From before I could remember I have been fascinated with this wonderful earth I am apart of and because of that, I have felt a great need to preserve it. However, I am not here to solve this problem myself, but rather work behind the sense to ensure it becomes a reality. I am the founder of a nonprofit social capital firm called Compassion Investing. We apply the practices of billionaires to philanthropic giving in order to build wealth and donate it to the causes that matter most. I have always had a desire to help people and finally, I have a vessel that I believe can cause the greatest impact. With my model, I can raise, grow, and give funds continuously to make the biggest projects, the largest ideas, and the boldest solutions to issues like climate change. As a science-minded person, I believe in thorough research to identify the projects that have the greatest potential impact and make these projects a reality, as well as ensure these ideas are put into practice around the world. I believe there are more socially responsible people in the world now than ever before and I hope I can help unite these ideas and scientists and artists in order to accomplish something fantastic. A sustainable future is well within our reach and it will take an army to make these dreams come true. We will all have to work like a machine, and I believe I can be the oil that helps make this machine work.

My life has been characterized by a long and continuous battle. All my life I have been extremely active in community outreach and volunteering, I even went on a mission trip to Haiti and have started my own nonprofit. I find great pride in all of these things but there is always a voice in my head. He tells me that everything I do is never enough and no matter the volunteer hours, or the money raised for social causes, or the impact I make; I will never be enough for myself. This voice became louder as I grew older. As a 7th grader, I attempted my first suicide. Not a soul knew of my distress. I tried again in 8th grade and 9th grade. In my freshmen year, I learned what it felt like to cause self harm. By my junior year, I spoke the words I had never dreamed of saying, "I need help." For four years I attempted suicide 4 times, cut myself over 300 times, and never once spoke of it. I felt completely and utterly alone. Now, I know I have clinical Seasonal Affective Disorder which, coupled with my severe ADHD, has complicated my life to a great extent. Still, with the hard hand of my father, I fought through my pain, and even when no one around me knew of my great struggles, I smiled. I found a fraction of joy in ensuring that no one around me would feel as I do. I showed God to all who met with me, I offered a shoulder to cry on for every toddler, adolescent, or adult who I recognized where struggling. I gained a sixth sense to tell how others were feeling so I could help them but somehow I was never able to speak of my own. Even now, I count down the days until I can be reunited in the arms of my heavenly father, and in the meantime, I started a nonprofit, Compassion Investing, so that I would know there is a reason I am on this earth, and that is the message I give to everyone around me. We are here to make a change, each of us has that power, and as long as we are still here, our job is not yet done.

Early in my high school and college career I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti on a mission trip. Poverty was crippling and so widespread there was no escape. I gave away my shoes, my clothes, and anything else that wasn't essential. When I returned home, I was horrified at the American lifestyle. We have far too much, which is not subjective. We American's have the responsibility to do what we can for developing countries and their economic conditions. I have since dedicated my life to the education and career of economic and financial equality. I am completely driven to accomplish my righteous mission and I hope to find as many others as I can to join me. I am in a position that with enough determination and commitment I can make a difference and I am prepared to go through any obstacle or setback to work towards this goal. Before Haiti I was working for myself, my career, my mission, but now I believe I cannot fail simply because my mission has become so broad beyond myself that I have no other option but to use every opportunity I have. On the small scale, I look for opportunities to help those without adequate income and working myself in order to give as much as I can. In the future, I feel my calling towards economic development in underdeveloped countries and nonprofit financial advisory. Big or small I am ready to make a difference to improve the lives of others, no matter what I must fight through. This has lead to the creation of my nonprofit company, Compassion investing. We are a social capital nonprofit organization that uses the same practice of billionaires to build a continuous fund for families and communities in developing countries. The original lessons I learned on my mission trip gave me the perspective I needed to truly understand the debt of need that is present in these places.

My entire life I have had a goal to apply the same principle that creates billionaires to philanthropy. This is the basis of my nonprofit startup, Compassion Investing. After my mission trip to Haiti, I saw first hand the full impact of financial inequality. Since then I have been continuously dedicated to learning the ever-changing practices of investing and wealth building. It is a never-ending endeavor but with a sufficient foundation, I can begin my dream of supplying impactful and continuous giving to those who have next to nothing. I have looked far and wide to supplement my research in the form of CPA's, CFA's, economists, and business leaders. In the pursuit of pure knowledge, I prepare myself for all of those same tests above. However, as my company reaches a stalemate I realize I am still very under-supplied for my mission. This is where the need for resources comes into play. Working for a small nonprofit I am handling money that will exclusively be used for philanthropic purposes. With an endowment, I can finish a college degree while simultaneously gaining a CPA certification and a CFA. All of these are very valuable skills and letters that I can use to further the impact of my nonprofit. I have found my calling in the form of social capital, but because of my age I am not prepared for the task that is before me, however, I have both the desire and work ethic to make these dreams come true.

