When I started FORGE almost four years ago, I didn’t have a business plan.  I didn’t have a revenue model.  I didn’t have connections, a reputation, or any substantial experience.  And I didn’t have a penny.

But - I had the four most important things I think I could’ve had:

1)    I saw a problem (lack of education and empowerment services for refugees in Africa)

2)    I saw how that problem could be reframed as an opportunity (if refugee populations could become self-sufficient, they could be the key to breaking the cycle of war and poverty in Africa)

3)    I saw a new and untapped channel through which to create that opportunity (college students could be trained to be efficient & effective agents of change, partnering with refugees for education and empowerment)

4)    I had committed people around me who were willing to take a risk  (from the first class of Project Facilitators, to our first refugee employees, to my ever-dedicated family, the first people to take that leap of faith were the most critical)

Beyond those 4 things, it took hefty dose of audacity and determination mixed with a consistent stream of self-reflection and organizational re-evaluation.

FORGE is a success.  We’ve doubled our budget every year since we started, without increasing our overhead.  We now work in 3 refugee camps in Zambia, assisting over 60,000 refugees in building better lives.  Our 100+ refugee staff work tirelessly on our dozens of projects.  We annually train 30 Project Facilitators to develop new solutions and bring new life to our work on the ground.  Before Project Facilitators volunteer with FORGE internationally, they complete over 400 hours of training in 7 intensive months and raise the funds to cover personal and project expenses.

But FORGE is not yet what it could be. We serve only 60,000 of the world’s 8 million refugees.  For the past 3.5 years we’ve focused inward – on our projects and our structures – perhaps to the detriment of our funding stability and potential to grow. 

As a leader, I constantly question myself & my performance.  Are my successes real?  Are my failures as bad as I believe them to be?  How can I take my organization to the scale I know it must reach?

Through this blog, I invite you to come along on this journey of endless questions, hard knocks, joyous discoveries, and quiet reflections.  It’s not always pretty, but it’s sure worth the ride.