Awareness: Action-Oriented Economic Re-Education that Prioritizes the Black Experience
Black Generational Wealth Program
Awareness is where transformation begins—where individuals and communities first encounter the truth of their history and recognize their power to shape the future. In Q1 2026, DIFFvelopment’s awareness work continued to expand across the African continent, marking both a deepening of impact and the opening of new frontiers for change.
This quarter, Black Generational Wealth Program (BGWP) workshops were delivered in Nigeria and The Gambia, with The Gambia hosting BGWP programming for the first time. These sessions represent more than geographic expansion; they signal the early formation of a continental ecosystem of historically grounded economic re-education—one capable of reshaping how Africa understands wealth, leadership, and collective responsibility.
Expanding the Map of Possibility
Alongside active delivery in Nigeria and The Gambia, Q1 laid the groundwork for expansion into additional countries where trained facilitators are preparing to launch BGWP programming. From Ghana and Cameroon, across Zambia and Uganda, and into Tanzania, these facilitators are not merely instructors—they are cultural translators and community anchors, carrying DIFFvelopment’s Theory of Change into local contexts shaped by distinct histories, challenges, and aspirations.
As highlighted in DIFFvelopment’s Special Impact Report (Facilitators Edition), facilitators across nine African countries consistently identified the same core needs: re-education grounded in Black history, entrepreneurial skills, leadership development, and pathways to economic opportunity for youth and young adults. Their alignment underscores a powerful truth—Africa’s challenges are interconnected, and so too is its potential for transformation when solutions are rooted in shared historical consciousness and collective action.
Awareness as a Continental Catalyst
The implications of reaching these countries extend far beyond individual workshops. When young people across Africa begin to understand how slavery, colonialism, and global systems disrupted Indigenous wealth-building traditions, they gain more than knowledge—they gain context. And context changes decisions.
DIFFvelopment measures this awakening through pre-, during-, and post-program evaluations, which consistently capture shifts in historical understanding, financial confidence, and leadership orientation. Pre-program evaluations reveal limited exposure to Black economic history and wealth-building frameworks. During sessions, participants begin articulating connections between history and present-day economic realities. Post-program responses show emerging confidence, intention to pursue entrepreneurship, commitment to family and community uplift, and a renewed belief in their ability to build generational wealth.
These evaluations remind us that impact does not begin with income—it begins with mindset.
Reimagining Africa’s Future Through Awareness
If scaled across the continent, this work holds transformative potential. An Africa where youth understand wealth not as extraction, but as stewardship. Where entrepreneurship is viewed as a tool for nation-building. Where leadership is measured by collective uplift rather than individual accumulation.
This is the future DIFFvelopment is preparing for—one workshop, one facilitator, one awakened mind at a time.
Awareness is the spark.
Across Africa, that spark is spreading.
Once DIFF, always DIFF.
As an alum or community member, your support helps ensure others receive the same historically grounded tools that shaped your journey.
Advancement: Activated & Hungry to Effect Change
Case Study
Advancement is where awareness takes form—where understanding becomes intention, and intention becomes disciplined action. For DIFFvelopment, this stage is marked by individuals who move beyond learning about systems and begin engaging them with purpose. In Q1 2026, this advancement came into clearer view through the continued impact of alumnus Anthony Reid, whose journey reflects what becomes possible when historically grounded re-education is paired with creative leadership and communal responsibility.
Anthony first entered DIFFvelopment seeking more than technical skill. As a student navigating economic pressure without generational financial cushioning, he was searching for structure—language that could help him understand his lived experience within a broader historical and economic context, and tools that could translate creativity into sustainable impact. Through the Black Generational Wealth Program and Consultrepreneurship, Anthony developed not only practical economic literacy, but a deeper sense of accountability to community.
That grounding shaped how he moved forward.
Rather than separating creative expression from economic agency, Anthony began treating design as a form of care—an instrument for preservation, mobilization, and collective action. This shift became visible as he stepped into leadership roles within DIFFvelopment and beyond, applying entrepreneurial discipline, historical awareness, and collaborative practice to real-world challenges.
By 2025, Anthony had fully activated this advancement through the founding of Prints for Jamaica, a global, artist-led initiative that mobilized culture in service of community. In just weeks, the project engaged 60 artists worldwide and raised over $50,000 to support community-centered impact. The initiative was not only a fundraising effort—it was a demonstration of leadership rooted in coordination, trust-building, and long-range thinking.
Anthony’s advancement reflects a defining feature of DIFFvelopment’s approach: leadership is not measured by title, but by the ability to translate knowledge into action that uplifts others. His work bridges heritage and innovation, showing how creative strategy—when grounded in historical consciousness—can generate tangible economic and social outcomes.
This is advancement made visible.
Not potential waiting to be unlocked, but purpose already in motion.
As his impact has grown, so has his commitment to sustaining the ecosystem that supported him—demonstrating how leadership at DIFFvelopment extends beyond participation into stewardship.