The summer of COVID-19 as I am sure it will come to be known, was a garage of new information followed by unarguably one of the best times of my life. When COVID-19 was named as a pandemic the world went into lockdown, but that was not what stole my attention. I was working at a local grocery store at the time so the next thing I knew I was 16 and working over 80 hours every week. The days flew by me in a flurry as I scrambled to take care of everything that was before me. My hard work paid off as I was promoted to the youngest department head in the history of Hy-Vee. The only issue: my department was online shopping, the craziest most abrupt growing department. But that is not what stole my summer. My life was turned around when I was contacted by an old friend. A woman I had met on my missionary trip to Haiti not one year earlier. She called me out of options, informing me that there were 3 children who had no funding. The orphanage was dried up for another 4 months and these children had no food, water, clothing, or place to call home. The only solution was to find a beneficiary, but the quest was to no avail. This is where my story begins. The cost to support these children was $900 per week, almost my exact weekly salary working 80 hours per week. I spent the day working and ironically I received my first paycheck that day. I knew what I had to do. I called the director of northwest Haiti Christian Mission and informed them they had a new beneficiary, for the three homeless children. This experience was one of the best in my entire life, I found my calling, I saved three little lives, and I realized my purpose. From that moment on I knew I wanted to work in nonprofit social capital. Ever since I have been on this mission to raise funds for the sake of those less fortunate. I began investing and working and started my own nonprofit organization, Compassion Investing. I hope to continue to work and grow my company until we have to endowment needed to change lives. But this is a task much larger than me so I look to college to learn what I need to start my mission. It seems backwards, but COVID-19 saved the lives of three little children in Haiti, along with the life of one person who was growing into a man; and learning what it means to truly live.

There is a kind of life that so few people live it has essentially disappeared. These people are of the utmost quality and become the most intriguing people who have ever stepped foot in any building. Daniel Spray is possibly one of the most interesting people you will ever meet, at least on the inside. He was one of those people who managed to completely command a room full of people whom he had absolutely no connection to yet befriend all of those same people. Dan Spray never spoke his mind until the thought was able to come to such a point of maturity that every syllable of his plans would resonate with the artist just as much as the practical businessman. He is a man who built everything in his life from the ground up, the most humble beginnings to the highest forms of achievement yet his humility brings all arrogant thoughts to a close. This selfless hard-working man taught me everything from flying an airplane to riding a bike. My father Dan Spray taught me how to live my life, he taught me how to succeed, and most importantly he taught me how to work. My father has a fascinating story, he came to Norfolk broke, born to poor parents with an ACT score so low the only credit he received was because he put his name on it. Barely scraping by an Associates' degree he began working at a small internet company in town, as a garbage boy. Until one day he stole a book on system installations and began reading, pretty soon he was able to lead the department in the subject. Soon after that, he taught himself sales, internet services, and computer code. He slowly built his way up through the company until he was able to buy it from the current owners. The years that followed consisted of building that small Norfolk company into the towering business that now runs corporations in 48 states and 13 countries, not counting some of the biggest names in LA to DC. All while building an impressive portfolio of buildings and property that spans just as many states. But these are not his story, my father carries with him a much greater burden. This is not why I respect my father. My father is a teacher, he taught me to respect people. From midnight to 3 AM you could hear him on the phone with clients, and most of the time it wasn’t the important ones. He valued people, so he gave them his most valuable asset, himself. He alone personally spans across more committees and community positions than most people know how to name. From local to state to national committees my father, as soon as he was in the position to do so, began to give back. He built himself into something greater than his business. “It’s always about the people,” rang true in every area of his life, and something he frequently says. None of this came easy, severe ADHD and almost flunking out of school, you would never suspect Daniel Spray to be anyone worth mentioning in the years to come from his adolescence. But he did it. Building something from literally nothing he learned thousands of valuable lessons about building businesses, relationships, and a legacy. He taught me the painstaking process of flying an airplane, the mastery it took to hold the yoke steady as the giant metal bird flew hundreds of miles per hour through the air. He taught me patience to receive what I wanted and action to take what I needed. My father was and is a brilliant man. He built 17 different businesses to his name and thousands more clients and buildings. But at the very core of his being, he is just a father, providing for his family. He is just a husband, coming home to his wife. He is just a community worker, with the face of a businessman. My father taught me what was really important, something that doesn’t get taught very often, and something we all need to be reassured of.