Hope, a Non-Profit Dedicated to Food Distribution, Medical Care & Support for Vulnerable Communities
Ask Rick Mirza, the CEO of Daulat, a global private equity firm with 180 employees and
dozens of industries under their belt, what excites him and revs his entrepreneurial
engine, and his reply might surprise you. Rather than quote, Steve Jobs or Warren Buffet
or Bill Gates, he instead draws on Abraham Lincoln. “One of the philosophies I’ve
chosen to live by is captured in a Lincoln quote: ‘In serving each other we are free.’ I
believe that the debt we pay for our own good fortune is doing a service for others,
without asking for anything in return.”
That sense of philanthropy runs deep in Mirza family, which self-funded and founded
PakTech, a technical training center and incubator for underprivileged Pakistani
children. It enables students with few resources to learn tech trades, such as coding,
programming or graphic design. From one school with eight students in 2017 to today
PakTech (which Mirza began with his father) now trains over 50 students annually, with
the goal of establishing 20 schools globally over the next five years. That altruistic
instinct moved Mirza again, leading to the upcoming launch of Hope, a non-profit whose
goal is to provide food, clothing, medical care, and other essential items to
impoverished communities globally.
Seeing the world as an entrepreneur. Witnessing and poverty and wanting to help as a
citizen and humanitarian
As the CEO of a private equity firm with investments in International Hotel Chains,
Wireless Retail, and over 65M in active real estate developments, Mirza spends much of
his time overseas. “In my work, I travel around the world, sometimes to places where
I’ve witnessed extreme poverty. These are communities where every day is a Ramadan
fast not by choice by circumstances, and the nearest health clinic could be 100 miles
away,” Mirza says. His humanitarian instincts led him to do the usual charitable
activities — giving money and initiating food drives, clothing drives, and efforts to
provide essential household items.
But doing some good wasn’t good enough for Mirza. “I felt we weren’t reaching enough
people, not having enough of an impact. We needed to do more.”
Introducing Hope. Funding, oversight and “boots on the ground” where aid is needed
most, in the U.S. and internationally
Mirza realized that the best way he could serve was to combine his business skills with
his charity goals, “to do offer human time capital and management, as well as financial
resources. I realized we needed to have our own boots on the ground to achieve our
goals,” he said. So, he decided to create a 501-3C and establish Hope. Originally
envisioned as a charity focusing on reducing childhood hunger, the scope expanded to
feed anyone in need, regardless of age.
But that was just the beginning of Mirza’s vision. Hope now plans to offer medical
services as well, including critical care and surgeries in parts of the world where the
nearest treatment center may be hundreds of miles away — facilities and equipment
that first-world countries takes for granted. His goal is to kick off the first public
fundraising drive during Thanksgiving of this year, not just in the states, but around the
world, using seed capital from Mirza, Daulat and its partners.
“For me, business has always been about something more than just capital. Yes, we
want to be profitable, and fortunately, Daulat has been, and we need to do our part and
then some” he says. This year, the portfolio of companies and investments reached the
milestone of $100 million in assets.
“That enables us — requires us, actually — to be of service and to put our good fortune
to work for others who need our help.”
About Daulat
Daulat is a multi-national, private equity firm that oversees a portfolio of diversified
companies. Focusing on value-added investment strategies in markets where we
understand the economic, political and social landscape, Daulat is an opportunistic,
value-add funder. From real estate, to medical technology, to quick-service restaurants,
to hospitality, Daulat has pioneered ways to maximize investment management and
partnerships more than 10 years.
