A Path Forward

When I first envisioned Purpose Is Life, I always imagined working directly with students, one-to-one, in the community. But with COVID we had to pivot and shift our community outreach priorities to meet the most vulnerable populations when they needed it most. In 2020, Purpose Is Life distributed more than 250 Thanksgiving meals, provided “Blessing Bags” for the unsheltered, school supplies to Charter schools across the Anacostia River, and hosted a Toy Drive during the holidays, for those in low-touch communities.

I felt compelled to write this post, because our most recent community event, our fourth as a new organization, Youth Entrepreneur Day, was incredibly transformative and hit my soul on so many levels. For one, it represented the mission of Purpose Is Life, by providing a space for the youth in Washington DC to have a marketplace to showcase their products. Supported by our partners we provided financial literacy talks and tools to learn about the global economy through the stock market. And the capstone is that we held the event on Juneteenth. What a moment. The young people we served tapped into their entrepreneurial spirits built on the legacies of those who created Black Wall Street in Tulsa and the Black-owned mom and pop shops that kept our communities afloat during segregation. Creativity and survival are part of our history, and I was thrilled to offer them a space to be grow and remain resilient.

Not to mention, that growing up in an under-resourced community, I saw firsthand how many young people with the potential to become entrepreneurs are often unable to get past the economic disadvantages and could not get access to knowledge and support for their ideas. While, in reality they were natural-born disruptors. They had ALL the characteristics needed for entrepreneurship — the confidence, the curiosity, little to no respect for authority (real bosses), and a really high-tolerance for risk. (The latter is mostly due to the fact that adverse economics are a huge motivator — anything is better than staying where you are.)

Fast-forward to 2021, I saw that while COVID’s impact was widespread, but Black businesses in particular, suffered more due to financial instability and their concentration in vulnerable sectors. And while we have seen the many evolutions of the struggle for Black liberation, from Emancipation/Juneteenth to the Voting Rights Act, the soil of freedom is made fertile when Black people are unencumbered by individuals or institutions from realizing their dreams and highest potentials and we can no longer shut the door on bright, motivated, would-be entrepreneurs whose ideas could one day change the world.

The youth today are different, they are not taking “no” for an answer. They are not shying away from their future. They are not “falling in line” and maintaining the status quo the way our parents taught us to behave.

And we all have to do our part to help them break the cycle and move the needle forward.

And that is exactly what we are doing and what I am working to transform. Part of my drive to create Purpose Is Life is to provide a safe space for every individual to have the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential and participate in contributing to all aspects of life — no matter where they are from.

And my goal with Youth Entrepreneur Day was to open that door and give them a path forward.

Join us on this journey to protect and nurture our most vulnerable populations and watch them grow.

Visit www.PurposeIsLife.com to learn more about our efforts.