Nely Galán

Nely Galán is a self-made media entrepreneur. She was the first Latina President of Entertainment for a U.S. television network-Telemundo, and an Emmy Award-winning producer of over 700 television shows in English and Spanish, including the hit reality series, “The SWAN” for 20th Century Fox, which she produced through her multi-media company Galán Entertainment. Her company also launched over 10  television channels abroad for companies like HBO, ESPN, FOX, MGM, and Sony.

Galán took a mid-career sabbatical, completing a Masters and Doctorate in clinical psychology,

where she focused on the  “Psychology of Money”, in multicultural communities. She then authored The New York Times bestselling book SELF MADE, Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way (2016) Random House, which was published in English, Spanish, and Mandarin about the revolution in women’s entrepreneurship led by multicultural women in the U.S. and emerging women around the world.

Since then, Galán has founded The Adelante Movement, a non-profit aimed towards empowering and training Latina and other multicultural women both economically as well as entrepreneurially. Her digital platform, BecomingSelfMade.com reaches over 1 million women monthly and hosts content in financial literacy and Self-Made stories of women of color as well as virtual content and webinars. The platform offers over 300 hours of content to small business owners of color for free. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Galán has been producing webinars and educating small business owners of color. In doing so, she has trained many on how to properly fill out forms for federal and state loans and grants, helped compile their financial paperwork, and connected them with banks and Fin-tech partners. She has trained over 1 million small business owners of color in entrepreneurship in person and online, working with SBA, local chambers of commerce, nonprofits, and social justice groups, creating original content and hosting webinars teaching women and families how to save their businesses and get the PPP and EIDL loans.

Galán is a sought-after speaker – during the last 5 years, she has spoken in over 500 cities advocating for small business owners of color. She has become an expert in virtual content as a way to scale teaching financial literacy and empowerment in diverse communities. In China, her book tour resulted in the selling of 2.1 million books. She has also spoken at The United Nations, The United States of Women, major corporations (Coca-Cola, American Express, J.P Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Walmart, Dell), and tech companies (Google, Facebook, eBay, Uber). Furthermore, Galán’s speeches have inspired thousands of students across the United States as she has spoken at many universities including Harvard, USC, UCLA, University of Arizona, University of Miami, University of Arkansas, Babson College, Bryant University, Simmons College for Women, and Santa Monica City College. 

Galan is an Emeritus board member of the Smithsonian Institute. She currently serves on the board of directors of The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (since 2008). She is also on the advisory board of The Aspen Institute, and on the corporate side has been an advisory board member of Coca-Cola’s Hispanic Council (since 2008). Her next book, to be published in 2021, Don’t Buy Shoes Buy Buildings!, will inform those who currently work for others how to invest in order to “make money while we sleep” and become Self Made.