Visual Eyes

S2E03 - Claudia Mosley Inspires Change with Passion and Purpose

• Visuals by Momo • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Passion and purpose take center stage as Claudia Mosley, co-founder of Global Dreams USA, shares her remarkable journey from Bogota to Medellin and Cartagena, where her commitment to social responsibility and education reshapes futures. Claudia's heartfelt stories of building educational centers and providing scholarships across Colombia highlight the transformative power of education and the essential role of collaboration with local organizations. Her partnership with MRT, supporting veterans through diving, illustrates how combining efforts can significantly change lives, proving that when communities unite, extraordinary things happen.

With a focus on building networks and inspiring youth, celebrations and partnerships become tools for change. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we’ve seen firsthand how community support can turn fundraising dreams into reality. Collaborations with organizations like Techo, Girls Club, and the Boys and Girls Club underscore the importance of diverse partnerships in achieving social impact. These alliances not only meet financial goals but also foster a sense of unity and purpose, validating the idea that active participation and shared missions drive success.

Empowerment through education and community service isn't just a theme—it's a movement. Our initiative "Headshots for a Cause" merges professional growth with philanthropy, proving that even small actions can yield profound results. As we recount experiences of working with local groups and witness the ripple effect of our efforts, the undeniable influence of authenticity in networking becomes clear. Join us on a journey to inspire future generations, as we invite you to engage with meaningful projects and explore the cultural richness of Colombia, setting the stage for lasting impact and personal growth.

Claudia Mosley
Global Dreams USA
https://globaldreamsusa.org/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-mosley-7b43558/


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Special Thanks to Stacy Daugherty for the beautiful wall artwork in the background. Socials: @artographybystacy

Chris Baker:

Welcome to Visual Eyes, the podcast where collaboration fuels change. I'm your host, chris Baker, and each week we'll explore incredible connections between nonprofits, businesses and the community. This is a space where we highlight inspiring partnerships, uncover strategies for creating meaningful impact and share stories that show how working together can make all the difference. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, a business owner or someone just passionate about building connections, this podcast is for you. Welcome to Visual Eyes. Today, I have a special guest, Claudia Mosley, and so welcome to the show.

Claudia Mosley:

Thank you. Thank you so much for the invitation.

Chris Baker:

Oh yeah, you're totally welcome. So I'd like you to talk a little bit about your journey and what inspired you to co found Global Dreams USA.

Claudia Mosley:

Perfect. So I've been into social responsibility since 2010. We started helping different projects in Colombia, in South America. That's where I'm from. More specifically, I started in Bogota, which is where I was born. So the first project that we did was with an organization called Los Valientes de David, and it's in a rural area where there's no water or electricity, in the skirts of the mountains of Bogota and very, very poor area. We helped build a center. We helped also get donations for instruments and art materials. We have volunteers that now go every week On the weekend. They teach English French. It was really a beautiful project and we did that for two years.

Claudia Mosley:

Then we moved to another project in Medellin. Then we moved to another project in Cartagena. The one in Cartagena was beautiful because was a lot, uh, concentrated to the human traffickers, okay, and uh, it was in an island called um. Um, it's right, 15 minutes from cartagena, but the only way that you can get to to that is um with a boat, okay, um, and the same thing. They get water once a week. Many of them don't have electricity. It depends um. So we build a center, that school, and that was through a religion organization here, a church, okay, um, and again. We helped them for like three years and then I fell into Global Dreams and most of the kids in the organizations that we had helped were more for younger kids. Global Dreams' mission is to help young adults graduate from university. Help young adults graduate from university. So we have right now 16 active students and they are all of them have a scholarship 80 to 100 percent and very different universities in.

Claudia Mosley:

Bogota, medellin, choco, villavicencio. So now we're not just concentrated in just one area, we have different parts of the country and these kids are brilliant and if it wasn't for our help, they would have to give up school so that they can work to survive.

