20 under 40: ALANA SCOTT

Favorite quote or saying, why?

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa

Community or professional highlights:

With over 13 years of experience as a leader in the financial industry, I continually seeks to promote opportunities that improve the financial well-being of women from all walks of life. As the co-founder and president of the Women’s Education and Leadership League, aka “WELL,” I teach financial literacy and provide invaluable financial education to women in our community. The Women’s Education and Leadership League provides free financial, emotional and physical workshops, seminars, collaborative cohorts and mentoring to women. WELL’s education committee has developed and teaches a comprehensive curriculum in collaboration with local nonprofits that serve the most vulnerable women in our community. Alana teaches a financial literacy program and provides comprehensive financial education through WELL’s free community classes and seminars. A sought-after public speaker, Alana shares her experiences and inspiration with audiences across California, talking about the importance of improving the quality of financial literacy for women. She is an active proponent of developing financial solutions for women and girls in communities across the United States to create financial confidence and independence.

I also serve on the board of directors for CASA Stanislaus and El Concilio. I am the 2016 recipient of the National Sue Haskoor Lifetime Achievement Award for my work with women, and WELL is the 2016 recipient of the La Raza Award, presented by El Concilio.

I believe financial education and mentoring for women and girls is the key to elevated success in all communities.

Your life changed when:

My life changed when I decided to believe that we have the freedom to turn our challenges and suffering into an opportunity to serve others and change lives. When I was 15 years old, my life took a dramatic detour due to the untimely loss of my mom. I unintentionally spent the 15 years of my life following her loss feeling as though I was at a disadvantage by not having the support and love my mom always provided. I still pursued career goals, personal goals and loved volunteering and giving back to the community, but I always felt as though something was missing. Throughout this timeframe, I thought the obvious “thing” I was missing was my mom.

In 2012, I had arrived at a place in life where I knew I no longer wanted to feel this way. I knew I had to make a shift in my perspective. In this moment of reflection, I realized that the “thing” I was missing out on was the opportunity to continue to carry out my mom’s legacy of kindness and love. My mom always performed incredible selfless acts of kindness for others while seeking no recognition. She specifically made efforts to improve the lives of our most vulnerable community members, those with special needs, foster youth and the underserved.

I decided to sit down and write out what carrying out my mom’s legacy would look like, how I could best accomplish her mission and keep her spirit alive. Each time I sat down and built on the ideas and concepts for “Operation Spread Patty’s (my mom) Love” I continued to feel drawn to starting a nonprofit that helps disadvantaged women. I had no idea what this looked like and on several occasions, I ended up going back to the drawing board and crossed out the word “women” and wrote in “people.” I wanted to be inclusive like my mom was. After several months of researching, writing and contemplating this idea, I decided to set this concept aside and focus on immediate tasks. I assumed this “nonprofit” wouldn’t come to fruition right away and that I had time to think it over and continue to develop the framework. Even though I set this dream aside, it never left my mind or my heart. I instinctively knew it was part of my journey and that one day it would get developed.

I’m glad I continued to have faith paired with patience. Because in 2014, everything fell into place as if it was meant to be. I happened to get connected to a woman who truly had nowhere else to turn. She was going through a tumultuous experience. I was able to rally all of my professional contacts to ask for the biggest favor in my career, to help her pro bono and pay it forward. Out of respect for her privacy, I won’t share the details of her experience, but I will share that as a result of everyone coming together for her, today she is thriving and enjoying life. Moreover, I discovered that the way I could carry out my mom’s legacy was through providing Financial Literacy and Education for the most vulnerable women in our community. Only a few short months later, my co-founders and I had a meeting about how we could help women, after a friend shared about the struggles his mother endured while attempting to provide for he and his family growing up. I knew in that meeting that this was it, this was the moment to step up and officially turn this dream into an organization.

What do you want people to know most about you?

What I’d like people to know most about me has less to do with me and more to do with who I choose to surround myself with. One of my greatest strengths is founded in the caliber of my peer group. I aim to surround myself with individuals who challenge me to give, grow and become the best contributor to society I can be.

I genuinely believe that we all have an opportunity to leave the world better than when we arrived. I believe that it is our responsibility to serve by sharing our talents, resources and gifts charitably to improve the world in some small or big way. We can accomplish this individually through our efforts or we can share our dreams with our likeminded friends, family and colleagues by pulling all of our talents together to create a positive and lasting ripple effect together. All of us have different talents, dreams and skills, if each person focuses on contributing their passion to a shared mission with positive intentions, incredible things can and will emerge. The moment I comprehended this concept, my entire life changed and I was able to focus on my small contribution to a much bigger mission than any one person can accomplish alone.

One of the experiences I find most exciting comes in the aftermath of providing mentoring and education to the women we serve at WELL. I know we have done a collective and effective job when a woman we help get on her feet, ends up sharing her talents and newfound knowledge to help someone else by paying it forward. I can’t think of a more rewarding experience.

What do you like most about living here?

I would have to say unequivocally I love the people in this community!

The people in this community are intrinsically generous. I’m not sure if WELL would have or could have been able to impact as many lives as we have if not for the giving and altruistic members of our great community.

Why is community involvement important?

I believe community involvement is the secret ingredient that can change the world. If every member of every community contributed something to improve the quality of life for the citizens residing among them, the ripple effect would be monumental. All of us have something to give, even if it seems small, we don’t fully know the impact of that small act. Think of how inspired you are after a “stranger” shows you a small act of kindness. When someone does something selflessly for me, I view it as a nudge to give more. I start thinking of creative ways to impact someone else’s day and I typically think of how I can take this act to pay it forward to the next level. Contributing to your community doesn’t require a large investment of time or financial resources, if each of us spent a few minutes a day thinking about how we are inspired to give and what we would like to share, we can create a domino effect that can dramatically impact the world.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "20 under 40: ALANA SCOTT."