Empowering Others to Live Their Dreams

Ana Cortes ‘11, Ph.D., believes that leadership, at its core, is rooted in service. As a student on the Heights, Cortes was inspired to take charge of her capacity to lead and, as she puts it, “to step forward with purpose, passion and a vision for change.” She learned from faculty mentors like Christina Michaelson, Ph.D., and Michael Massingale, Ph.D., that true leadership is not merely about guiding others, but empowering them. Today she is committed to helping future generations “ignite their dreams and create a lasting impact in the world.”

A New York City native, Cortes is the founder of Beginning With You, an organization that offers life coaching, therapy and psychological testing services for children and adults. It is deeply gratifying, she says, to help someone struggling with anxiety or depression take stock of where he is and where he wants to be. She often reminds the individuals she works with that, in a world in which time spent online is supplanting time spent offline more and more, deep reflection requires unplugging and building a trusted community. 

Community building where Cortes’ passion lies. It is where she draws her energy and inspiration. As she engages in the work of helping others learn to identify, grow and maintain close connections, she often finds herself drawing on her experiences at Le Moyne. She built a deep network of mentors and friends as an undergraduate, serving as a resident adviser, president of the Pre-Health Society and tutor-counselor supervisor for the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program. She recalls that she was the person her peers would often go to for advice because she recognized the importance of simply being present for another person. Now she is that person for her clients and patients. 

Cortes’ efforts to support others are not limited to her role at Beginning With You. In addition to the work she does there as a clinician and life coach, she is also the founder of The Learning Space for Everyone and The Learning Space for Everyone International, which provide academic coaching and support to students in the United States and around the world, including in China, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is another way in which she can provide others with the tools they need to build the lives of their choosing. 

 Cortes credits her time at College and the relationships she forged there with helping her to be bold and to take calculated risks. When she looks back on her undergraduate years, she says they were “the foundation” of everything that has come since. Cortes has traveled to more than 10 countries, worked as a store manager for multiple corporate retailers managing teams of over 15 employees, and devoted a year to medical school before pursuing graduate work in psychology. What’s more, she continues to challenge herself. Cortes works closely with inmates, providing psychological evaluations that play a key role in identifying the appropriate support and interventions they may need; she also hosts a podcast called Beginning With You on Spotify. Cortes is in the process of writing a novel and was recently nominated to deliver a TED Talk. It is, she acknowledges, a full life, and one for which she is grateful. She offered this advice to future Dolphins ready to carve their own paths: