Empowering The Next Generation: Inside Neils Cotter’s Initiatives for Young People

Neils Cotter is a former U.S. Air Force captain, a hotel co-founder, and a development and investment expert.

Beyond his corporate roles, Cotter is a committed philanthropist who leverages his skills and expertise in the business world to empower the next generation.

These are two of the initiatives for young people that Cotter has created or supports.

Neils Cotter’s Work With Camp Ronald McDonald

Cotter is a former trustee of Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times. The initiative provides fun, cost-free, medically supervised programs for young people who have or have had cancer. Located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Riverside County, California, the camp is the largest of its kind in the U.S.

Cotter joined the board in 2017, helping advocate for the camp and raise funds for its important work year-round. Though he has since stepped down as a trustee, he continues to support the initiative with his expertise in real estate development.

More than 45,000 campers have attended Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times since it launched in 1982. In total, volunteers have donated over 45,000 hours to the initiative.

Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times offers a supportive, safe environment in which children can play and relax with their loved ones. On top of this, the initiative helps young people develop their independence and confidence.

Annually, approximately 1,500 campers visit the campsite and make use of its recreational facilities. Children battling cancer and their families enjoy various activities, learn new skills, and unwind in the great outdoors.

The campsite can accommodate up to 200 people at one time. However, the initiative is currently at maximum capacity. Consequently, Cotter is supporting an expansion project to create more space at the site. The expansion will allow more children and their families to make magical memories at Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times.

Neils Cotter’s Work With Dorsey High School

Cotter has volunteered at Dorsey High School in South LA for around five years. He started teaching a weekly business elective class after Willard Love, the school’s former principal and special advisor, reached out and asked for Cotter’s support.

For the first few years, Cotter taught his students the basic business theory they might need to create a start-up or side hustle after high school. He also organized guest speakers to further inspire students.

However, Cotter realized his students needed more than just business theory to support their education and development.

Dorsey High School has an ethnically, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse community, with many students facing financial insecurity. Approximately 90% of Cotter’s students are below the LA County poverty line. 

Two and a half years ago, Cotter decided he wouldn’t just teach his students about business; he’d help them launch one. Together, he and his students started the Dorsey Green Sauce project.

Dorsey Green Sauce

Dorsey Green Sauce is a delicious sauce that Dorsey High School students make and sell. All proceeds from sales of the sauce go directly to students. The project also generates educational opportunities for students in fields like the culinary arts, business studies, and marketing.

During the first phase of the project, students used avocados from Cotter’s farm to make the sauce in Dorsey High School’s commercial kitchen space. Cotter helped the school set up this space for its Business and Culinary Arts Management program. The project came about through his friendship with Sonja Mason-Briscoe, the school’s culinary arts instructor.

Mason-Briscoe grew up in South LA and attended Dorsey High School. In 2013, she passed on a corporate job opportunity to instead lead the school’s culinary program and support its students. The program offers a comprehensive curriculum that creates culinary career pathways for Dorsey’s young people.

Mason-Briscoe supported Cotter’s idea for a sauce-focused, student-led business. She and volunteer chef Mel Nicola helped the students perfect their first recipe using Cotter’s avocados. The students sold their first bottles of the sauce at a farmer’s market in California, making $2,500 in three hours.

In 2022, Cotter covered the costs of the Dorsey Green Sauce project so students could keep all the profits. He also reached out to various contacts to raise a college fund for some of his students. Through his efforts, Cotter raised around $17,000 in two weeks.

Expanding The Dorsey Green Sauce Project

The next phase of the Dorsey Green Sauce project involves a new sauce recipe with a longer shelf life. Various companies have also come aboard to help expand the initiative. Thanks to Cotter’s business connections, advertising agency Deutsch LA and online marketplace company Zazzle have joined the project.

Deutsch LA provided a branding package for the sauce. The company also taught Cotter’s students about creative careers in advertising and invited a group of them to visit its LA headquarters.

Meanwhile, Zazzle has offered to set up a Dorsey Green Sauce screen printing program. This will allow students to produce high-quality merchandise for the initiative, which they can keep for themselves or sell to raise more money.

Trusted food manufacturer Village Green Foods, which provides sauces for restaurant brands like Chick-fil-A, has also joined the project. The company has helped students produce a shelf-stable green sauce that is shippable throughout the U.S. Students are also exploring partnerships with LA restaurants.

Cotter hopes diverse sources of income will enable the Dorsey Green Sauce project to become self-sufficient, so it can keep operating for years to come. Mason-Briscoe believes the program will help many of the school’s students break their families’ cycles of poverty.

The Dorsey Green Sauce project isn’t only a source of life-changing funds for students. The initiative is also helping South LA’s young people develop new skills, build their confidence, and discover careers and life pathways. As the project expands, it continues to empower current and future generations of Dorsey High School students.

About Neils Cotter

Neils Cotter is an investment and development specialist with experience in U.S. and international strategic ventures. Educated at Duke University, he graduated from INSEAD with a Master of Business Administration in 2010.

Cotter founded Basecamp Hotels with Christian Strobel over 10 years ago. Today, there are Basecamp Hotels in Boulder, Colorado, and South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City, California. The Hotels combine the spirit of adventure with comfortable, affordable accommodation. 

Cotter’s belief in the power of community-driven initiatives led him to set up the Dorsey Green Sauce project. His work with Dorsey High School has empowered the local economy and serves as an educational platform for students. He continues to raise awareness of the struggles faced by students in Los Angeles and helps create opportunities for these young people.

Learn more about Neils Cotter.