It’s time to get ready for Afrik Impact 2024!
Believe it or not, the first event of the Ninth Annual Afrik Impact celebration is less than three months away. Here is a brief description of each event we have planned, including links to get tickets.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Connecting Communities, Cultures and Continents.” Like last year, Afrik Impact 2024 will feature a performance from international recording star Baaba Maal, as well as the attendance of a significant delegation of dignitaries from Senegal.
This year, for the first time, Afrik Impact will include an event on September 1, the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, which means we will have events in three months: July, August, and September.
Here is what you can expect (and there are many more details here):
Youth Empowerment and Education Forum
Friday, July 26, 5- 8 p.m.
Mitchell Hall, Denver Botanic Gardens
1007 York Street, Denver
Register here
This is a free event
Community Cultural Celebration & Concert, in partnership with Taste of Ethiopia
Saturday August 3
Stay tuned for more details
This is a free event
Business Development and Economic Summit
Monday, August 5, 6-9 p.m. (doors open 5:30 p.m.)
FNC Atrium and Auditorium, Denver Botanic Gardens
1007 York Street, Denver
Register here This is a free event.
Angelique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello concert
Wednesday, August 7, 6:30 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
1007 York Street, Denver
Buy tickets here
Community Cultural Celebration & concert in partnership with the Arvada Center
Featuring a performance By Baaba Maal
Saturday, August 10, 7:30 p.m.
Arvada Center
6901 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80003
Buy tickets here
Business Investment Forum
Wednesday, August 14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.)
Mitchell Hall, Denver Botanic Gardens
1007 York Street, Denver
Register here
This is a free event
Ninth Annual Afrik Impact Gala
Saturday, August 17
VIP Reception 5-6:30 p.m.
Fundraising Gala 7-9 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
UMB Bank Amphitheater Tent
Buy tickets here
The Business Investment Forum On August 14 deserves special mention here. This forum, aimed at consolidating cultural and economic relations between Senegal and Colorado, will bring together business owners from Colorado and Senegal. Sectors represented will include health, renewable energy, real estate, finance, digital technology, tourism, security, agriculture and agribusiness, education, and professional training. Attendees will include local elected officials and the Twin Sister Cities program.
A high-ranking delegation of Senegalese officials and business leaders will be attending the business forum. Colorado business owners can invite this delegation to tour their businesses. There are also opportunities for Colorado businesses to be a sponsor of the event, for owners or executives to be panelists during the forum or facilitate table conversations which will be a feature of the event.
Also, as follow-up to the forum and to deepen the ties created here, ALG will be taking a delegation of entrepreneurs and dignitaries to Senegal from Dec. 2-13. If this sounds like something of which you would like to be a part as well as attend the business forum, follow this link to a form to fill out expressing your interest.
The Public Speaking Class: An appreciation
Editor’s note: This article was written by Olusegun Olaoluwa Olu, a member of ALG”s Public Speaking Class Cohort 14, which completed the course in February. Public Speaking Class Cohort 15 begins on Tuesday, April 16. You can register here.
Alvin Toffler, writer, and futurist wrote, “The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn and unlearn.”
An impactful life is all about learning and unlearning. I have been speaking for most of my adult life, as a professional and as a pastor. I thought I knew it all. So, for a long time I resisted my wife’s urging to attend the African Leadership Group’s Public Speaking Course of which she was an alumnus.
I joined Cohort 14 expecting only to add to my content and prepare myself for future opportunities to speak before a variety of audiences. And in just 12 weeks I achieved all these and more.
Speech after speech, and presentation after presentation brought out the hidden treasures in all the participants. From “I cannot do it” to “I will try” and then “I can do it”. It was awesome.
Kudos to my course-mates. We learned a lot from our shared experiences coming from different countries, cultures, religions, professions, and outlooks about life.
I was enriched with knowledge from the books, “Think and Grow” Rich by Dr. Napoleon King, “Fated to Win” by our own Madiama Mbaye, and others while researching for my presentations. I can now research my topics, structure my speeches, understand the mood of my audience and apply non-verbal communication more effectively.
The facilitators’ professional and practical approach produced in me a more enlightened, deeply reflecting and better performing speaker than I ever was. I unlearned old things and learned new ones. Thank you, African Leadership Group, for this laudable initiative. This course is highly recommended to all.
Greater heights, ALG; Greater heights Public Speaking Course.
Watch CBS Colorado story about ALG’s Public Speaking Class
Those of us who are active members of the African Leadership Group know the legendary status of the organization’s longstanding Public Speaking Class, led by the estimable Professor Madiama Mbaye.
As part of its Elevating Black Voices series, CBS Colorado — Channel 4 — featured the class in a broadcast Friday, Feb. 9. You can watch it below. Leadership Africa is also mentioned.
We are proud of our Public Speaking Class and the great work of the Professor, and all his students, past and present.
Also, please note that the registration deadline for the next Leadership Africa Class has been extended until February 16. You can register here. This is a changing class that you do not want to miss!
Professor Madiama is a graduate of Leadership Africa Cohort 2, and now plays an active role in this class as well.
