My good friend Michelle Kennedy says it takes an “abundance mindset”[1] to be an entrepreneurial consultant. We must trust that new opportunities and partnerships will come our way, even though in the moment we can’t even imagine what they might be. We must be willing to give something away- our intellectual property, our money or our time- in order to develop relationships with our clients so that we may get more work.

So, when the team asked me to write an introductory blog for a series we’re going to be doing over the next several weeks on our company values around giving - our service work in Cote d’Ivoire - I started to think about why giving back to our community and the broader world is important to me. What I realized was it starts with how privileged I feel to have received so much myself. When I say I’m privileged, I don’t mean I have been free from suffering, loss, or worry. It’s just that I’ve always been able to count on someone or some organization to step in and help me whenever I needed it most.

From a career path perspective, the most significant support I received were the government social welfare programs and subsidized loans that helped me - a single first-time mom - to finish college and still give a good start to my son. Some of you reading this know you can count yourself among the people who have helped me, or you may work in an organization like the ones that supported me while I worked and finished school and internships. It’s what inspired me to spend my career helping to preserve and improve those programs.

But looking at things through an abundance mindset, I’m not satisfied just paying it back. I want to pay it forward too and support other organizations that are trying to do the same thing. And I want to be a model for my employees by giving them time and matching funds for our collective efforts to do volunteer work and provide service to their communities.

For a few years now we’ve been working with two organizations in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, where my husband Sekou is from, to pay it forward more globally. Last year we introduced you to the St. Genevieve Welcome Center in Katiola, CI that is working to end the practice of infanticide and provide a safe alternative for children at risk. We spent two days visiting with Father Germaine and the residents there on our 2019 service trip to CI. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing more details about a new program our partner, NGO Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders (WEL) is launching, to create an employment and training program for at-risk young women and girls called the African Art House. Stay tuned for more details and stories of women who have been helped by NGO WEL, and in the meantime, you can donate to the African Art House project at our website at: https://koneconsulting.com/wel-african-arts-house

Thanks!

Alicia

[1] Boy, does Google turn up a lot of references to this term- apparently popularized by Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It basically means a person believes there is plenty out there for everyone.

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