Awareness: Action-Oriented Economic Re-Education that Prioritizes the Black Experience
At DIFFvelopment, awareness isn’t static—it’s a movement. This quarter began with a meaningful trip to Nigeria, where our founders joined the closing ceremony of the alum-led The Life We Deserve Foundation’s Youth Climate Entrepreneurship Fellowship. Powered by our Black Generational Wealth curriculum and funding, the event celebrated graduates while affirming how DIFFvelopment’s vision multiplies through alumni-driven partnerships worldwide.
Later in June, also in partnership with The Life We Deserve Foundation, we piloted the SheAdapt Project, serving 60 women across Kaduna State, Nigeria through a clean energy and green entrepreneurship initiative. The program equips early mothers and women household heads to produce eco-briquettes, reduce indoor air pollution, improve health outcomes, and generate income through green business ownership. The initiative opened with DIFFvelopment’s exclusive orientation, “Reclaiming African Healthy Cooking Wisdom,” grounding participants in ancestral cooking systems, the colonial disruptions that dismantled them, and their role in restoring legacy through innovation. Together, participants are projected to reduce emissions by 138 tons of CO₂ annually, while creating replicable models for women-led clean energy enterprises across Northern Nigeria and beyond.
Our flagship Consultrepreneurship program also advanced powerfully with eight Consultrepreneurs engaging in orientation, weekly seminars, entrepreneur lectures, a consulting practicum with Uganda-based Hope Permaculture, and community-minded business concept development. At the same time, the Black Generational Wealth Program scaled further, reaching nearly 50 students in Ghana in partnership with Youth Path Organization.
To strengthen lifelong alumni engagement, we launched the DIFFvelopment Visionary Alumni Mighty Network—a digital hub connecting graduates across borders for collaboration and impact. Two alumni also represented DIFFvelopment at the Good Soil Forum in June, advancing their respective capacity in faith-driven entrepreneurship and visionary leadership.
These milestones reaffirm a simple truth: awareness is not just learning history—it’s living it.
If this impact moves you, we invite you to be part of it. Support DIFFvelopment today and help us continue re-empowering the global Black community through history, innovation, and visionary leadership.
👉🏿 Donate Now
Advancement: Activated & Hungry to Effect Change
Alternative Career Services Coaching
This quarter, our Alternative Career Services Coaching (ACSC) program highlighted the power of personalized investment in visionary leadership through the journey of Cowiya Arouna, founder of Favoir—a groundbreaking materials science company modernizing the Black braiding salon economy.
Over the past several months, Cowiya has worked closely with DIFFvelopment’s CEO to refine her financial plan and strengthen Favoir’s business concept, which promises to revolutionize protective styling while centering community wellness, sustainability, and economic empowerment.
Through DIFFvelopment’s structured coaching, Cowiya sharpened her financial plan to include clear goals for the next three years—covering income, revenue, and both generational and philanthropic investments. She also mapped out actionable next steps for her concept and began strategizing the networks, services, and resources needed to carry her vision into its next stage.
To culminate her ACSC journey, Cowiya will engage in a philanthropic practicum—designed to contribute to DIFFvelopment’s mission while expanding her vision of service. As part of this practicum, Cowiya will:
- Share her story: creating posts on DIFFvelopment’s impact and her own journey.
- Activate her network: curating introductions to prospective funders and referrals to future ACSC participants.
- Model sustained investment: exploring ways to give back and remain engaged as an alumna.
Her journey reflects the ACSC program’s goals: not only equipping visionary leaders with the mindset and tools to build bold enterprises, but also instilling a commitment to reinvest in the larger mission of global Black empowerment.
As we wrap up this phase, Cowiya is preparing to transition into her next chapter with the Schwarzman Scholars program in Beijing. With her business concept strengthened, her philanthropic commitments underway, and her network growing, she is poised to carry DIFFvelopment’s legacy into new global spaces.
Her story is proof that advancement is not just about moving forward—it’s about lifting as you climb.
If Cowiya’s journey inspires you, invest in the next generation of visionary leaders.👉🏿 Donate Now
Transformation: Developing Their World DIFFerently
The Council on Global Black Development
The Council on Global Black Development (CGBD) advanced its work this quarter with a pivotal stakeholder focus group that tested draft research recommendations. Participants affirmed the research’s central finding: that historical self-knowledge profoundly shapes education, career, and financial choices in the Black community.
Key recommendations included:
- Education: integrate culturally relevant curricula, critical thinking, and mentorship into schools and universities.
- Career: establish Afrocentric leadership pathways, innovation centers, and professional networks.
- Finance: embed culturally grounded financial literacy in institutions and promote cooperative financial models rooted in Black traditions.
Stakeholders also emphasized the importance of family as the foundation of historical knowledge, mentorship and modeling for young professionals, reclaiming community trust and collaboration, and adopting an abundance mindset to shift away from scarcity-driven behaviors. They highlighted the need for metrics to measure collective wealth-building and collaboration, ensuring the research has tangible outcomes.These insights are sharpening the CGBD’s final report, now slated for release at the CGBD Symposium in early 2026, where findings will inform actionable strategies for education, leadership, and economic development across Africa and the diaspora.
Organizational Updates
CEO Attends Black Innovation Alliance Summit in Detroit
At DIFFvelopment, we don’t scale for the sake of growth—we scale with integrity. This summer, our CEO Esi Kagale Agyeman Gillo attended the Black Innovation Alliance (BIA) Sustainability Summit in Detroit, where she joined fellow Black leaders in bold conversations about scaling mission-driven work without compromising values.
From strategy sessions with BIA founder Kelly Burton to connecting with global innovators in purpose-driven entrepreneurship, the experience reaffirmed DIFFvelopment’s commitment to leading with vision, faith, and cultural clarity.
Read Esi’s full reflection on LinkedIn:
🔗 This is what scale with integrity looks like
From Vision to Investment: Building Engines for Global Black Empowerment
This quarter, we sharpened our positioning for scale with the release of our Investor One-Pager, alongside new conversations with forward-looking investment groups that recognize the value of historically grounded intellectual capital. As we expand adoption of the CGBD and DIFF Center, we are seeking partners who share our vision for building scalable, revenue-generating arms that will sustain DIFFvelopment’s mission for generations to come.
📣 Click to learn more: Investor One-Pager
Digital Innovation — DIFF Center Beta Launch
In July, we launched the beta version of the DIFF Center, our online hub offering visionary leadership training and wealth-building resources. The beta debuted with our transformative masterclass, guided by more than a decade of research and alumni feedback. Nearly 400 users, primarily from the Black Generational Wealth Program community, have already signed on to co-create the platform’s future.
Fundraising Progress
New $7,500 Grant Sparks Momentum
We’re proud to share that DIFFvelopment, nominated by Camille Estrella, MSEd, was awarded a $7,500 unrestricted grant from SparkNJ. This support affirms the value of our work in re-empowering the global Black community through historically centered re-education, entrepreneurship, and wealth building.
With SparkNJ’s investment, we will:
- Strengthen our operational foundation
- Expand access to our programs for young Black visionaries
- Continue scaling our digital Online Resource Center to reach a global audience
We’re grateful to SparkNJ for fueling our mission and recognizing DIFFvelopment’s role in shaping a more equitable economic future.
See how SparkNJ is spotlighting DIFFvelopment’s impact.
🔗 Read the full post on LinkedIn
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!