Growing up poor in Ecuador in the early 1960’s was difficult for any child. For Chicago Business woman Zully Alvarado, it was even more so.  At the age of two she contracted polio and her village and surrounding villages had no medical facilities, supplies or physicians to treat her illness. She was shuttled from witch doctor to witch doctor without success. In 1965 through thanks to a missionary Catholic priest and his family back in Chicago, Zully was brought to the United states where she was able to receive treatment for her polio.

Zully never forgot those early experiences and 1996, while participating in the Landmark Education Self-Expression and Leadership Program, Zully instituted her dream and began the nonprofit organization Causes for Change International. The same year, she traveled with Co-Director Marilyn Varn on a three-week mission to gather information about what was needed to build a cultural exchange to improve the lives of those in need.   Since that start in 1996, there have been numerous exchange trips and Zully has become a sought after speaker in the area of charitable international development including having spoken before the United Nations.

For more information on Causes for Change visit their website at www.causesforchange.org