Claudia Mosley:

So, what we do is we help them with room and boarding. We have an apartment that we hold six students and then the other 10, we pay them with room and boarding. We have an apartment that we hold six students and then the other 10, we pay them to rent a room and transportation. And these kids are brilliant. I mean, we have a scientist that graduated, we have a chef, we have a marketing director, we have veterinarian. We right now have an active medical. She's studying medicine in one of the best universities of Bogota, which is El Rosario 100% scholarship. Wow, brilliant kid, she actually got the scholarship. She was the best, the most highest score of the like. What here is? The SAT over there is called EFIX.

Chris Baker:

Um, she was the higher school in the country in the country in the country so she got full school.

Claudia Mosley:

I mean to be in the university. A rosario you either have to have a lot of money. I have to be very brilliant, and that's what she is.

Claudia Mosley:

So we, we fought, we, we saw that throughout all my journey, education has always been the motive of helping um those type of populations we always felt that even in the projects that we helped with the little kids, it was introducing art and music and, you know, for them to see the bigger picture of the world and not the world that they live in. So that was what's motivated me was to take them out of their current situation and, through education, show them that there is opportunity, that there is a better choice, that there is another side of this spectrum. So that's really what motivated. Now, when we started fundraising, our journey became that we realized that in our community we were going to get a lot more help from our peers and colleagues and other networking groups If we also share the fundraising with a local organization, because, being an international organization, not a lot of people are motivated to keep giving to an international, but when you and we have done it with different organizations Right now we're having an event with MRT.

Claudia Mosley:

Mrt is a beautiful organization for veterans. They treat their PST is that how you call?

Chris Baker:

it yeah, ptsd, ptsd, yep.

Claudia Mosley:

And by diving, and they have shown that the results are wonderful and you know what more better than to give to the people that have risked their life for our freedom, for our security? So that organization is very dear to my heart. Monica is a girl that I know for a long time and she's done an amazing job with the organization and I always said to her I like to. We did an event in the past and it was completely success, because when two people from a local and an organization like mine get together, I feel that we can accomplish more and we feel more satisfied that we also did something locally.

Chris Baker:

Right, that's actually one of the reasons why we're starting this podcast up again. is because we're looking to make sure that we talk about ways that people can collaborate, non-profit to non-profit, non-profit to business and all of these ways. So I'm glad that you had the opportunity to connect with mrd and monica um, we actually had one of her board members on the show oh nice, and so we actually got to talk about MRD a little bit more that way too.

Chris Baker:

So I completely agree with you Like once you actually add two nonprofits together, you are multiplying the effect.

Claudia Mosley:

It's so much more supporting us. Every time we give them like a choice for them to see what the local organizations are doing, you'd be surprised how much many of them get more motivated to get involved. So we're not only doing it for the fundraising, but also to educate people on what other organizations are doing locally, create awarenesses. Um, I feel that every human being needs to be socially responsible. I mean, that is a part of your life and a part of your mission in this beautiful world. Is, when you leave this world, what did you do? What?

Chris Baker:

legacy did you?

Claudia Mosley:

leave behind. You know, I I feel like every human being has come to this world to do something we all have to take advantage of your life to be happy, obviously, but by being happy.

Claudia Mosley:

to me, being happy also means serving, giving others, and you know it's amazing and I have always tell people what makes you a good human being is not really being a good mother or a good wife or a good friend and a family member, because that's already given to you. You know, to me a good human being is that person that does something for another human being that has nothing to do with you blood related, that you don't even know but it gives you the satisfaction that you did something and now they are in another level, and the experience that we have now because we take a lot of business people with us every year to Bogota, colombia.

Claudia Mosley:

so that they can meet the kids, we have a lot of fun. It's an incredible trip, but the most important day is the day that we get together with the kids and they speak and they tell their stories, and that's when you realize that not only do we give them the opportunity to succeed, but every single one of those kids are involved in a social responsibility within the university or within their local town, and that, to us, is it's like we know we did something right.

Chris Baker:

Right you know.

Claudia Mosley:

We know that we taught him how to be socially responsible and to give, and the importance of giving, because otherwise they would not be able to succeed as they are now. So that, to us, has been an amazing part of this whole journey is the trips seeing how advanced they've gotten, seeing the ones that are graduating and how good they're doing, and see that all of them are involved in social responsibilities in their local it's so amazing to hear that you know you're opening these opportunities for these individuals that just they would not have, and I mean the list that you just went through doctor, executive director, executive director, veterinarian these are high.

