Gloria and Emilio Estefan
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Singer
FUNDING AREAS: Health, Animal Care, Arts, Human Services
OVERVIEW: Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio Estefan do their grantmaking through the Gloria Estefan Foundation, which, in recent years, has been giving a few hundred thousand dollars annually. Estefan's philanthropy focuses on Miami, her longtime residence, with health, human services, youth, and animal care outfits receiving support. Estefan has also given to Hispanic organizations.
BACKGROUND: Gloria Estefan fled Cuba with her family when Fidel Castro rose to power. Her father had been a Cuban soldier and bodyguard of President Batista. As a child, Estefan liked to write poetry, and took classical guitar lessons. In the mid 1970s, she met Emilio Estefan, her future husband, who led a band that played popular Latin music. Initially, Estefan only sang on weekends because she was still attending the University of Miami. Eventually, Estefan became the lead singer and the band was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. Estefan later later performed solo, as well. She is one of the top-selling music artists of all time and has won multiple awards.
ISSUES:
HEALTH: There are certainly personal elements to some of this philanthropy. For one, Estefan's father, upon return from Vietnam, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, possibly as a result of herbicide exposure while serving in the army. As well, in the early 1990s, Estefan's band bus was involved in an accident, and Estefan suffered a broken vertebra in her back. Following her own brush with paralysis, Estefan teamed up with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and served as the capital campaign director for the Miami Project’s new building campaign, which raised over $40 million dollars. She and Emilio continue to support Miami Project via their foundation, as well as places like Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Here's Help, which deals with substance abuse.
ANIMAL CARE: Grantees include North Shore Animal Hospital, Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, Humane Society of Greater Miami, and the Cesar Millan Foundation, whose mission is to "create and deliver community humane education programs and promote animal welfare."
HISPANIC CAUSES: Given Estefan's background, it is no surprise that she has also funded organizations like Hispanic Unity of Florida, which was founded in 1982 as a haven for immigrants and refugees, and has grown to serve "diverse and multi-cultural working families from the United States as well as more than 25 other countries." Other grantees include Smithsonian Latino Center.
OTHER: Estefan also supports organizations that serve youth and children such as Amigos Together for the Kids, "a nonprofit dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect," and to schools such as Miami Senior High School, and Berklee College of Music. She donated at least $1 million alone to University of Miami, her alma mater, in 2006. She and Emilio have also supported human services organizations like World Central Kitchen.
LOOKING AHEAD: Estefan has amassed quite a fortune over the years, not only through music but through restaurant and hotel management, and other ventures. She is a Miami mainstay and those in the area should watch her.
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