Transformation: Developing Their World DIFFerently
The Council on Global Black Development
Transformation, at DIFFvelopment, is not defined by isolated outcomes or individual breakthroughs alone. It is defined by scale, continuity, and evidence—by the ability to link personal reorientation to long-term shifts in systems, policy, and global development practice. This is the work of the Council on Global Black Development (CGBD).
The transformation underway within the CGBD Fellowship is directly connected to a 20-year longitudinal research agenda (2017–2037) examining how historical knowledge of self shapes life outcomes across the global Black community. Building on eight years of alumni-based longitudinal data through the Consultrepreneurship, CGBD is now expanding this work through a parallel 10-year thematic study (2024–2034), tracking the same core themes—decision-making, wealth creation, leadership, and community impact—across multiple geographies with rotating research teams.
Within this context, Fellows are not simply participants in a program; they are contributors to a once-in-a-generation global evidence base. Through historically centered orientation and applied research execution, Fellows begin to experience a shift that is both personal and systemic: understanding history not as background knowledge, but as actionable intelligence that informs how societies educate, govern, and invest.
One Fellow captured this shift succinctly:
So I’m starting to understand that this journey is much bigger than me. It’s about connecting with my roots, understanding our history, our story, and preparing myself to create real sustainable change.
This transformation—from individual awareness to collective responsibility—is precisely what the longitudinal research seeks to measure over time. Early findings across cohorts already point to a consistent pattern: when individuals possess historical knowledge of self, their educational choices, career trajectories, financial behaviors, and definitions of leadership shift toward long-term, community-centered outcomes. By 2037, this body of research will constitute the world’s most comprehensive evidence linking historical re-education to economic empowerment, visionary leadership, and systemic resilience within Black communities globally.
In this way, the transformation unfolding within the CGBD is not symbolic. It is infrastructural. It is designed to inform national curricula, development policy, philanthropic strategy, and institutional practice—across Africa, the diaspora, and beyond.
If you are a government, foundation, academic institution, or development partner exploring how historically grounded research can inform long-term development, education, and policy, connect with us to learn more.→ Partner With Us
Organizational Updates
Strengthening Leadership & Operational Capacity
Q1 2026 marked an important step forward in strengthening DIFFvelopment’s internal capacity through strategic team growth and leadership evolution—both critical to supporting disciplined scale.
We welcomed Shafra Ndegemo as Operations & Programs Coordinator, expanding the organization’s ability to support day-to-day execution across programs and partnerships. Based in Uganda, Shafra brings a people-centered approach informed by her background in hospitality and hands-on coordination work. Her experience has sharpened her understanding of how systems, access, and inequity intersect at the community level—an alignment that directly supports DIFFvelopment’s historically grounded, implementation-focused model. Her addition strengthens operational continuity as programs expand across multiple geographies.
This quarter also marked a significant leadership transition with the promotion of Wanjiku wa Gitau to Chief Programs Officer. Wanjiku’s journey with DIFFvelopment began in 2020 as a volunteer, followed by her advancement to Director of Programs, where she played a central role in strengthening program delivery, navigating execution challenges, and aligning implementation with the organization’s Theory of Change. Her promotion reflects both demonstrated leadership and the organization’s commitment to cultivating internal talent as part of its long-term sustainability strategy.
Together, these changes reinforce DIFFvelopment’s focus on stewardship—ensuring the right leadership, systems, and support structures are in place as impact deepens and scales.
Fundraising Progress
Advancing Funding Continuity & Organizational Stability
During Q1 2026, DIFFvelopment received the remaining portion of BIA’s previously committed contribution, completing the full award that was initially issued in 2025. This final disbursement represents the second half of BIA’s total support, following the initial 50% received last year.
The completion of this contribution strengthened DIFFvelopment’s short-term financial position and provided continued operating stability as the organization advanced early-year program execution and infrastructure development. Multi-year and phased funding commitments such as this remain critical to DIFFvelopment’s ability to plan responsibly, maintain program continuity, and invest in systems that support long-term impact.
Fundraising efforts continued to prioritize relationship-based engagement and the exploration of future funding opportunities aligned with the organization’s strategic plan. These efforts are focused on building a diversified and sustainable capital base to support DIFFvelopment’s next phase of growth.
How You Can Support Our Efforts
Does DIFFvelopment’s mission resonate with you? Join us in expanding our impact by empowering more aspiring Black visionaries to develop their world differently.
There are many ways to get involved:
- Invest in Our Growth: Your support helps us create sustainable personal, generational, and communal wealth-building opportunities.
- Professional Mentorship: Share your expertise to guide the next wave of Black leaders.
- Fundraising Collective: Partner with us to drive resources and grow our programs.
Fill out our Professional Mentorship & Fundraising Collective Enrollment Form and let us know how you’d like to contribute to DIFFvelopment’s mission. Together, we can shape a brighter future!