“By blood, I am Hindustani (Indian). By citizenship, an American. By faith, a Sindhi-Hindu. As to my calling, I belong to hospitality and entirely to the heart of humanity.”
This modest autobiography could belong to none other than Los Angeles’ most inconspicuous social entrepreneur and philanthropist better known as Sunny Tolani, who focuses on the intersection of hospitality and social justice.
Sunil (Sunny) Tolani’s company, The Prince Organization, has been named one of the 2021 Companies That Care by the Orange County Business Journal.
Tolani, CEO of the Hospitality group, donated financially to help people struggling in India during the surge of Covid-19 cases. Women’s welfare and well-being is also the group’s # 1 focus with women’s wage equality, prevention, and awareness of children-women sex trafficking at hotels.
“We have been pushing for years for legislation barring companies from forcing employees into private arbitration proceedings to address sexual-assaults and harassments in the workplace. Every American employee deserves and has a right to report claims in courts regarding racial discrimination and bad labor practices,” he says.
Tolani has been supporting local communities in the Americas and India, giving back to the communities it serves and the commitment goes beyond the checkbook, as their employees too contributed serving and volunteering. Whether they plan to clean up a public space, mentoring young staff, inviting the local students to tour the back of house hotel operations, what they do makes a world of difference. Their entire organization feels a sense of pride at what they can achieve. They support childcare providers, YMCA centers and local food banks.
We live in an age of mega philanthropy. Big name billionaires, likes of Messrs. Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg channel their fortunes into social causes ranging from poverty and healthcare to education and gender equality. Tolani has taken a different path, avoiding lofty causes in favor of tangible, physical contributions to improve the life of our cities. Providing a reminder of what civic philanthropy can be at its best—not a huge gift aimed at solving an amorphous problem such as climate change but a privately financed public good that can change the face of a city and serve every level of society. Why not spend my time doing something of value? make people’s lives better in the here and now? And we do it without waiting for the world to change, Tolani said.
Since he founded Prince, he made it a cornerstone to be there for the American people and communities in the moments when they need it the most. They have been responding to natural disasters providing relief for those affected by mother nature’s wrath and get help going before even the American Red Cross and others get to it.
The organization assists at-risk and formerly gang involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training, and education opportunities for second chances. Tolani believes the business of second chances is everybody’s business. Businesses need to find the moral imperative to secure places in workforce for those who just need a chance to prove themselves. This cannot be the concern only of a large gang rehab center; it must also be part of our collective response to keep our streets safe and our communities healthy.
“My father said a person becomes a better person through other people. Saving annual cost to taxpayers of more than $100,000 per inmate — the average in the nation’s biggest cities, we’re putting them back on the track of life, love, health, prosperity, helping them find jobs. I want to take a chance. Also changing a life, and not just one life but also their families. The ripple effects are incredible. The emphasis on work is strategic—Jobs for a Future. Work is ennobling, there is no such thing as a job that does not bring dignity,” he says.
Prince Organization is known for its social advocacy as much as its humanitarian work and CEO Sunny Tolani promises to ramp up the brand’s corporate activism and run for national public office. His record of accomplishment on social issues has prompted politicians and hotel industry executives encouraging him to run for political office. At the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit Hotelier’s conference (ALIS) at LA Live, Tolani promised to author a book about his social-impact work and his impact on social ideals.
“Education is the key, communities and youths improve having good jobs. They succeed at schools and at home and work, there tends to be less substance abuse and less domestic violence with increased financial stability, empowerment and self-confidence with high self-esteem,” said Tolani, adding “Many people are feeling a tremendous lack of trust in public institutions around them. We need organizations, including businesses, to step forward more than ever.” He hopes his book will serve as a “call to arms.”
At their hotels, the organization emphasizes education, hospitality education, trainings, webinars as a gateway to their success. It builds teamwork and a desire to build goodwill and healthier relationships. They envision a community where there is a job and career for everyone who wants one.
“I want to use my voice and blessings in service of activism and social justice. To be a CEO-leader, means that you must speak up when you see injustice, speak out for what’s right and do the right thing with leadership through character and positive spirit living an important life,” said Tolani at ALIS.
All over the Americas they introduce young people interested in pursuing careers to hospitality and taking a step toward making their dreams a realty. Young people are always overly excited and their parents are amazed at all the possibilities. The internships are an inspiring and an enlightening experience for them.
“Through good times and challenging times, we are serving our social causes and that has been the single most recognized hallmark of my entrepreneurial achievement,” Tolani once wrote to AAHOA.
Prince hospitality embraces the concept of “family,” spirit of kinship connecting their staff. They love being together as one family and on CEOs hotel visits share lunches and join hands for a group blessing ceremony.
Tolani feels blessed to share some knowledge and mentor middle/ high school students and at universities encouraging them to be entrepreneurs, run their own businesses and urging them to be financially literate and speak up, stand up for their rights to choose freedom and expression more than ever before.
Speaking at Concordia university business school, Tolani mentored that look for the good in people and to stay away from toxic, bullying, lying negative people. “Choose to work doing things you enjoy most with pride and purpose. Petition for political education in high school and understand the who/why/what—others want to control your future. Hit your stride to truly blossom with confidence and expand your horizons to see the many possibilities of what you can to in your life.”
“Support your community with like-minded friends. Keep away from drugs, alcohol, and violence. Learn to stay away from fake social media and do not compete on vanity and beauty, do not be swept into the world of TikTok videos which is highly destructive. Everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way and your value is not in your naked photos, revealing outfits and quantities of likes. Most importantly, live by a code of honor and honor God by respecting your parents, elders and always ask and implement their good advice.”
Just like it was done for him, he hopes to make investments that will give dreamers and doers-particularly those that are underfunded or are playing from behind-the encouragement and luck necessary to maximize their potential and positively impact the world living the American dream.
“Success isn’t just about what we accomplish in life, it’s about what we INSPIRE others to help and achieve in life,” Tolani said to Orange County Business Journal. “In life, make a point of serving others. You will end up getting more out of it than you ever dreamed,” he says.
