Event : Global Diaspora Forum

Yesterday I had one of those pinch me days, where I felt like I was dreaming. I was selected to hang out with some pretty awesome and inspiring celebrities at the cool State Department’s Global Diaspora Forum. I say cool seriously because State Department has changed! This is not your mother’s State Department.  A few weeks ago I was at an Unreasonable@State event (love the Unreasonable Institute, great organization). It was one of those odd pairings that actually really worked, and when you think about it, it makes sense. So back to yesterday…

When we were being escorted down the hallway to meet the celebrities in a private conference I was asking myself “seriously how flattering and awesome is this”. I got to chat with some down to earth celebrities about running track and field (me), getting up and doing what you have to do even when you don’t want to, staying engaged with your home country, raising culturally aware kids and giving back.

Here are the celebs:

Michelle Kwan is inspiring. She got a Masters in International Affairs while managing to also be an Olympic medalist and World Champion skater. She talked about the sacrifices her parents, Chinese immigrants, made to support her dream. Skating is an expensive sport, but they were determined to provide a brighter future for their children.

I talked to Meb Keflezighi, olympic marathon medalist and runner, about getting started and motivation to keep at it even when it seems like the odds are against yous. He talked about ignoring stats and  winning despite being ranked number 39. How he stays motivated: thinking that his competition is working out while his considering slacking off  makes him get up and run. The sacrifices his parents made leaving Eritrea with nothing for a better future for their kids. He founded the Meb Foundation to give back to the youth in sport.

Liya Kebede is a model, designer and philanthropist. She is beautiful and so sweet. I didn't get to talk to Liya much which is such a pity because I have featured her line here AND if that wasn't enough we have supporting local weavers and the fashion thing in common. Should have, could have, oh well...I was really inspired by her story about starting the Liya Kebede Foundation to focus on maternal health issues after having her own children.

James Ihedigbo is the safety for the Baltimore Ravens, the 2013 Superbowl Champs Baltimore Ravens. He also founded HOPE Africa (which stands for Helping Our People Excel ) which provides scholarships to people of African descent. Now this guy is funny. He talked celebrating successes, but not for too long. Seeing what hard work looks like by watching the sacrifices of his parents who came from Nigeria with nothing, got PhDs while supporting 5 children! How his mom wrote a book entitled "Sandals in the Snow", about coming from Nigeria not being prepared for the US weather. Now that's a book I must read.

Didn't get to meet Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO of Chobani, but really enjoyed his talk. Originally from Turkey, he came to the US as a college student. He saw a gap in the market, and used $5000 loan and his experience growing up on a farm in Turkey to build a billion dollar yogurt company in 5 years. One of the speakers, Susan Amat said at a panel that I attended that  "the American dream is not home ownership, its starting a business." She also said don't wait to start and that entrepreneurship is messy, so don't wait for perfection.

So you are wondering what else was going on at the Global Diaspora Forum. There was a lot of brain power in one place, honestly. If you are part of the global diaspora, an entrepreneur or just a worldly person and are wondering how to get involved and take action. Check out a few of the organizations that inspired me yesterday.

* Homestrings: Investment platform; enables diaspora investors to select  investment projects and funds that focus on their chosen development objectives.
*Venture Hive:  Technology accelerator that focuses on incubating tourism, creative IT and health IT firms, including foreign firms, in Miami.
* Pork Delights: Kenyan social enterprise that helps expand local pork production and food security using sustainable farming practices.

Artist Love: Saki Mafundikwa

Happy Friday!

Have a look at the beautiful work of Saki Mafundikwa. Saki is a true renaissance man, he is a typographer, filmmaker, design school founder and an author of the book: Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Africa. His book explores typography in Africa, a subject that has not been studied much. Don't you just love it. I am so inspired by his work and his approach of looking inwards to his Africa identity for inspiration for his work. As a international development professional/fashion designer/mushroom farm co-founder/Africa blogger, this really resonates with me, and is something I want to explore more.