Claudia Mosley:

Researches.

Chris Baker:

You know these are high positions, that scientists, all of these are wonderful, like they're going to help change the world.

Claudia Mosley:

Yes.

Chris Baker:

And without this you know, organization, they couldn't have gotten that far. So it's just beautiful to hear that Global Dreams is making global dreams happen.

Claudia Mosley:

And I tell you, you know, we right now for us to support the 16 kids that we have. It's a little bit under $20,000 a year. But, it's $20,000 a year that we have to do events that we have people that support us. Every month my B&I group has been amazing this year. I was for almost $4,000 to meet my goal and one of the lawyers got up and said I'm willing to match up to $1,500 if you guys jump in. In one meeting I thirty five hundred dollars so I only had in the five hundred dollars.

Claudia Mosley:

Obviously we met and, yeah, it, that's much easier, and so the the support that we get from the community and we did an event. Um, we usually do it either memorial day weekend or labor day weekend. So this year uh the past we did a Labor Day weekend.

Chris Baker:

Okay.

Claudia Mosley:

We had the major of the Sheriff's Department Office, which is Renee Peterson, came.

Chris Baker:

She's come twice. Oh, she has Awesome.

Claudia Mosley:

So she has now created a relationship with some of the kids where she now wants to see. Uh, you know what they did last year and how everything evolved, and you know um, we had marty elbert. He's one of the, the members of my group. Uh, we had from from the from my bni, about five of them went we had 23 people.

Claudia Mosley:

We had an amazing amazing trip and a lot of them when they hear the kids speak, the young adults speak, and how much they are involved in their day-to-day, how are they in their careers. A lot of them got recognized. Even we have a designer, a clothes, uh, fashion designer. Yeah well, he has won twice the best in his university and his model got shown in the. They have like a um, a museum in downtown bogota. Okay, which is la moda museum? Well, he's, his sketch, or his model, was there in exhibition for three months.

Claudia Mosley:

And now he's got it again on another level. So it's amazing to see the level of compromise that these kids have, knowing that they have a group of people that they see. They care.

Chris Baker:

That's fantastic. That is wonderful. So, besides MRD, what other collaboration and partnerships have you can talk about that you've experienced?

Claudia Mosley:

So we've done. We've done so many organizations. I know we did Techo. We did the Girls club, which they do almost the same thing here in the United States they have a high school and then, once they graduate, we also helped another organization called Fitzy, which does exactly the same thing we do for foster care kids here. We've done the Boys and Girls Club. We've done Flippany. Flippany is an organization that helps with nutrition in schools and how to get them aware to eat a much better meal like vegetables. They help them grow. It's a really good meal like vegetables and they help them grow and it's a really good organization too. So there was this year. The past. We didn't have that many events. As of right before the pandemic we used to have an event every month, and every month we'll choose a different local organization.

Claudia Mosley:

To work To share the events to fundraise, okay, good so for us, it was simultaneously we were helping local and we were meeting the goals that we needed to to help the organizations in colombia, that's fantastic, that's great.

Chris Baker:

Um, so sometimes this may be a challenging. You know working and trying to work together with other collaborations, and so they, kind of you, might be unique challenges. Can you explain any of the key lessons that you've learned by working with all of these different organizations so that other our viewers can actually think of different ways, that they can think of how to work through some of the challenges they might experience? Well it depends.

Claudia Mosley:

We did have some challenges. Some of the organizations, uh, took the opportunity of having an event and, in another group, like, really all they had to do was show up and we required that at least they had 20 guests so that we have enough people to fundraise more.

Claudia Mosley:

So we had some organizations that dropped the ball and they just showed up and they didn't do any efforts on promoting the event or being more proactive. Where we have others that we did amazing because they did the promoting, the inviting, the collaboration on sponsorship, Like I said, the one that we did with Monica and I think that was in October of last year was a complete success.

Claudia Mosley:

It was beautiful. I mean, we had a full room, the collaboration was great, the energy in that night's event was really beautiful. So that's the learning experience. Experience is that you know we. You have to sit down with the organization that you're choosing and really explain what is the goal of the event. Right, not just you know we. We're choosing you, we want to help you, but we need to make sure that we both at the same level so that we can make sure that the event is successful.

