The Global Good Fund supports entrepreneurs who are dedicated to making a social impact.
What sets GGF apart from traditional grants is that funding goes to support working together with a leadership development coach and an executive mentor, for a period of one year. Earlier this month, with the support of my coach Maryl Levine and my mentor Peter Pager, I graduated as a Fellow, sponsored by the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation.
At the gala, held at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in the DC region, Peter and his wife Valerie did an incredible job hosting the evening’s speakers, highlighting entrepreneurial stories from around the world, including a women’s health organization in Tanzania, a co-working company in Latin America, and a project connecting billions of people to the credit score system worldwide.
How do you like my bee bowtie? It was a gift from my mother for the holidays, purchased from the local vendors market in Grand Central Station NYC.
Group selfie of some GGF Fellows (left to right): Hitesh Tolani of Virtudent (an on-call dental service that also supports child dentistry in the developing world), Iffat Aga of Sehat Kahani (a digital platform bringing medical access throughout Pakistan), yours truly, and Neha Arora of Planet Abled (a tourism company for people of all abilities).
There was a two-day summit of workshops and professional development for GGF Fellows. I taught one session, about building and maintaining our global network of GGF Fellows. I hand drew this map on the wall (I am not an artist, but shout out to my 7th grade geography teacher, Mr. Lincoln!), and had everyone write their strengths, weaknesses, learning goals, and things they’ll never do, and then post those sticky notes on their hometowns. We used this as a foundation for building a global community.
Beaming together with Immaculate Bih of ICON (the only female-owned construction company in Cameroon, with a focus on social buildings like schools, using recycled materials), and Ange Muyubira of Kaz’O’zah (a training and market platform for artisans of hand-made fashions, bags, shoes, and accessories, based in Burundi, also in Uganda & more).
A huge thank you to the Global Good Fund for hosting us at this event and the continuing to support us as we continue on our mission to improve bee health!
