Envision Lead Grow® Entrepreneurship Program

In the United States there are 39.7 million people living in poverty; women and children make up 70% percent of the impoverished. More than 1 in 3 single mother families live in poverty and that number increases amongst people of color. With the rise of the number of little girls living in poverty and an increase in outside influences warping their self-image and self-worth bringing about life and death burdens caused by social media and other peer pressures, we must build a society that empowers them. Therefore, changing the mindsets of the little girls in those populations can transform a community from poverty to prosperity.

We must build the confidence of little girls ages 10-14, to hear their own voices. Using the Deliberate Practice theory, we can connect girls to their possibilities and thus tap into their power. The Deliberate Practice theory states that 10,000 hours of purposeful and systematic practice applied in a focused fashion, creates an expert. As a result of my dissertation, my program, Envision, Lead, Grow, applies this theory to educate, train, and develop young entrepreneurs around the country. Let us create a new generation of expert businesswomen to eliminate poverty, misogyny, and race-based discrimination by giving the power to tomorrow’s boardrooms.

I was a little girl born into poverty. But I was fortunate enough to have a mother who showed me my power and promise. She taught me the importance of earning, saving a dollar, and how to make money multiply for our family and me. Today as an entrepreneur who employs approximately 100 people, I have the great opportunity to employ others in the community and empowering their families to prosper for generations to come. I believe that the model of my success can be replicated throughout the United States by teaching, training, and developing impressionable girls.

By 2020, Envision Lead Grow® will have 1,000 little girls, ages 10 – 14, in the pipeline to become business owners. Using that foundation, if each one of them employs 100 people that will result in 100,000 people with jobs in our nation.