hope that you find this book as exciting as I do. I know you will be as grateful for Dean and Carrie's example and wisdom as I am. And I am certain that, with this book in hand, you will continue to do everything in your power to make a difference—by doing something that makes a difference, with people who make a difference, at a time that makes a difference.
You're in good hands—and I can't wait to see what you do next.
John C. Maxwell
Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK WAS Dean's idea. He jokingly suggested that we write this book together and I seriously answered that any excuse to have routine exposure to Dean's perspective and humor was reason enough for me. Dean, most people describe the process of writing a book as a great challenge and at times painstaking; you made this project fun.
Thank you to the Eisenhower Foundation for gifting me the experience of a lifetime as an Eisenhower Fellow, and for introducing me to Dean and many other citizen statespeople.
To The Global Good Fund Fellows, you made me want to write this book because it is an honor to showcase your meaningful work. Your drive to impact the world inspires me.
To The Global Good Fund team, board, and community, thank you for your support. You consistently encourage me to share my story in the context of making the world a better place.
To John Wiley & Sons, publishers, thank you for giving us a chance.
To my family, biological and chosen, you know who you are. I love you.
To aspiring citizen statespeople, you know who you are. I believe in you.
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Carrie ‐ You are a leader among leaders who never fails to bring out the best in all of us. Thank you for standing steadfastly alongside me on this project. Our work has just begun.
My unwavering gratitude to the teachers and mentors who lift us high upon their wings.
To the citizen statespeople: may you always find the courage within to step forward alone; but rest assured that we are always behind you.
1 Why Being a Citizen Statesperson Matters
Key Takeaways
A citizen statesperson is a superpowered individual committed to improving the community and the world through values and activism.
Three dynamics drive the need and opportunity for citizen statespeople at this moment: 1) loss of confidence in traditional institutions of power and influence, 2) technology that contributes to the capability of the superpowered individual, and 3) a new generation of impact‐minded individuals committed to driving change in meaningful and multifaceted ways.
Becoming a citizen statesperson starts at a local level, solving problems for local people. From there, citizen statespeople can make a global impact.
ABBEY WEMIMO WAS born in Nigeria and grew up in the slums of Lagos. He lost his father when he was two years old, and was raised by his mother and two sisters. Even as a child, he understood that his circumstances meant that he wouldn't be able to access everything he needed in life, and that his experience would prove challenging and at times disappointing. He was also a smart and motivated child, and his mother believed fundamentally in the importance of a good education. Excluded from the traditional financial system, Abbey's mother turned to rotational savings to pay for food and his school fees, and sent her son to one of the finest high schools in Nigeria. He took international exams to qualify for universities abroad, and at 17 years old, he was offered a once‐unimaginable opportunity: an education in the United States.
He and his mother emigrated together to Minnesota, but when they arrived, they struggled to survive. They tried to borrow money for Abbey's college tuition from one of the largest banks in Minneapolis, but the bank turned them away because they lacked a credit score or a financial history. Ultimately, in order to send Abbey to college, his mother was forced to pawn her wedding ring and borrow a few thousand dollars from a predatory lender at an interest rate of over 400 percent.
The experience had a profound impact on Abbey. He turned down an opportunity to play professional soccer, and instead focused on gaining an education in business and finding jobs in the financial sector, determined to learn about the system that had nearly destroyed his family and so many others across the United States. Along the way, he looked for opportunities to connect with leaders and innovators who were working to improve communities around the world.
Eventually, that work brought him to Samir Goel.
Samir's parents traveled from New Delhi, India, in search of a better life through the American Dream, but when they arrived in America, they quickly faced a colder and more challenging reality than they had anticipated. On their first day in the United States, Samir's father was robbed by a mugger, who took what little money he had brought with him. The place they had intended to stay was no longer able to shelter them. With no money, no credit score, and nowhere to live, Samir's parents struggled to survive—a beginning that forced them to “work miracles,” as Samir puts it, to give him the future that they imagined.
Samir took their experience to heart and worked hard to secure a good education and a career that could sustain him and his family. Samir simultaneously looked for ways to serve communities that had been left out and left behind. He gained experience in start‐ups and social impact ventures, and connected with other young people who were determined to make a contribution to the world around them.
Though Abbey and Samir came from different communities, they learned the same lesson: that for people without a financial history—especially people of color—opportunities for advancement can be scarce. They saw beyond their parents' experiences to the millions of men, women, and children who were dogged by the same challenge. And when they met at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2014, they pledged to do something about it.
For a few years, they continued to work in corporate roles—Abbey at Goldman Sachs and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Samir at LinkedIn—but they kept discussing their families' shared experiences, and the need for a response to financial marginalization. They kept spinning out ideas for financial integration and opportunity. Finally, they were ready to move. In 2018, four years after they met, they launched Esusu—a financial technology company meant to help low‐ to moderate‐income renters use rent payments to build credit, establish a financial history, and make their way into the U.S. economy.
The name of the organization itself offered a look at their motivations and their plans to make change. The word esusu describes a traditional form of informal financing that originated in Nigeria, helping individuals and communities band together in savings and credit associations. The notion is that by working together in partnerships, people without a formal financial identity can help each other live and work in a mutually beneficial way.
That's the idea Abbey and Samir brought to the table when they participated in The Global Good Fund in 2019. The notion was a novel one, but it made sense; millions of people who are low‐income in America make rental payments on time every month for decades without establishing a credit score. Meanwhile, landlords have no way of knowing which tenants are good bets. Esusu brought these communities together, partnering with landlords through a rent reporting service and helping low‐income renters build credit by reporting monthly payments to credit bureaus. The organization even created a rent relief fund to help struggling
