Insight Shaped by Direct Experience

I love St. Michael’s Day. As a daughter incepted, birthed, and raised on the Yeka mountains, I trace my ancestors back to the beginning of time — from Adam and Eve, through the sacred memory of place, prayer, and preservation. Yeka St. Michael reigns in my heart because the tabot, church, and palace were built upon that mountain by ancestors whose legacy stretches into the Axumite empire, into the reign of Atsbeha and Abraha, and into the lineage of seekers, discoverers, builders, creators, leaders, warriors, and knowers. To stand in that inheritance is to remember that history is not distant; it is lived, breathed, and carried in the body. So when I prayed, lit my candle, burnt my incense, and listened in awe to the early mass and the night mass, I felt something ancient awaken in me. St. Michael’s Day brings out the warrior within me — the strength, the alertness, the sacred fire. And yet, this day also gave my body rest. I slept deeply after hearing chants, prayers, and divine litur...

  Valentine’s Day is often reduced to romance, performance, or public display. For me, it represents something deeper: alignment, sovereignty, and sacred partnership rooted in God. I was 16years young when I first debated on Gods love & human love at school, & made my first valentines gift, handmade rock carving. I was coming of age, & I was not allowed to talk about boys, dating, sex or what my body was going through with my mother, as it was an insult to her & disrespect to be challenged, questioned & talked to like a friend. So I chose God, mothers in my school, friends circle, Oprah, nature, books & my own spirit's choice. My fathers on the other hand, negotiated, protected, guided, loved, nurtured, advised, met and would listen to my endless curiosity like best friends. So it was God, me, my father, and then men, in that order. Love, in its highest form, is not dependency. It is an expansion. It does not complete a woman. It reveals the strength she h...

For thousands of years, humanity has wrestled with one question: “Who owns the individual?” From empires to religions, from monarchies to matriarchies, from governments to families, the answer has too often been: someone else. The Ethiopian philosopher Zera Yacob wrote in the 17th century that truth resides not in dogma but in reason illuminated by God. In his Hatata , he challenged the corruption of institutions religious and political that manipulated people under the guise of authority. His insight feels startlingly modern: the greatest bondage is not physical chains but mental and societal ones. Across civilizations, systems of power, from Ottoman courts to Western colonial regimes, from ancient Persian empires to Aztec hierarchies, have learned the same tactic: control the narrative, control the conscience, control the individual. Institutions weaponize affiliation, shame, and belonging. The collective ego thrives on hierarchy. What begins as community becomes cult. What begins ...

  Impact investing and fintech innovation are no longer niche they are shaping markets, communities, and Africa’s future of finance. From digital lending platforms to blended finance in frontier economies, the challenge is aligning capital with inclusive growth, especially in Africa, where MSMEs account for up to 90% of employment. From Fortune 500 Commercial Lending to Microfinance Inspiration My journey into impact finance began while working as a commercial lender for Fortune 500 companies. I managed complex financial portfolios and large-scale transactions, navigating the rigor and discipline of global capital markets. Yet it was during this period, while pursuing my MBA at Seattle University, that I had the honor of meeting Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Professor Yunus’s pioneering work in Bangladesh showed me a different side of finance where small loans could transform livelihoods, restore dignity, and unlock human potential. His message was simple yet profound: a...

There are spaces where time, wisdom, & vision converge, a council of ancestors, scholars, mystics, & guides convening across generations & geographies. In these spaces, seeking, exploring, & serving become deliberate acts of alignment: tracing history, genetics, & global ancestral wisdom to live a life rooted in spiritual truth, integrity, & authenticity. As Black women, having birthed the world in body, spirit, and lineage, we are often thrust into cycles of self-betrayal without full discernment. Painbodies, inherited wounds, ancestral traps, & societal expectations condition us to belong, protect, guide, nurture, & love everyone but ourselves. From birth, we are taught to seek validation, to perform as the “good girl,” to conform, to carry the savior complex, & to attach to outdated institutions that favours the ego, control & masculine, all at the cost of direct access to God and the sacred knowledge that our wholeness is inherent. True sover...

"All I can do for you is protection, guidance, nurture, & a global education, as well as discipline of putting God first not man, not even me, the rest is up to you ." - my awakened father R.I.P.   “Why do we follow rituals blindly without knowing their essence?” - Zera Yacob (17th century Ethiopian philosopher before decarte) My journey began in Ethiopia, where I inherited a love of travel and curiosity from my awakened father, who shared stories of adventure across mountains, valleys, and oceans. My mother, working with Ethiopian Airlines, gave me wings early. At just 12 years old, I began traveling solo—a choice that became my greatest teacher, stripping me of comfort, conformity, and false personas, and connecting me to a force far greater than myself. From the very beginning, my travels were not mere tourism; they were initiation. Guided by God and the ancestral spirits of my lineage, I embarked on a pilgrimage to trace the wisdom etched into the lands of my forebe...