Interned with Leadership Initiatives to improve a business in the developing world.

Consulted with CEOs and marketing experts to develop viable solutions for a business in Bauchi State, Nigeria.

Received a grant reviewed by leaders from Exxon, The United Nations, and the Nigerian Embassy to implement solutions for my business partner.

Helaine Zhao

Orange County School of the Arts

Class of 2024

Helaine Zhao is a rising sophomore at Orange County School of the Arts.

Helaine enjoys playing the piano, writing, singing, and spending time with her family. She is the co-founder of the Between You and I Organization, which frequently organizes events to give back to the community. She also enjoys playing the piano, and has won several state to international piano competitions. During her free time, Helaine enjoys writing and eating good food.

Helaine is very excited to be a part of the International Leadership and Business Internship this summer. She is looking forward to learn more about business and hopes to help others through this experience. She is excited to share her ideas and also make a positive impact on the world she lives in.

Collaborated With A Business In The Developing World

Earned a Development Grant to Enact Solutions

Collaborated With Business Development Experts

Our team reviewed the economic, social, political, and environmental factors that impact our partner business to design a launch plan and identify how to bridge the gap between our business partner’s current and desired conditions.

In order to fund the proposed business, our team composed a detailed plan and pitched our proposal to request seed funding from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee.

After researching the socio-economic conditions facing our business partners, our team worked with the Nigerian development staff to create effective solutions to the challenges our business partner was facing.

My Business Consultant Training

Destiny Success

Business Statistics

Ms. Success currently operates out of a mechanic shop at Dass Park, Bauchi. She last paid rent in August of 2020 and plans to move her business location.

Ms. Success enjoys the financial independence her business allows her. She hopes to continue providing for her children through her cooking.

Ms. Success works from Mondays to Saturdays from 7:00 am GMT+1 to 6:00 pm GMT+1.

On average, Ms. Success serves 100 customers a week and generates about 15,000 Naira a month.

About Destiny

Destiny is a 33 year old woman from Abia State. She was married and moved to live with her new husband. Unfortunately, this marriage ended in divorce. She currently has full custody of all there of her children, who range in age Fromm 8 to 14 years old.

Destiny takes sole financial responsibility over her life and the lives of her children, with no financial support from her ex-husband.

Every morning, Destiny wakes up very early and get ready for work in her shop while her oldest daughter prepares the rest of the children for school.

For the longest time, Destiny barely had enough to take care of herself, aunt, and children. Sometimes, she would spend the whole day without eating despite running a restaurant business.

Community Impact

Destiny owns a restaurant business. She often sells her food to mechanics, near-by shop owners, and people passing by her restaurant in a popular mechanic garage.

Destiny’s business is one of the major food suppliers for workers who leave home early in the morning and com back very late in the evening.

She has trained an employed young girls from her community and beyond.

Through the profits she makes from her business, Destiny is able to pay rent, school fees, clothes, and food for her children. Additionally, she helps support her aunt, who lives with them.

Our Partnership

Destiny, her three children, and her aunt live in a one bedroom apartments. They share a bathroom with other tenants in the building. They often do not have enough money and food to go around.

Destiny wants to partner with Leadership Initiatives in order to better support herself and her family, as well as improve her business and marketing skills.

One day, Destiny hopes to rent a bigger location for her restaurant business, where all kinds of customers will be able to eat under a noise-free and conducive environment.

Destiny hopes that her success will allow her to support other single mothers like her. She dreams of supporting her daughters through university so that they may escape the cycle of poverty.

Leadership Initiatives is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating future leaders across the globe through experiential learning. In the International Leadership and Business Internship, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading developmental experts in order to build my partners business and brand.

At the conclusion of the internship, I presented my research proposal to a panel of judges including Ahmed Muhammed, Umar Muhammad, and Marshall Bailly. Respectively, these judges are Harvard Medical School Director of Talent Acquisition, Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Program Manager, and Leadership Initiatives Founder & Executive Director.

In order to assist in the development of my business partner, Destiny Success, and her new restaurant location, I presented this proposal to the distinguished panel of judges. I proposed a new financial tracking sheet along with a carefully designed budget that would allow Ms. Success to modernize her business and account for more customers throughout the day.

My Business Proposal

I devised a plan that would allow Ms. Destiny Successi to increase her production possibilities and account for a larger demand for her restaurant business. In order to do this, I proposed funding for new equipment and new financial tracking systems to increase the efficiency of Ms. Success’ Restaurant Business.

In order to implement this plan, I proposed a strategic investment plan that would allow Ms. Success to build a modernized Restaurant that could produce the highest quality dishes possible. I recommended purchasing new gas burners, tables, chairs, cooking equipment, and freezers to produce these items, along with a year’s worth of rent to allow Ms. Success to build up her savings. These purchases help to put Ms. Success in a more modernized and efficient business plan that would allow Ms. Success to stand out in her community.

The funding suggested would allow Ms. Success to provide her restaurant service to more customers. Increasing the speed and quality of her service will help to develop a stronger reputation for Ms. Success, further allowing for a stronger customer base moving forward.

Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Desiny Success, and Nigerian Project Coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.

We learned more about her life, family, and desires for the proposed business venture, as well as the challenges she was facing.

By discussing first-hand the challenges our partner faced, our team successfully and efficiently began to brainstorm solutions to launch her business.

The on-staff project coordinators and business development experts helped facilitate the ideation process and ensured our team asked the right questions to produce fruitful results.

Each morning we held constructive discussions about our ideas, the advice we received the day before, and the timeline necessary to begin implementing our ideas in real-time.

Meeting the Business Partner

Our team met with leading experts in the field of business and economic development from the State Department, Exxon, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and top US companies and nonprofits.

These leaders included Dr. Sarah Stiles, Professor and Provost at Georgetown University, and Steven Pressman, best-selling author and President at the Association for Social Economics.

With their guidance, we streamlined our initial ideas to further our efforts in launching the venture our business partner envisioned.

Our team advanced our communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through hands-on project management and development.

By the end of the week, we had incorporated the advice of leading experts from across the globe for our business proposal to empower and transform the life of our business partner.

Top Executives & Experts

Our team then worked directly with Professor Heather Aranyi, leading communication coach and faculty in Northwestern University’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship.

Professor Aranyi supported our team in developing the story behind our pitch, properly framing our business venture, and honing our pitching and communication skills.

Professor Aranyi’s coaching prepared my team for the pitch at the end of the internship and helped us build our entrepreneurial toolkit.

With her collaboration, we consolidated our proposal into a targeted and effective plan that embodied the vision of our business partner.

Throughout the internship, we polished our communication and presentation skills while preparing ourselves to sell the story of our business partner and her business.

Communication & Pitch Coaching

Our team pitched the final proposal to a panel of expert judges from Harvard University, the Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Development Team, and the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee.

custom team picture with ahmed

This formal pitch allowed our team to practice our skills and utilize our entrepreneurial toolkit, all while showcasing our efforts to transform the business we partnered with.

At the end of the pitch, we were able to receive feedback on our proposal for our business partner.

Over the next year, our business partner’s venture will be made into reality and monitored for sustained success and growth.

Pitch To Development Experts