As the year comes to an end John Dragotta, president and CEO of Sovereign, wanted to have an impact far greater than just giving the “hot” toy of the season. Instead, this year John wanted to have more of a significant and longer-term impact on some children and their communities. So with that said, this holiday season, John and his team gave gifts that were designed to keep on giving… the gift of education and opportunities.

This holiday season, Sovereign decided they would fund 10 years of schooling for children in Afghanistan where the girls tend to be the first to suffer. The donation included tuition, books and other supplies needed; in the belief that if these young girls are better equipped with access to an education, they can become more self-sustained, smarter, and make more informed decisions that will hopefully contribute to a better life.

Sovereign Global Advisors also chose to donate mandatory school uniforms for girls in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, where families lack funds for food and shelter and young girls miss the opportunity of an education as it is a mere luxury the families cannot afford.

The Sovereign team didn’t stop there. They also funded a new classroom for some teachers in need. They provided desks, chairs, tables, chalkboard and other essentials in South Sudan, Syria and Lebanon, where the conflict and displacement have left many children

without access to an education.

Lastly, being an entrepreneur himself, Mr. Dragotta chose to fund a great and opportunistic program in Liberia that supports female entrepreneurs through small business training. “The potential of a business savvy woman should never be underestimated and could be vital to the recovery of a family after war. Anyone who can help out with the generation of income for their families in these difficult times could be invaluable to their survival and a great contributor to the communities in which they are a part of," said Dragotta.

When asked about it, Dragotta, emotionally said “I am very grateful I have the opportunity to give throughout the year and especially during the holidays when we tend to reflect on how fortunate we truly are. We tend to forget that there are so many young kids out there not receiving some of the most basic opportunities and education in life. Those we take for granted here in the states. My heart breaks for them when I think about it. Having two very young daughters myself, I couldn’t imagine their lives without even the most basic forms of an education. So my reason for choosing these particular gifts this year was to try to empower these girls to be strong, to be independent and to even potentially do some great things with their life, just as I would want for my own daughters. My goal simply was to just try and maybe lower the odds against them, in the hopes that someone who could potentially change their community for the better one day, will at least have the tools and education to help them do so.”

The IRC was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein. The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. IRC teams provide health care, infrastructure, learning and economic support to people in 40 countries, with special programs designed for women and children. Every year, the IRC resettles thousands of refugees in 22 U.S. cities. To learn more about the programs and how you can make a difference, please visit www.Rescue.org

At Sovereign Global Advisors, we look for success in a very crowded financial field by applying our extensive experience investing in opportunities around the world and managing investments for corporations and high-net worth families. We use an established blend of people power, industry savvy, and access to global markets to assist us in reaching our vision not only for our clients but also for our company and community at large. Our success, this company’s success, is undoubtedly intertwined with the success of all our clients. We will never forget this. For more information on Sovereign’s services and philanthropy efforts, please visit our website: www.SovereignGlobalAdvisors.com