AFRICOM's Extraordinary Board

Sometimes, you have the rare honor to witness a group of brilliant leaders in action. Last Saturday, our Prasada team spent the day with Mrs. Zemoria Brandon, Dr. Vera Tolbert, Dr. Philip Udo-Inyang, Sister Florence Enechukwu, Rev Dr. John K. Jallah, and Dr. Eric Edi, Board Members of The Coalition of African and Caribbean Communities (AFRICOM) Board. 

AFRICOM is a Philadelphia non-profit organization incorporated in 2001 to advocate and organize to promote African and Caribbean immigrant and refugee empowerment, a sense of belonging, and self-sufficiency. They had evolved from a small grass-roots organization to a leading advocacy, civic engagement, and collective power-building organization serving in ways they had never imagined during the pandemic.

Dr. Eric Edi, their President and CEO, recognized that after a very impactful and intense few years, they need time together to connect and go from tired to inspired. 

How can an organization’s leader, staff, and partners do so much and keep going? 

Organizations are a beautiful tapestry of committed, extraordinary individuals. On Saturday, we learned about the Character Stregnths of Zest, Kindness, Honesty, Perseverance, Fairness, Bravery, Creativity, Spirituality, Teamwork, and Love that this group of individuals brings to their work at AFRICOM. These are their superpowers. 

I share the picture of our group above to assure you of a few things I know to be true. Good things are happening in Philadelphia. Extraordinary people are making a difference, going above and beyond over and over and over again. There is hope and inspiration for our collective future, and we are changing the way we relate to and care for each other. 

I wanted to share a profound thought that Dr. Edie shared on Saturday.

“Sometimes the small things open a big door.”

The small thing of meeting these six leaders opened a big door of hope and inspiration for me. 

My deepest gratitude for the time we spent together and for trusting us to serve and support you all and the AFRICOM mission.