Chris Baker:

Correct, yeah, so one of the other things we have as a collaboration effort is our new program called Headshots for a Cause, and I thought that was the most amazing thing that you can come up with, because, no, for real, every uh professional needs to update a picture.

Claudia Mosley:

I mean when I see sometimes the business card with a picture of a guy that looks like 20 years ago it's like, it's like, so you know when like I, I never, was never dated, and so in how do you call that in those platforms? But it's a lie. It's like yo, this was you 20 years ago. You need to show yourself how you look today and there's nothing wrong.

Chris Baker:

I mean, obviously, the human being ages correct as part of the you know world and the day-to-day, but I do feel that it's very important for you to get an actual profile picture yearly, if you can yeah, I would recommend, even if you can't do it, yearly every two years for sure yeah, it's so important because, as we're business, you know networking and everything and they're going to go check out your profiles on linkedin and maybe facebook, wherever you might be using social media, if it doesn't look like they met the same person that we met exactly that's not the same person and they may just move on yeah because it's like oh, that wasn't who I actually, or no?

Claudia Mosley:

or sometimes you like. Okay, why hasn't he changed the picture?

Chris Baker:

or that too. Is he stuck or is she?

Claudia Mosley:

stuck in how she looked 20 years ago. I come on, you need to move on. It's part of being a professional. Move on, yes.

Chris Baker:

So at the end of 2024, we did some pilot testing with a couple organizations to see how this was going to work and now we really saw the benefit of what we could do to help nonprofits through the headshots for our cause. And so now we choose three nonprofits every quarter and those three nonprofits, you know we're going to create the marketing material. We do. You know all. We create an entire website. They can go to headshots. The number for a causecom, and you can go and easily just select. I'm ready for my headshot Pick Global Dreams USA Pay the $250. Causecom, and you can go and easily just select. I'm ready for my headshot pick global dreams USA pay the two 50. And then all of the net proceeds go directly to the nonprofit. That's a beautiful thing.

Claudia Mosley:

And I tell you because I belong to two different organizations it's easier for me to say hey, you know, you always said how can I, how can we contribute? This is something that can impact you professionally so you can get a brand new shot. But this wonderful company is helping nonprofits by giving a percentage of their proceeds to the nonprofits. If you want to help me, I feel like it's a a gain in both parties. Right, because you need a head shop and sometimes, uh, they are extremely, um, expensive. Sometimes people don't like the way they come out. Sometimes the people don't like the personalities, um, of the people that is taking the photo, um, and you. I do do have to say that you and Momo are the most giving, loving.

Chris Baker:

Oh, thank you.

Claudia Mosley:

Which makes you feel more comfortable, right. I don't feel nervous in front of a camera when I'm with you where sometimes I could feel a little fear or nervous. You definitely have a gift of making people feel comfortable.

Chris Baker:

I appreciate that. Yeah, that's actually. It's one of my passions to really kind of like calm a room. I do use energy, work in wherever I'm at because I'm like I want you to be your authentic self, I want you to be feeling safe, and if you can't be safe and you can't be your authentic self, you're not moving forward. And that's where I feel like one of my gifts is just helping those people feel that way so that they can make the change that needs to happen in the world. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Looking forward, what are some of the strategic priorities for global dreams and how is that going to help future collaborations to support the underprivileged students in latin america?

Claudia Mosley:

so what we did, knew was you know, we, we? I got into my um, my networking group. I changed from my professional to my non-profit um and we wanted to see how that um, that effort, will work for the organization. And we had amazing results, oh good, so well that I don't think I can go back to my professional in that group anymore, because you know staying with the nonprofit has been so rewarding and is what we needed, like now, finally, we see a growth. So we just took three more students.

Chris Baker:

Really, yes, congratulations, see a growth. So we just took three more students. Uh, yes, so congratulations.

Claudia Mosley:

So we see that, um, when we have a collaboration by uh, belonging to a group of people and we have in our, in our group, we have about 35 people and and believe it or not that most of them are involved. Most of them are giving me recurring donations, most of them show up to the events. Most of them give me for sponsorship. Like I said, at the end of the year, I was missing my quarter and they got up and say, hey, claudia needs to make her quarter for the nonprofit so that the kids can get an education. Come on, we can do this.

