I invest in the success of Black social enterprise leaders through building organizations' capacity and leaders' self-belief.
Founder of WORKING WITHIN
I invest in the success of Black social enterprise leaders through building organizations’ capacity and leaders’ self-belief.
I’m always ready to evolve. Business is always changing, and if you aren’t growing, you’re dying. It makes me constantly refine my social circle, demand better habits of myself, and generally seek knowledge constantly. I am always reading non-fiction and I’ve reduced my time spent on anything that isn’t supporting my wellbeing or my business.
What do you want people to know ?
I am here to create institutions that serve the Black community. I want people to know that I am a pusher, a coach, and I’m here to inspire. I want people to think about how much I care. I want them to know that I’m accountable, very passionate. That I’m willing to disrupt the status quo to make things happen. That my age or years of experience doesn’t say anything about my willpower or ability to serve! That I am always willing to connect people and connect with people.
I’m establishing a fund and networking community for Black social enterprise leaders, in addition to the consulting services I provide now. Once the fund is established, I’ll move on to create a four-year Black business education institution. This won’t be like other four-year institutions, though. Instructors will be chosen based on their business success, not their educational attainment. Students will not be accepted based on their grades, but on their grit and passion. The curriculum will allow students to pilot products and services, have access to mentors, and graduate with pre-seed funding for their startups.
I love supporting the work of Black leaders and I love supporting social causes. I think that Black leaders are closest to the best and most creative solutions for our community. It’s a privilege to be of service to us. I love creative problem-solving, effective communication, connecting the dots between themes and people, and also using business principles to tackle the challenges of the social sector. If you can’t tell, I love to communicate, so public speaking and hosting Black leaders on the Working Within podcast are also huge pluses for me!
How did I get here?
I studied Finance, Legal Studies, and the Business of Social Impact in school and started working for clients in the social sector while I was still completing my degree. I needed a way to balance out my Finance coursework with work I cared about that would influence society. That lead me to taking a full-time job after graduation working on strategy projects for national philanthropic clients. Still, I was tired of working with folks who didn’t look like me and in overly academic environments where impact was discussed really far from the ground. I left to work with another Black social enterprise leader in 2022 and have been working with Black social enterprise leaders through my own company, Working Within, since October 2022.