ALG’s services for migrants through the eyes of two new arrivals
Two recent arrivals to the Denver area from Africa illustrate the continued lure of life in the United States, the use of the southern border as a new point of entry from people across the world, and the new needs the African Leadership Group is pivoting to address.
ALG is offering English and life skills classes, has held resource and health fairs, is helping people find places to live, and is continuing to explore how else it might be of service to the new residents, who continue arriving in significant numbers.
ALG has served more than 700 new arrivals from Africa in the past several months. ALG Founder and Executive Director Papa Dia said that in many ways the influx of Africans is hidden from public view, because most of the new arrivals are single men. Because they have no children with them, they don’t show up in the enrollment data from public school districts.
Many of them arrive penniless, unprepared for cold weather, and desperate to work but unable to because of the slow process of obtaining federal work permits.
Azizou, a 30-year-old man from Togo, came to the Denver area in September after “social, political, and family issues” drove him from his homeland. He had been working in international trade as a commercial agent before fleeing.
His journey to Colorado was an arduous one. He flew to Brazil from Africa and then made his way through 10 countries to arrive at the southern U.S. border. He took buses, hitchhiked, and walked for five weeks.
“I had to walk through jungles, cross rivers where the water was up to my chest,” Azizou said. “It was very difficult.”
Azizou’s uncle lives in the Denver area, so he made his way here. Shortly after arriving he was out looking for any kind of work to earn a little money when he met a woman from Uganda, who told him about ALG and the different kinds of assistance they could provide him.
“I want to thank Papa Dia and ALG for everything they have done for me,” Azizou said. “I am finding the English classes very helpful because I want to be able to communicate.” In addition, ALG has provided him with winter clothing, and advice about adapting to life in a new country.
Mamadou arrived last summer from Mauritania in northwest Africa. A 32-year-old student of French literature, he fled his homeland because of racial persecution and injustice. He felt unsafe in Mauritania, and saw no path forward that wasn’t blocked by overt discrimination.
He took a circuitous route to the U.S. He made his way to Turkey, then Colombia, up to Nicaragua the across Central America to the southern Mexican border, then up the length of Mexico to the U.S. border.
“There were many different, difficult steps to get here,” he said.
Through contacts. Mamadou found a place to live with an ALG volunteer, who connected him to the organization and its services. Like Azizou, he has benefited greatly from ALG’s English classes.
“My English has improved, which has been very helpful to me,” he said.He has also received donations of food and clothing, as well as logistical support from ALG.
Both Azizou and Mamadou were part of a group of migrants Papa Dia took to the National Western Stock Show on Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 15. They attended the rodeo, viewed the livestock, and wandered around taking in the sights, sounds, and smells.
Both men came away dazzled. “That was the first time I had been exposed to an amazing experience like that,” Azizou said. He especially loved the rodeo.
Mamadou said he was highly impressed by the horsemanship skills of the riders. “The spectacle was amazing, any way you look at it,” he said. “And people were very welcoming to us.”
ALG is in constant need of donations of food and clothing to assist the ongoing stream of new arrivals. Please call us at 303-862-4062 or email us at info@usalg.org.
Below is a video from CBS Colorado about ALG and the newly arrived African migrants.
Senegal delegation blog gives a taste of the experience
Last December’s Colorado delegation visit to Senegal left indelible impressions on those who participated.
One participant, Lisa Neal-Graves, kept a diary in the form of a blog during the trip. Lisa is the CEO of a new entity formed by CU School of Medicine, the Aurora Wellness Community, an innovative collaborative focused on addressing the social determinants of health. She is a senior executive and thought leader with more than 25 years of experience with
multinational, Fortune 50, mid-size growth, and start-up corporations.
Lisa’s blog is well worth reading in its entirety here.
Here is an excerpt from her post summarizing the trip to give you a taste:
This experience was great because it was with a wonderful group of people. Our hosts, Papa and Astu Dia were absolutely incredible. Their patience and generosity exceeded all of our expectations.
I also met some incredible folks from Colorado who are also fans of the Dia Family! We are now a Senegalese family and are committed to supporting the African Leadership Group in developing programs, projects, and services that support breaking barriers and building partnerships for success!
This group was composed of key Colorado leaders in nonprofits and various industries. It was great putting names to faces. I really appreciated the opportunity to get to know each of the members of our delegation. Our mutual humility experienced during this process enabled us to appreciate and admire the strangeness shared by our native brothers and sisters. This delegation is truly Team Awesome!
Although I was gone for less than two weeks, this experience forever changed my life. I’ve watched Papa Dia operate so selflessly on behalf of the community of immigrants from the diaspora, and while I have helped, we haven’t developed a strategy to create a plan for great impact from his work!
This is my new commitment. I spoke with so many young, talented, brilliant people who will benefit from an actual strategy to maximize the impact of our delegation’s contribution to the gateway to the Motherland. Witnessing the beautiful disposition of my brothers and sisters in Senegal, I want to find joy in my privilege, remember the lessons learned from our ancestors, and use those lessons to do and be better!
