While I am firmly rooted in my religious beliefs, the fellowship has made me quite agnostic about geography, opportunity and trajectory. The fellowship provides a safety net to think and dream big in a way that your ordinary situation doesn’t provide.

I started this journey with an intentionality on connecting with leaders from all walks of life. I imagine over the coming two years, I will intensify that act with an intentionality on leaders here in our region.

I’ve started to build my personal team. More on that in the coming quarters.

My learning journey has been focused on the internal and external. While I am speaking to leaders, I am also focusing on taking the next steps of my venture career forward. I recently signed up for a two week intensive on venture capital that focuses on transforming black midlevel managers into budding venture capitalists. It’s exactly what I need at this moment to take my career forward.

This learning journey forces you to pivot. Recently, one of the biggest success stories, Clarence Bethea, has made waves by deciding to move to Dallas. There is a small but growing tech community in the Twin Cities, that is not inclusive at all. I have ideas on how to make it more inclusive, but there is a lot of work to do. While my thoughts on capital to black entrepreneurs hold true, I’m also looking at other ways to build an inclusive and well capitalized ecosystem.

All in all, this journey will not make you but propel you on your way.