 

  

Mafundikwa left Zimbabwe in the late 1970s to study in the US. He talks about how he needed to leave home to find himself. He made the decision in 1997 to leave New York, cash in his 401(K) and return to Zimbabwe to start up Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), a school of graphic design and new media. ZIVA, means knowledge in Shona. Saki believed that he needed to  inspire young people in Zimbabwe to consider graphic arts as a possible career option. I discovered his work through a colleague at my co-working space who had heard Saki speak at Yale.
 

 

 

In 2010, Mafundikwa presented an award winning documentary Shungu. Shungu is a personal journey that gives insight into the resilience of the people of Zimbabwe during the world's worst economic crisis. You can explore more of his work here and get his book here.

Spotlight: Macheke Sustainability Project

This is probably a good time to say that you are going to be hearing quite a bit about Dendere International and our upcoming mushroom brand, Soko Mushrooms. I will also be sharing  our journey launching an agriculture social enterprise that will provide employment, opportunity and fresh, local food in Zimbabwe.Talking about our ups and downs, lessons we learn along the way, measures of success and funding adventures. Stay tuned!

Today, I am spotlighting Moleen Madziva, a changemaker, who is giving back to the community that raised her--Macheke, Zimbabwe. I recently spent over two hours on the phone with Molly discussing her work. We talked about measuring success beyond just increased income indicators. She also shared the progress on a state of the art, healing center,  her organization is building in Macheke.

Moleen is software engineer, who left Zimbabwe after high school to study in the US. Her moment of obligation was arriving in Zimbabwe on vacation and seeing that although things had normalized a lot still needed to be done. With few jobs most people in her community, like much of Zimbabwe, could not afford to send their kids to school or buy basic necessities. She decided she needed to do something. That something was launching the Macheke Sustainability Project. 

MSP started as a farming project, but she quickly realized that they needed to adopt a more holistic approach to raising villagers out of poverty. One of the challenges, she said, was that every time they solved a problem she found that there was another one that also needed to be addressed. MSP is currently delivering a number of services including community health, education, and livelihoods development. What an inspiration!

Social Enterprise Symposium

Last Friday I attended the University of Maryland, College Park (my alma mater)'s Social Enterprise Symposium, a platform that explores the role of business in creating economic prosperity and lasting social and environmental change.  I was glad to be there to network with impact investors, early stage and aspiring social entrepreneurs and discover potential ways to collaborate and grow the sector.

I had the opportunity to speak to Conner French, the Chief Executive Officer of Indego Africa , a nonprofit social venture that partners with for-profit cooperatives of women artisans in Rwanda. Indego Africa has worked with and supplied some impressive brands and designers including Anthropologie and Nicole Miller to co-create and produce products for the U.S. market. Conner was part of a panel of social entrepreneurs discussing social entrepreneurs as peacemakers. The panel discussion featured the social entrepreneurs profiled in the book  Social Entrepreneurship in the Age of Age of Atrocities: Changing Our World.  I got some key insights in the risks and opportunities in post-conflict areas that I hope to use when I start working with textile artisans in Mali again.

In that same panel discussion I learned about some of the challenges that refugees face in their first country of refuge from Emily Arnold-Fernandez, the Founder and Executive Director of Asylum Access. She talked about how only a small percentage of refugees make it to the US (and other western countries) and that the vast majority stay in limbo in neighboring countries with little rights. It got me thinking a lot about the people in Mali who had been displaced and forced to seek refuge in some of the neighboring countries like Niger and Mauritania, and also about the stories some of my friends had shared with me about growing up in refugee camps during the wars in Angola and Namibia. I was reminded that they usually have no rights, can't work, that they get inadequate food and on average stay in those camps in limbo for up to 17 years. The Economist has a great article out right now about the plight of refugees.

