I sat at my desk for close to an hour tonight, trying to come up with a way to structure this article. I wanted to find a way to adequately describe and do justice to all the cool things that Lotay does, but was finding it difficult to do without making this a five-page story. I know I’ve written plenty of long articles in the past, but I don’t want this to be one of them. I don’t want to tell you exactly what Lotay does and why you should appreciate it — I want you to get to know him a little bit yourself, and then make your own decision. So I’m going to do something a little different with this article. Instead of telling you about all the things he does, I’m just going to tell you a little about who he is.

But even as I write this, I can see him disagreeing with me, saying that he doesn’t want the article to be about him, he wants it to be about his charitable foundation and the people they serve. Well, the truth is that there are a ton of great foundations out there, and his is one of them, but I believe that getting to know the person behind the organization is a great way to gain some context. Sorry Lotay, but you’re in the spotlight tonight.

I got my first chance to talk to this guy as the result of a heated discussion with Susan (@BuzzEdition), one of his friends and supporters. Had I known back then how much of a sweetheart Susan is and how nice Lotay is, I probably wouldn’t have been as annoying as I was. But at the time I didn’t know any better, so I asked her a bunch of questions and challenged her on a few things regarding Lotay’s work, so she eventually suggested that I speak to him personally. She make the introduction via Twitter, and he said he’d be happy to talk to me. This is where his personality comes in — he was being incredibly gracious here. There was no reason he was obligated to talk to me about anything, and he’s a super busy guy, but he did so because that’s what he does — he cares about people and makes time for them. Even obnoxious little bloggers like me.

Tweets turned to emails turned to phone calls, and during the course of getting to know Lotay, I learned that he’s a super-smart business dude. I’m not going to focus on his business ventures here, but you can certainly check out those three links if you want to learn more.

As I began to be pay more attention to what he was talking about on Twitter (@Lotay), I was more and more impressed with the quality of his discussions and the way he always took time out to talk to people who wanted to engage. Lotay is in the upper ranks of the most influential people on that service, and he’s a fantastic example of how to use it the right way. He starts interesting discussions, engages in conversations, makes connections, and uses his platform to broadcast positive messages and help people out. What I like about Twitter is that it’s a good way to get a glimpse into a person’s mind. Yes, they can be very careful about it and project an image that they want others to see, but when you encounter someone with a high velocity and engagement on the platform, along with consistent, quality content, you can be pretty sure you’ve found a winner. Especially when they make themselves available via other face-to-face communication channels, as Lotay does. He’s just a really sincere and genuine guy who cares about others, and that really shines through in his interactions.

Lotay’s heart for others is most readily apparent in the charitable organization he created: Black Card Circle Foundation (@BCCF on Twitter). This is the real deal, folks. BCCF is a true 501(c)(3) public charity, and all net proceeds are donated directly to the people they serve. BCCF is a 100% volunteer organization, including the executive leadership. Lotay and his team receive no compensation for all the work they do. And trust me, they do a lot of work. Their mission is to empower the marginalized and the voiceless in society, in these five areas of focus:

• Education
• Environment
• Health Care
• Community Development
• Poverty Relief

I’ve seen some of the results of what BCCF has done for the charities they work with, and I’ve been truly impressed. So impressed, in fact, that I’ve become a volunteer with the organization myself. I’m not heavily involved right now, but I do a few things here and there to raise awareness about what they’re doing and introduce new people to their cause. But the truth is that I wouldn’t do any of these things if I didn’t trust the man behind the curtain — and that’s why I chose to introduce the Black Card Circle Foundation by first introducing you to Lotay. I believe that people do business with other people, not necessarily with organizations. I trust Lotay, and I believe in what he’s built. During one of our phone conversations, something he said really struck a chord with me. Here it is:

My true passion is the Black Card Circle Foundation which was born from a deep commitment to giving back after I lost my father at 21. When he died, I thought to myself that, not only did I just lose a father who had instilled in me the values of unconditional love, but that the world lost an amazing man, too. On that day, I made a promise to honor him through everything I do, and the BCCF is the outward extension of that, which pays homage to the gifts he gave me that I want to share with others — and the world. It’s the embodiment of who I am, and my core values and beliefs; not a corporate strategy.

We discussed this in one of our conversations, so I pulled the above quote from an article already written about Lotay. If you’d like to learn more about the way his business endeavors dovetail with his charitable efforts, I encourage you to take a look.

If you’d like to learn more about what the Black Card Circle Foundation is up to, take a look at their upcoming events page. This week they’re working with Aaron Cohen to combat human trafficking by bringing attention to the very important issue of modern-day slavery.

So there you have it, folks: a fantastic organization run by a great guy who truly has a heart for others. Feel free to introduce yourself and say hi, or ask any questions you may have in the comments below.

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