Living For Giving

For businesswoman and philanthropist Marta Batmasian, there aren't enough hours in the day.

From 9 to 5, she works at Investments Limited, a real estate and investment firm in Boca Raton that she owns with her husband, James. After hours, her pace quickens. Currently, she's working with four nonprofits; serves on various committees; and is on the board of directors for nine charities, some outside of the area.

"It is my privilege and honor to do what I'm doing," she says. "It's so rewarding. You receive so much more than you give."

Close to Batmasian's heart is People Reaching Out to Provide Education and Leadership (PROPEL), which she co-founded. The organization helps youth living in economically depressed areas by providing an educational center, The Hub, where students go after school. In 2014, PROPEL moved from an 800-square-foot building to an 8,000-square-foot facility owned by the Batmasians with space for classrooms, meeting rooms, a commercial kitchen and a computer lab. Over the past five years, PROPEL students have received more than $130,000 in scholarships.

One of PROPEL's success stories is Haitian immigrant Denis Estimon, now a Boca Community High School graduate. In 2017 inspired by former PROPEL director Gregg Francis Estimon and three other students started the initiative We Dine Together. They invited students eating alone to join them, held weekly meetings and partnered with other clubs so that students wouldn't be isolated.

"It is spreading like fire all over the country," Batmasian says. "Denis is a national celebrity, and the program is being continued by other PROPEL kids."

She also dedicates her time and efforts to the Children's Science Explorium in Sugar Sand Park, which she started; Love Boca Outreach Ministries, a nonprofit that cares for the homeless; and the Florida Atlantic University Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts And Letters, where she initiated the theater program and is chairwoman of the advisory board.

Batmasian enjoys her hectic schedule and plans on even more projects in the future.

"My husband and I both like to start things and bring them to a level and then start something else, she says. It's a busy, crazy and rewarding life." O