My leadership journey began with disappointment.

I approached a bank with a dream and request for a loan, only to be told I was ineligible because I lacked collateral. In Burundi, it’s extremely difficult to access opportunities unless you are part of the ultra-rich, forcing many to make deals on the black-market. I refused to accept this — while many peers said this was unchangeable, I resolved to challenge the mindset that we were dependent on institutions that ignored our needs. Instead, I began to ask, “How can we solve this together?”

Empowering leadership has allowed us to overcome the challenges of limited resources and capacity because it multiplies impact through others. When people feel empowered, they take ownership, innovate, and grow. This has allowed the vision for YIM to expand far beyond what I, or any one leader, could accomplish alone.

In many African homes in the past, we cooked using three stones and firewood. If one stone was short or unstable, the whole saucepan (the vision) could fall. As leaders, our role is to ensure every stone (every person) is supported and strong…

In 2005, I had an opportunity to revisit my home city, Bukavu, after living in Belgium for a couple of years. What I found broke my heart…