The dream version of my future self is someone that isn't held back from their past mistakes but rather learns from their experiences and dedicates their skills and knowledge to bettering the community around them.

Through civil rights protests in the past, African Americans have gained specific freedoms, thanks to people like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. However, black people are still facing a racial wealth gap that is shown around communities in the United States today. In particular, compared to white people in America, African Americans start their careers earning less money, have fewer retirement savings, and have more student loan debt as well. While the media likes to present the negatives of African Americans regarding crime rates or incarceration, not enough focus is being directed toward improving the socioeconomic status of black communities. Due to this fact, African American families continuously struggle to make ends meet and rely on the government for support, which will only worsen as the inflation rate increases. With that being said, I plan on using my accounting degree to educate local communities about financial literacy so that there can be less of a racial wealth gap in America. For instance, I will host free financial management workshops across the U.S. that will teach people about essential concepts like investing, budgeting, paying for college, earning passive income, and decreasing debt accumulation. In addition, these workshops will challenge people to use what they learn to pass the information around to other people in the community. Without a doubt, it may be hard to reach people in small communities, but I plan on having event organizers and a marketing team that will help grow the popularity of these workshops. Furthermore, I plan on attending schools in low-income communities to teach students about financial independence, while promoting my workshops so that families can attend these events. Not only this, but with society being in the digital age era, I will ensure I host online webinars for the people that can’t make it to these in-person workshop sessions. Indeed, there are many online courses about obtaining financial freedom, but most are met with a hefty upfront cost. Therefore, if someone cannot attend the local workshop or webinar sessions, I will post pre-recorded videos on Youtube about the monetary values people should always follow. At the same time, I will use my money to invest in black businesses so that they can grow and have the ability to hire more African Americans that need jobs. As a result, unemployment rates will be lowered in black communities, along with black businesses being able to scale and have more revenue to work with. Moreover, in the future, I hope to work with The Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), a group with the same ideals as I, to continue promoting the welfare of black people and the entire country. Along with this, a potential partnership with the ABFE could lead to my local workshops growing across America, as more people will recognize the companies I’m working with and ultimately, gravitate to these financial management events. Overall, helping others gives me a feeling of purpose. With this in mind, if I can help decrease the racial wealth gap by educating people about their finances, I believe I can make an impact on society. Undoubtedly, four years from now, I hope to be walking across the stage with an accounting degree in my hand, but as of now, I look to continue thinking about new ideas on how to make a difference, not only in the black community but also when it comes to the entire world as well.