Claudia Mosley:

And it was fundraising a day, so it was amazing, amazing, amazing.

Chris Baker:

Yeah, you have a good group of people. I have actually visited your group and I just was like wow, these people are so connected, so well loved, so connected.

Claudia Mosley:

Yes, yes, I feel like the group of marketing and events. They really do a good job on getting people together, so we do get for lunch almost every other week. We all get a group of people together.

Chris Baker:

Oh nice.

Claudia Mosley:

And it's not only the different power teams. Tomorrow we have the real estate and the business power team getting together.

Chris Baker:

Oh good.

Claudia Mosley:

And it's one of my clients' restaurants, so I always look a way of helping everyone involved.

Chris Baker:

Right, yeah, exactly.

Claudia Mosley:

So we have a client that is called Mario Cubano and he's opening up the restaurant and we're doing lunch there and usually we have about 20 people show up. Oh, that's fantastic.

Chris Baker:

Yes, that's a good amount of people and I tell you that's fantastic.

Claudia Mosley:

Yes, that's a good amount of people. And I tell you, the meetings are very structured. It's so nice that it's so well-instructed, but I feel like the only way that you can really get to know them as a person is by the events outside those meetings that we do, and we do a lot of events, like we had the Christmas party and everybody showed up at the Christmas party. Like we had a full house.

Chris Baker:

That's fantastic.

Claudia Mosley:

Full house and you know the chapter tries to make it so that the members don't pay for the party. But that's a collaboration of a lot of raffles that we do throughout the year. Right, lot of raffles that we do throughout the years, a lot of things that we do throughout the years and we always remind the members remember the more you participate. This is for the crisp the end of the year party, because we do look forward to all of us get together and really celebrate. So this year was great.

Chris Baker:

We had a great time it's those moments that you get to connect, that really kind of help bond you. Because when you sit through a normal meeting, yeah, you get to hear what people are looking for and everything else.

Claudia Mosley:

But it's those other meetings outside, when you're having a drink with them, having a lunch with them, having coffee yes, to get to really know them and you know I do a lot of events in my house where I welcome them to come with their families, um, so I we had one I think it was in august, where they came with their kids and their spouses, and that's really a way for a group of people to engage, because not only are you engaging on a one-to-one level, but now you're seeing them as a father, as a husband, as their kids are there. It's a really great way of getting to really know the group, and that's how a group gets a lot more stronger is when they get to know each other better.

Chris Baker:

And if any of you ever get the chance to go to one of her parties, she makes amazing pizza in her brick oven Like it's all outside Amazing.

Claudia Mosley:

Very good.

Chris Baker:

All right. So, as we wrap up, there's actually one last question. It actually went back to a word that you said earlier, which is fantastic, because we do want to talk about legacy, and so what is the legacy that you hope to leave behind for future generations?

Claudia Mosley:

Definitely not only the fact that we impacted a human being with education, but also the fact that we were responsible for them to have their own initiative to replicate the same thing we did. So, to me, what the result of this whole thing has given me the most satisfaction is that they're doing the same thing, is that it's not going to die when I stop? Is that they're doing the same thing? Is that it's not going to die when I stop? It's going to? We actually planted seeds in every single one young adult that we had helped that now they are all thinking the way we're thinking, and so to me, that's a great legacy.

Claudia Mosley:

That it doesn't stop there when a human being got for bed, retires or dies, that it continues, that we really impacted the life of a human being to realize, oh my god, I'm successful because of the help that I got, so let me do it again, let me help another human being, let me, let me start doing the same. And to to us, and I said to us, is the the. You know, our board members are so excited with that.

Claudia Mosley:

That we have seen how involved they're getting in their communities, in the universities, the projects that they're doing. They were like, yes, this is yes. We wanted to help them to be professional, because education can definitely clean towns by giving them better security, prosperity but also understand that you have to give, you have to serve, in order to succeed. So that definitely the legacy is knowing that it's not going to stop when I stop, that it's going to keep going.

