African Development Center

When my Executive Director asked me to update my resume and enroll in a one year Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) careership program, I really wondered what kind of program it was and what I would learn by completing it. Guess what? It was not only an excellent program but also a wonderful, one-of-a-kind networking experience.

The careership is a mid-career apprenticeship program designed to train new leaders, particularly people of color, for professional positions in the community development field. You work for fifteen hours per week for one year to acquire job experience from a host organization in community development fields. The African Development Center is one of the many organizations that have hosted careership participants. This group includes other non profit developers, housing funders, housing consultants and government agencies.

I came to the US in late 2000 from Tanzania. I am one of the lucky kids who didn’t have a language challenge like many African immigrants. I was able to speak, read and write the language. I did my MBA with an accounting emphasis at Lincoln University in Missouri then relocated to Minnesota in 2004. Working in various capacities for various organizations here in the United States, I saw immigrants who faced challenges of integration with other communities and many others. I am always looking for a way to help bridge this gap and I really believed that my dream was almost realized right after I met Sam Grant, Barbara Jeanetta and Janaya Bagurusi for an interview to join the careership program in 2008.

I had followed ADC’s growth with great admiration for the work its staff does. Then I was given the privilege of working with the best economic development team in town. As I have always wanted to help African immigrants, I set out to be their advocate in many ways, especially in business development, through the African Development Center.

Barbara Jeanetta (LISC Twin cities – Senior Program Officer) and Nasibu Sareva

While working for ADC, I was introduced to the careership program and selected to be a participant. I completed my apprenticeship at ADC, where I work full time as Senior Business Lender. My work included not only providing technical assistance, loan packaging and general advisory services to small and emerging businesses, but also community integration, providing one-on-one credit counseling for prospective business clients, and working with clients to identify economic community resources, among other responsibilities.

Among my highlights in the LISC careership program was helping to organize a conference at the William Mitchell College of Law. The conference was called “From Structural Racism to Sustainable Communities.” I did a presentation in a breakout session on African Development Center as it relates to community development and racial equity. It was quite a rewarding experience to be part of an open dialogue on our vision of just and sustainable communities.

The LISC program was helpful to me both professionally and personally. My granddad was my inspiration and my hero. When he died in February 2008, the people of LISC were caring and flexible, allowing me to alter my schedule when I had to go to Tanzania to attend my granddad’s funeral. Barbara Jeanetta, who is the Minnesota Senior Program Officer and Director of Administration & Human Capital Development, worked with me one-on-one after I returned, to make sure I was completely caught-up in my studies. I am especially grateful to her.

I would also like to give credit to LISC careership for introducing me to the history and opportunities of community development affairs in the US. I believe my work flexibility has not only served me well in ADC’s shared leadership and grassroots work but also gave me the ability to forge relationships among diverse people to create a more equitable and peaceful world—relationships that made me a bridge builder between my careership peers and other communities.

Finally, thank you to ADC Executive Director Hussein Samatar for his excellent ability to identify resources and establish mutual benefiting relationships with LISC and other organizations, as well as leading me in this business development world.