Skip to main content

Partner.Provide.Promote.Pearls

About 6 months ago, I had an interesting discussion with fairly new friends about healthy approaches to garner success in your endeavors.  One of their suggestions was to be more intentional about your goals/plans.  Now, we all know that intentionality is to be deliberate; when you do things on purpose. This discussion piqued even more of my interest to hear them make the case that being intentional must have a ubiquitous application.  To look at intentionality as more concrete than abstract, we considered 3 actionable approaches towards success, Partner.Provide.Promote.

So as I prepared for a board retreat meeting with Friends of Ketcham Elementary School (FoKes) yesterday, I thought about some things the board must be intentional about to accomplish our goals for the school. As an educator and small business owner, children have always been my pearls in the making.  As it relates to FoKes, given that these little pearls have a majority of women helping to cultivate them, we must be intentional about our patronage. Just like Ketcham and many other schools, there is a board to help them increase their intentional efforts.  In this year of 2020, we Pearls need a "board' to help us be more intentional about or efforts towards accomplishing our goals. So that's why Nacr3 is here...to serve on your board and help you develop your board intentionality. We are here to help you to Partner. Provide. Promote in the Nacr3-way of being Strong, Resilient, and Luminous! So let's discuss how to be intentional in these 3 areas.

  • Get You a Partner! Our 1st step to developing your intentionality is Partnerships. When looking to partner, you should be clear on why you need a specific partnership.  Partnerships whether business or collaborators, in general, can have several beneficial additives for you. Partnerships can bring resources such as capital/money, talent, and access.  This is something that FoKes considered at our retreat on yesterday.  Given our goals for teacher support and student support, we need partnerships to intentionally further our goals. We've already determined that partnerships are key so here's a checklist to consider.  1. How well do we know the partner? 2. Is this partner a good fit for us/you (communication, follow-through or good on a return)? 3. What is the mutual understanding as it relates to the partnership? Partnerships clearly defined can provide you with additions that can encourage the growth of your business/organizations.  Additions such as financial resources, better talent, and most importantly access! These few positives promote growth in your business and therefore strengthens your position reach and endeavors. Partnerships=Being Strong!
  • What Can You Provide? Our second area of intentionality is how and what we provide to Ketcham.  The FoKes' board partnership with Ketcham was formed to provide teacher support, student access, family engagement, advocacy, and celebration. In return what we provide to Ketcham allows the school to provide their community with well-rounded children and a safe nurturing place to learn. Our community is a huge part of Nacr3 creed in being resilient and overcoming obstacles. To determine what you provide consider the following: 1. Your past accomplishments. 2. Do your abilities match your new goals? 3. Plan how to meet this goal? 4. Develop your brand and show enthusiasm about your endeavor.  Knowing what you contribute to a partnership organization or community encourages you to strengthen and increase connections within your community and it's your Community that allows you to be Resilient!
  • Controlling Your Narrative! Lastly, FoKes discussed intentionality changing the narrative around the school and community. How can we promote the beautiful community of families and educators working to cultivate Pearls in our little black and brown children? Promotion not only allows you to change the narrative but also control the narrative of your efforts. The next five steps can help you control your narrative. 1. Understand your purpose-what's your purpose and who else shares your purpose? 2. Put your narrative in the Human Context-when someone engages your brand, it's the first interview and you need to tell them about yourself. 3. Embrace your uniqueness-if you don't differentiate your narrative, you will be swallowed by those with more reach than you. 4. Contextualize shortcomings-you and your organizations are constantly moving, changing, adapting and evolving; your stories should be just as dynamic. 5. Beware of tone deafness-culture eats strategy for breakfast, listen to your audience and adapt to there needs. Opportunities to control your narrative are blogs, podcasts, newsletters, radio spots, social media, word of mouth and paper advertisement. Controlling your narrative allows you to promote your brand. Promotion begs you to Be Luminous!

FoKes is one arm that seeks to Partner. Provide. Promote for a well-deserving community. While you are making plans to develop your intentional efforts, look also to support the Friends of Ketcham Elementary Schools efforts. Become a partner with us, so that we can provide access to our students and families and promote the growth of such wonderful people. 

Here are your avenues to support the Friends of Ketcham Elementary Schools efforts- Twitter @FOKESDC, Instagram @friendsofketcham, and Facebook--Friends of Ketcham Elementary School (FOKES). Please consider Partnering with us by making a donation at the following link. 





Enjoy Pearls!

      DBC,
Mother of Pearl

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PEARLs and TAXES

Good day Pearls , Now that the holiday season has come to an end our next big endeavor is TAX TIME! Of course, tax time tends to overwhelm the best of us but fiscal responsibility for business owners and individuals should not be frightful as long as you are preparing yourself accordingly. Though you may be quite familiar with filing your own taxes, don’t assume you are an expert with your small business tax responsibilities. In 2020, Pearls are Financially Strong, Resilient and Luminous. We, women small business owners need to ensure that we are rendering our businesses/side hustles healthy in all fiscal avenues. To prepare for this blog entry, I took the opportunity to speak with a Certified Public Accountant in the DC Metropolitan area with over 20+ years of experience to give some pointers on keeping your hustle solid and fiscally sound. Mr. Robert L. Waller, CPA/CFE , was eager to provide direction for Women Small Business Owners on a few questions regarding responsibiliti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Strategic Legacy Building in 2024!

Happy New Year, Pearls! It is great to be back at the regularly scheduled events. So let's get into it.  As an urban-based education administrator and passionate advocate for inclusive learning, I understand the power of creating spaces that foster success for BIPOC students. Today, I want to redirect my and your focus to my other dynamic group within our community: Black women mom-preneurs. These incredible individuals embody Strength, Resilience, and Sparkle! —the core elements of the NACR3 Effect. Here's a strategic guide on how you, Pearl, can build your legacy in 2024. Strength Define Your Purpose: Begin by identifying your passion and purpose. What legacy do you want to leave for your children and the community? This clarity will be the driving force behind your journey. Prioritize Self-Care : Balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship requires self-care. Nurture your well-being to maintain the energy and enthusiasm needed for sustainable success. Remember, taking care o...
Post a Comment
Read more

becoming...Pearl

Happy Day Pearl, One thing 2020 has taught me is that self-reflection is the new 'wokeness'... the master key to enjoying life. Over the last 9 months, I, like a lot of people around the world, have had quite a bit of time to sit in my home and engage in moments of, at times intense, self-reflection thanks to COVID-19. I had a lot of time to look at old pictures, read old journal entries, and continue writing on my upcoming project. But this day, I had an inspiration arrive and Pearls I am thankful for this opportunity.  Self-reflection's greatest vehicle is transition. For me this time of year, August through October has always represented transition. From birthdays, the beginning of things again after some time of growth to the end of my favorite season, Summer. So here I am in this transition of seasons, work cycles, and personal growth with self-reflection as the skipper .   Self-Reflection is   becoming Strong ,  becoming Resilient , and  becoming Lumi...
Post a Comment
Read more