Having only one child in a Senegalese society that values large families,my father found the way to gain respect was to be successful in his endeavors. As a result, he started his businesses very early, by opening his own electronics shops acrossDakar , Senegal and later on in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
By the age of 10, I had left Dakar for Abidjanand at 14 found myself managing and operating one of the many electronics shops he had opened in Abidjan, while going to school. I further had the good fortune to travel with him across West Africa: from Monrovia, Liberia to Lagos, Nigeria — dealing with all kinds of merchants and local customs, and assisting him with the limited education I had at that time. Unfortunately, I believe my father’s traditional business methods and lack of formal education as well the state of corruption and trade untairness prevented his businesses from becoming as prosperous as they could have been. I was early on introduced to a worid of corruption and unfair trade across West Africa.
Corruption on every level of African society is one of the biggest public issues that is threatening Africa ‘s route to really become as emerging as it should be–it is simply crippling development in Africa as a whole. My mission in public service is: to develop, create and implement policies and programs that fight corruption mostly in Senegal and West Africa. How as a young African who has had the chance to travel across West Africa and the fortune to live in the United States ,can give my contribution in fighting this bane –we cannot as Africans continue to accept corruption as normal and inured part ot our lives I am applying to the Executive Master of Public Administration for the fall 2014, with an intended concentration in International Economic Policy and Management at SlPA and I believe my academic background, professional career and liteexperience,have prepared me forthe rigorous program.
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The program will prepare me in finding practicalsolutions to daunting public issues we are facing, from corruption to women’s ights—by nurturingin mebetter skills in policy writing, mediation, leadership as well as data analytic.SIPA will also allow me to develop further my passion for foreign languages and thatwill be key in being successful not only at the school but beyond. I am a francophone, fluent in French as well as Wolof and Bambara (West African languages) along with the ability to read and comprehend German as well Spanish-and I am currently leaning Arabic, to be a better practitioner of my religion.l have started my preparation for access to the program by taking and completing the Business Certificateat theSchool of Continuing Education. I moreoverfeel that my undergraduate studies in business and intormation technology reintorced my beliets learnt at a very young agetravelling with my tather, that fully succeeding in any business venture is more than just buying commodities and reselling them at a higher price for a profit, but about honestly in what we are dealing with and how we dealing with things.
During my recent trip to Dakar, I have started a process that will allow me to establish “La foundation “Yeete Thiouna Lo’, meaning “awareness in Wolot, a foundation in homage ot my deceased mother and two of her relatives that will bring more awareness to women in Thies, Senegal about the importance of early diagnosis of breast cancer and ultimately get a new mammogram machine for the local hospital., L’hopital regional de Thies, my birth hospital. In my career, I have spent the last twelve years auditing, analyzing, reporting, and studying trends and assure data integrity is maintained first in a financial environment at Citigroup and now in an academic environment at Columbia University. At Columbia, I am the assistant Director for prospect management – creating data reports t that will allow us to find opportunities for fundraising in our alumni population. These reports will study the likelih0od of a prospect to donate to the school based on a wide range of criteria. These reports permit the fundraisers to target the right demographic of donors and that viable data is stored in the fundraising database.
My work, lite experience and my strong desire to lean and find practice solutions against corruption and better myselt ,have strengthened my desire to pursue my goals by commencing with the Executive Master of Public Administration.As a member of the Columbia University community for the past eight years, I believe that the university’s ample resources, cross-disciplinary approach and legendary challenging academic environment would certainly foster me into becoming a great leader in any field whether it is used in Africa or elsewhere.
