For three years I had the honor to take part in an anti-violence, youth initiative known as Chi Anti Vi. The Chi Anti Vi initiative provided myself as well as 29 other Chicagoland students with internships to research, study, and analyze the impact of media, poverty, and community ethics on violence in the Bronzeville community of Chicago. To this day, Chicago is notoriously known as “Chiraq,” and at the time I applied for the internship, Chicago was one of the most violent cities in America, with an accumulative 4229 shootings from 2013-2014 and 456 homicides in 2014 alone. Because of the dangerous environment festering in my community, it was prudent to have youth-involved programs dedicated to violence prevention and research. I was compelled to join the program because I have two younger siblings. We lived on the Chicago South Side in the Ida B Wells projects, where we experienced gang activity, drug dealings, and shootings around our local parks and in the streets. Simple things like riding bikes around the block and playing basketball at the local courts was all too anticipative and not worth the risk. Above all else, I wanted them to grow up in a safer environment as well not become influenced by the prevalent, gang-banger lifestyle, especially in regards to my impressionable younger brother. When I heard about the program Chi Anti Vi in 2013, I knew that it would give me the platform as a resident in the heart of the violence to voice my perspective and help reform the Bronzeville community. The program was beneficial to me as I was able to learn more about my community, conduct research, create and disseminate surveys, analyze data statistics, present findings, work as a collective group with other Chicago youth, and become more socially aware about societal issues while being a vanguard for community building. I was immersed in curriculum that taught multi-media production, communication, and writing skills. In addition, I was guided through methodologies of civic engagement and leadership. Our initiative became culturally involved in hosting a number of neighborhood fun fairs and events throughout the Bronzeville neighborhood called “Play Streets.” Every Wednesday, we were given the invaluable opportunity to tutor kids from different elementary schools in the Bronzeville area. I have presented at press conferences including aldermen and women of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ward and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, as well as the University of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, local Chicago businesses, and faith-based organizations. Our findings and research opened my eyes about the endemic violence that continues to plague the Chicagoland area, leading to the senseless deaths of many young, minorities males (i.e., people who looked like me). We found that members of the community desired more community spaces for youth that would provide extracurricular and educational opportunities, reducing their likelihood of being on the street. There was a lack of constructive stimulation for youth and this had a direct effect on youths’ propensity to involve themselves in violent activities. Another big issue is a lack of funding in these communities which would provided the resources these community members would benefit from. I was given the opportunity to present ideas to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, discussing opportunities and plans for businesses which would achieve the aforementioned goals of creating meaningful infrastructure for Bronzeville. We also researched the impact socioeconomic disposition had on violence in inner cities. Gross wealth and income inequality is rampant in Chicago and violence is typically consolidated in the poorest areas of the city. With business creation and proliferation having one of the biggest impacts on the economic health of a community, I was eager to learn more about finance and social entrepreneurship. Today, I’m currently focused on completing my accounting degree. It is my personal goal to become a CPA and aid members of my community interested in planning and starting up businesses with the long-term aim of incorporating my own financial consulting services for low-income, minority communities. I believe that a foundation of financial literacy is something lacking in the black community due to a lack of opportunities and initiatives by gatekeepers in the financial sector. I look back on comments made by Charlie Sharfe, CEO of Wells Fargo, who stated there’s “a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from,” presuming there is a pipeline to business opportunities black people choose not to access. If that’s the case, business leaders should be taking the initiative to provide that structural education to communities that have been most disaffected by the financial sector, and I hope that I can achieve this through my business venture. Fixed mindsets like that of Sharfe which undermine the potential and capacity of black proficiency in the business world are what inspire me to defy the naysayers and exceed those expectations. I am confident I will be able to provide a meaningful, worthwhile service to my community. I hope that through my work, I can engender a generational shift of blacks and minorities getting involved in business facilitation and creation. I don’t believe there’s a limited pool of black talent, just a lack foundation which can be provided through social entrepreneurial efforts. Through my business, I hope to create a fund to support minority students looking for opportunities in the business world, along with providing accountancy and finance internships for those very students, and eventually employing them full-time. I want to inspire those who may be discouraged by statistics on black representation among financial leaders. If there’s a glass ceiling to be broken, I hope that’s what my business efforts achieve.

Well aware of the lack of opportunities available to black men, my late father was a stickler for education and inspired me to set my sights on college from a young age. I intend to honor his legacy by seeing my current accounting education to completion. Having had the privilege to work alongside my mom as she managed her own small catering and makeup businesses, I was inspired by the passion and drive she displayed for entrepreneurship. That's why, when accepted into Kishwaukee College, I knew I wanted to pursue a career field that would help engender financial knowledge, stability and growth among minority businesses and the broader black community. It is my personal goal to become a CPA and aid members of my community interested in planning and starting up businesses with the long-term aim of incorporating my own financial consulting services for low-income, minority communities. I believe that a foundation of financial literacy is something lacking in the black community due to a lack of opportunities and initiatives by gatekeepers in the financial sector. I look back on comments made by Charlie Sharfe, CEO of Wells Fargo, who stated there’s “a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from,” presuming there is a pipeline to business opportunities black people choose not to access. If that’s the case, business leaders should be taking the initiative to provide that structural education to communities that have been most disaffected by the financial sector, and I hope that I can achieve this through my business venture. Fixed mindsets like that of Sharfe which undermine the potential and capacity of black proficiency in the business world are what inspire me to defy the naysayers and exceed those expectations. Utilizing the business acumen I have garnered working for my mother's business and the education I have cultivated as a college student, I am confident I will be able to provide a meaningful, worthwhile service to my community. I hope that through my work, I can engender a generational shift of blacks and minorities getting involved in business facilitation and creation. I don’t believe there’s a limited pool of black talent, just a lack foundation which can be provided through social entrepreneurial efforts. Through my business, I hope to create a fund to support minority students looking for opportunities in the business world, along with providing accountancy and finance internships for those very students, and eventually employing them full-time. I want to inspire those who may be discouraged by statistics on black representation among financial leaders. If there’s a glass ceiling to be broken, I hope that’s what my business efforts achieve. To attain my CPA, it is imperative that I attain a Bachelor’s of Accountancy, so there is a huge impetus on having a college degree in my desired field of work. In a world where jobs are dominated by requisition of college experience and certification, especially in the accounting field, I know I’m making an impactful investment in my future career outlooks. It is for this reason that I must do everything in my power to see my education to completion, which includes acquiring the necessary funding to continue my studies.