May 26, 2022
My guest for this episode is Danny Mendoza. Danny is a foster youth advocate, public speaker, marketer, and founder, and CEO of the nonprofit Together We Rise (TWR). A leader in philanthropic team building and events, Danny empowers thousands of individuals, groups, and organizations to give back to their communities.
Danny founded TWR at age 19, in 2008, and they have now touched the lives of over 600k foster kids and allocated millions of dollars to better their lives. Danny founded TWR after he discovered that his 9-year-old cousin was living in his car. He started mentoring kids at a local group home, and the direction of the new nonprofit was defined by what they told him–they wanted bikes, so Danny started a Build-A-Bike program; they were being told to move all their belongings between homes in trash bags, and so Danny started TWR’s flagship Sweet Case program to provide duffels.
Today, Together We Rise is committed to helping foster kids at every stage of their foster journey. Last year alone, they helped over 130,000 foster youth and activated over 30,000 volunteers. In addition to Build-A-Bike and Sweet Cases, they partner with major organizations to offer STEM Boxes, mentoring, Disney Days, sibling reunification events, shopping sprees, and much more to enrich the lives of foster youth.
During the pandemic, they started the Rapid Response program to provide emergency support to aged-out foster youth who were at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness or food insecurity; by December of 2020, Rapid Response had distributed nearly half a million dollars across 29 different counties in California, and the program continues today.
Most recently, Danny’s #FosterLoveFriday initiative is giving away a total of $250,000 in direct cash support to foster families.
Danny’s work has been featured on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Forbes, and more. He has been awarded the Do Something Award, the Jefferson Award for Public Service, and most recently Together We Rise won the 2021 Foster Morey Award for Organization of the Year.
Here’s what to expect during the episode:
- How can you help children in foster care?
- How can a nonprofit organization help foster parents with their essential needs?
- What do successful corporate and nonprofit partnerships look like?
- How can you build a mutually beneficial partnership?
- Why does building relationships meaningful in an organization?
Connect with Danny Mendoza!
Website: https://dannymendoza.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannytwr08/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-mendoza-foster/
TWR Website: https://www.togetherwerise.org/foster-care-awareness-month/
TWR Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/togetherwerise/
TWR LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fosterlove/
Go to: https://hilandconsulting.org/trustbuilding
to get your free: Trust Building Action Plan.
Mary's book is available on Amazon or wherever books are sold: Love Your Board! The Executive Directors’ Guide to Discovering the Sources of Nonprofit Board Troubles and What to Do About Them.
Be sure to subscribe to Inspired Nonprofit Leadership so that you don’t miss a single episode, and while you’re at it, won’t you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated!
Let us know the topics or questions you would like to hear about in a future episode. You can do that, and follow us, on Facebook.
Connect with Mary!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhiland
Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Facebook Group: https://tinyurl.com/inspirednonprofitleadership
Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilandconsulting
Website: https://www.hilandconsulting.org