Author | Marketing Innovator | Changemaker
“I helped Wall Street investment firms attract big money. Towards the end of my career, I realized my investment marketing mindset was perfect for bottom-up social change. So I tested my method in Africa, and this is what happened…”
The idea came to me whole: Go to Africa, find a village and start a microlending program.
On my 60th birthday, I became a “bottom-up girl.” What does that mean? It’s about using your privilege and resources to support those with fewer opportunities. It’s about showing up where the need is greatest and building a fairer world. I had a yearning to begin what I called my return phase of life. The idea came to me whole: Go to Africa, find a village and start a microlending program. The country I chose was Ghana. One of my contacts forged the way to a village called Pokuase by talking to the chief who arranged a place for me to stay. In the second week of getting to know the community, an elder woman stopped me in the middle of the dirt road: “White people never come back. They make promises. We never see them again.”
She was right. Back home my second guessing began – I nearly didn’t go back. The work ahead seemed impossible. But her words stayed with me. I sold my second car for seed capital to fund the program. Over the next decade, I returned 27 times. The results? Life-changing.
Going bottom-up means starting at the ground level with a partnership model.
You provide access to the essentials they lack: money, encouragement, recognition. They bring their dreams, drive and discipline. Together you create systems which lead to consistency and trust. Partnering with a shared can-do spirit leads to unstoppable momentum.
Today, this bottom-up movement is growing.
We have a chance to define it — to show how it works to accomplish what top-down never could. We’re building tools and resources to help you get on the ground and take the first step to help communities get ahead. They are waiting for us.