the right side of history, because many people are going to I say people are going to grow up in mature and realize, ooh, I was on the wrong side of history with this one.
Speaker 1:I feel like it's really difficult with social media because you're so right, they take these tiny clips and then they base their entire thought process on this and so okay. So say, I'm in college and I'm very confused about what's going on and I'm seeing a lot of stuff on social media. Where would you tell them to go to get information on the history of the conflict that's happening right now?
Speaker 2:Well, that's a really difficult question because a lot of folks are not a huge fan of reading right now.
Speaker 2:But if we simply go back to our world history books, right and if you're a person that is inclined by religion in any way, the Bible has a lot to tell you. There's a lot there that's written for you that existed a long time before the internet. So go back in our world history books and understand. I hate to say it, but right encyclopedias and old books. Get to go to a library and pick up a book and actually open it up and read it. That is the best resource. I wish I had more specific one for you, but reading books, that's really what it comes down to, and one that's recent. If we want to truly understand Hamas and what they're doing, there's a book called the Son of Hamas. This is the man who is the son of the leader of this organization. He's all over the internet and social media and mass media trying to tell us who these people are and how we need to handle them, and no one wants to listen. So his book is one that's. It's heavy, but it's a very interesting read.
Speaker 1:So why do you think that nobody wants to listen? You would think that because of who he is. You would think you would think so.
Speaker 2:How much more credibility does someone need? It's just, we've gotten this social movement and once you pump all of this into the society, people don't really want to know the truth.
Speaker 1:They don't care, they've made up their minds.
Speaker 2:They set their minds to something and they're like oh no, this is what I want. You know, you've got these kids chanting from the river to the sea. They don't know what river they're talking about, they don't know what sea they're talking about, and some of them may or may not know what that truly means. That means the annihilation of an entire population of people, yet they want to say that the Israelis are committing genocide. It's very hard to swallow that. You have a guy who lived it and he broke free of it, and now he lives his whole life, probably in fear that he can't live normally because he's speaking out against it, and yet we don't want to listen to him. It doesn't make any sense to me. I can't quite make it make sense.
Speaker 1:Right, because, as you're talking about it, I'm thinking the same thing is that he's risking his life to talk, to speak out, because now there's a huge target on him for doing that, so you would think that that speaking with him or listening to him would make sense.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's talk a little bit about how you see the future of Global Action Institute. How do you see it? Do you just see that you're obviously going to be working in Israel as long as you need? You have this orphanage in Africa, that you're going to start helping and doing that project in the spring? But kind of, how do you see it in a few years? Do you just see what you're doing now and listening to your donors and kind of working that way and doing particular projects that way?
Speaker 2:We do love it. We do love our donor suggestions. So our board, we ask our board to make suggestions. Every year Every board member has to make a suggestion for a project. But our donors come up with things that we never thought about.
Speaker 2:So I never thought about sponsoring a community garden in inner city areas where they're in a food desert. The closest grocery store is five miles away. Other than that, they only have convenience stores. That wouldn't have come to my mind. So that came to us from a donor, like hey, there's a, there's a garden in Baltimore. That it's they have. They have the land. They want to build a garden. They need the money to do it. I never would have thought of that.
Speaker 2:So we put our money to that and then that led us into doing it in other cities, because what a lovely idea. It brings the community together. You have children that are now learning about good food. It's sweet to hear that people are coming together to harvest and to prune and to take care of things. In an area where it's high crime there's a lot of bad things that kids could be doing, but if you keep them busy, playing in the dirt and pick and produce, that gives them delicious food that keeps them out of trouble.
Speaker 2:So, yes, I think our future is we go where the need is. So we go where there are disasters and as bad things happen, we want to be responders to that. We want to be able to jump to help people who are meeting it the most right now. So Ukraine was an example of that. When the war in Ukraine broke out, we immediately sent over a bunch of gear and equipment and cold weather gear. We helped from an Airbnb standpoint. There was a very long period of time where people were just booking Airbnb is all over Ukraine, even though we weren't going just send money into that system. So we want to be there for areas that need us and we also want to honor our donors requests and flow with the creativity of what they are bringing to us.
Speaker 1:You guys are doing some really incredible work, so how can people donate? So tell them your website and how they can follow you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Our website is GAICaresorg and if you click on the donate now button, you have the option to go via credit card, via your donor advice funds. We are gold rated on Candid. Through GuideStar we have. We won the 2023 top nonprofit award from the great nonprofits, so we are as legitimate as they come and we are 100% volunteer based. So if you want to make your donation, you can do it right there on our website. You can reach me at Celia at GAICaresorg. If you prefer to send a wire, we have a lot of people who prefer to do it that way. And then, if you follow us on social media it's at Global Action Institute you can see photos and videos of where we've been and what we're doing and our updates that we're getting better at. In the beginning of our journey, we did not document things, because we're so hands on that it's hard to document things, but these last few projects, we've gotten a lot better at documenting, so we'd love to have you join us on Instagram or Facebook at Global Action Institute.
Speaker 1:Yes, I started following you on Instagram when, maybe like a week or two ago, when I was introduced to you and I learned a lot from the videos. You had videos there were during Israel. Your husband did a few videos and it was. You guys are doing a great job of kind of explaining what you're doing and why you're doing it and you know you explained a little bit about what type of items that you're bringing and why, and all of that great stuff is what we've talked about. But it's great little clips to kind of get an idea of what you guys are up to and I love it.
Speaker 1:So I want to thank you again, so much for coming on here and really explaining a lot about what's going on Israel, since you've been there. There are a lot of misconceptions, what I think is going around, so I was excited when I got introduced to you to have this conversation, because I think there needs to be a lot of people to clear things up. Yes, I think you did a great job. What you guys are doing is absolutely amazing 100% volunteer based. Oh my gosh, I love it. It's a lot of work.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of work. It's a full time job. It's taken over as a full time job, absolutely.
Speaker 1:It really does and it does quickly. You guys are really changing so many people's lives for the better and I just touches me. I love it. So is there anything before I let you go? Is there anything we haven't covered that you would like to?
Speaker 2:talk about. I would just love to expand our network of followers and donors. I'm open to ideas from all around the world. So if any of your listeners say, hey, this is a transparent organization that takes ideas from people, I've been really interested in helping with this organization in this random place in the world and I don't know anybody who's going to take that on, let me run it past them. I want to get out into the universe that we want to hear those kind of ideas because we want to be unique in that way that we can help someone fund an amazing idea they have. And if it's important to other people and we can raise funds to do it, we want to be involved in projects like that.
Speaker 1:I love it Alright. Well, celia. Thank you so much for coming on again to talk to us, and I want to thank everyone for tuning in to another episode of the Truman Charities podcast. Until next time, thank you.