Chris Baker:

I love it. I love that Paying it forward through social good. I love it. I love that paying it forward through social good. I love it that is a beautiful legacy and I think you know I hope other listeners and you know the viewers are looking to other ways that they can help find ways to collaborate and continue.

Claudia Mosley:

I tell you something and I want to invite. We're going to uh columbia this memorial day weekend. Um, I took my youngest daughter for the first time last year she is. Uh, she was 15 years old and I didn't want to take her until she asked me to take her. Oh, I never enforced it to any of my kids. Yeah they all are involved in the community. Um but uh.

Claudia Mosley:

When I took my daughter, she was so impressed of the impact of education on a young adult and she was so impressed how she gets everything given here and how much they have to work to get it and how much they not only in their schools but they have also a job, a part-time job, and and and then the the efforts that they're doing with the community, the university, where you're like, oh my god, how they have so much time, the impact that that made to a young adult, that I will recommend that if, if anybody wants to come this Memorial Day weekend and they want to bring their young children, I'll say 13 and up, because they're more aware it will definitely change their perspective and it will definitely change their life.

Claudia Mosley:

So my daughter is now more involved. She opened the only social media that she has really it's LinkedIn and it was all dedicated to Global Dreams and how it impacted her by going and now she's involved and now she wants to know that she's coming this year again. You know she helps us in the events. She's very and not only with our organization the events she's very uh, and not only with our organization.

Claudia Mosley:

Like you know, now since she came back, she took it up on herself to get involved in her local, local projects in cooper city okay so um she. That really impressed me, and it also made me realize that as a mother, I did something right, because kids also learn more by example.

Chris Baker:

Oh, absolutely, by seeing.

Claudia Mosley:

You can tell a kid, whatever it is, you have to be good and you have to. But if they don't see a good example, then that's never going to happen, Right?

Chris Baker:

right.

Claudia Mosley:

So I think that if anybody wants to come and they want to bring their young kids, please contact me. Definitely it's a safe event. We are all travel together in a bus, so it's usually 25 people. We go to beautiful restaurants, we go to beautiful sightseeing and then the Sunday, which is when we go with the kids, we usually do a trip. Last year we went to the. Laguna de Guatavita is the lagoon where the el dorado took place. I don't know if you saw that, the the uh, the story of how the indians used to throw gold in a lagoon okay, no, el dorado, let's go.

Claudia Mosley:

Okay so, uh, disney has actually a uh a movie about El Dorado, and it is the story of Colombia. Our Indians had a lot of gold in the way that they praised their gods. It was by all of the gold. They would either bury it in certain places or throw it to certain lagoons, and it's a place where you felt the energy in a way that you don't feel in any other places. It was like Machu Picchu, for example.

Claudia Mosley:

They said that the energy that you feel in that it's amazing. Well, kind of like that, you feel that type of energy.

Chris Baker:

Yeah, I know Momo has been there and he just raves how much.

Claudia Mosley:

And you know, not because I'm colombian, but the food is amazing it's affordable really so for one person to go, including the 300 that we asked for donation for you, for you to come, it's about 1100 the hotel is 70 and it's the most beautiful hotel. Like Rene, got a suite for $75 a night Amazing.

Chris Baker:

Amazing. So one other thing before we go is how can they contact you Website phone number, so our website is wwwglobaldreamsusaorg.

Claudia Mosley:

We also have a page in Facebook and in Instagram. You can personally call me at 954-560-7548 if you want to get involved. Okay, If you want to participate in any way in any of our trips, in any of our events? Our event at 27 is going to be a beautiful event at chima steakhouse. We are sharing that event with mrd and it's going to be a really, really beautiful event awesome.

Chris Baker:

Well, again, thank you so much, claudia, for being on the show with us, and we'll tune in next time. Have a wonderful day.

Claudia Mosley:

Thank you, thank you.

Chris Baker:

Thank you for joining me on this episode of . We hope that the inspiration and practical insights can help you foster stronger connections and meaningful change. Don't forget to subscribe, share the episode and leave us a review. To learn more about Visuals by Momo and how we support collaboration and storytelling, visit visualsbymomo. com. A huge thank you to everyone out there listening until next time. Remember, collaboration fuels change and your connections can inspire the world.