I also got inspired by some of the work that social entrepreneurs doing around the U.S.  which is very important, because there a lot of people and communities facing real challenges right here. It was nice to see the different initiatives that people and organizations are doing in the documentary Fixing the Future. I learned that Baltimore is doing some pretty exciting things.What I love about Baltimore despite its many challenges (which are opportunities) is that people there are making stuff. They have created a B-Note, which is currently $1 or $5 bills to promote their local economy and small businesses. The bills are accepted in a number of businesses including hair salons, coffee shops. The B-Notes are pretty cool. I plan on checking it out next time I head to the Baltimore Harbor. The small team behind the initiative needs support.

The No Limits Pitch Social Impact competition, had 6 very different but interesting social enterprises. Kid Fit and Payvius tied to win the pitch content. Payvius, was most interesting to this blog because it is disrupting the world of remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa. Consumers, like me, sending money to Africa (Zimbabwe, in my case) usually face inconvenience, high charges and poor services. Payvius is focusing initially on Nigeria with hopes to expand to other countries. I hope to see more social entrepreneurs disrupt the Africa remittance market in other ways including addressing accountability for use of money remitted (sent), sharing fee information with immigrants, and exploring ways to leverage remittances.

I am excited about where social entrepreneurship and impact investing is headed and the increased events and interest in this sector. As a social entrepreneur and someone working on helping early-stage social entrepreneurs the future looks bright and I believe by having conversations like this we can collaborate and have some large scale impact in the world.

Accessories Love: Ndau Collection

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe based Ndau Collection is an accessories brand that I totally love. I was introduced to the brand by one of the designers, Christie Brookstein and have followed her and co-designer Christie Halstead's progress since. Their statement jewelry is bold, well-crafted and edgy. The label employs skilled artisans to produce designs inspired by African culture, history and design and works to preserve traditional techniques. Ndau Collection is also a socially responsible business. The designers initiated a Ruoko Project  a craft incubator at Elephant's Walk that provides space, training, support and promotion to talented local Zimbabwean artists. Pretty cool stuff! Below are some of my favorite pieces...

I was so excited to hear that they are headed to the MAGIC, the major tradeshow for fashion and accessories brands. I wish them the best and can't wait to see them stocked in some really cool boutiques here. Head over to their website to see more!

Happy Monday!

Yesterday morning I woke up to find out that MY blog was an Editor's Pick of the day on Bloggers. What an awesome way to start the week. Thank you editors of Bloggers, pretty cool! It's definitely a great way to start what will be a busy week for me. I am finishing up some applications for Dendere, a new agriculture social enterprise I co-founded to address hunger and malnutrition in Zimbabwe.Welcome to all the new readers and thank you to all my regular readers. Do let me know what you like about the blog. I'd love to  hear what you would like to see more of, or less of. Your input will be greatly appreciated. 

I will be back with some great new posts and definitely plan on blogging more regularly.

BOOK LOVE: AYA DE YOPOUGON

I'm back!!

Hope everyone had a happy New Year. I know, I know, its a little bit late to be wishing everyone a happy new year being January 25th and all. I have to fill you all in later on what I have been up to, rethinking this blog and making career changes. Speaking of career changes, I have been practicing my French, a lot. Working on my French, got me thinking about Ayo de Youpougon, the Persopolis type books I used to read at the Institut Francais library in Bamako.  I loved those books and that style of writing. It's so natural, because it is the way people actually speak in French-speaking West Africa. The books are written like a comic strip and depict Ivorian life from a teenager's perspective. They are also super funny and easy to relate to even if you are no longer a teenager or from Cote d'Ivoire. Reading them made me nostalgic for the lovely Zimbabwe I grew up in.

I just read that the books were made into a movie that came out in France last year.I need to get a hold of that movie. The writer of the series Marguerite Abouet just came out with Delices D'Afrique,a cookbook of Ivorian dishes . Also need to check that out, I should make a trek over to the Alliance Francais in Dupont Circle.