BusDavidPark
My Business Consultant Training

Collaborated With A Business In The Developing World
Our team reviewed the economic, social, political, and environmental factors that impact our partner business to design a launch plan and identify how to bridge the gap between our business partner’s current and desired conditions.

Earned a Development Grant to Enact Solutions
In order to fund the proposed business, our team composed a detailed plan and pitched our proposal to request seed funding from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee.

Collaborated With Business Development Experts
After researching the socio-economic conditions facing our business partners, our team worked with the Nigerian development staff to create effective solutions to the challenges our business partner was facing.
My Grant
Proposal
Bamaiyi’s Blessed Kitchen is a restaurant focusing on the finest Nigerian foods. Ikilimat Abdulazeez has a rich background in cooking and managing a household, showing dedication to high-quality, affordable delicacies in a welcoming and culturally-rich environment.
Bamaiyi’s Blessed Kitchen is vastly superior to other dining options due to the clear commitment to homemade, heartfelt meals. Each dish is made with recipes passed down through generations, which ensures authenticity and flavor. Ikilimat’s emphasis on quality addresses the need for authentic and delicious meals. The strong reputation Ikilimat has will allow targeted marketing and community engagement, in order to build a loyal customer base.
At Bamaiyi’s Blessed Kitchen, we strive to bring the essence of authentic Nigerian cuisine to the forefront by offering homemade dishes prepared with passion and expertise. Bamaiyi’s Blessed Kitchen stands out due to Ikilimat’s unwavering passion for preparing meals to the best of her ability and the focus on creating an immersive experience though food. Bamaiyi’s Blessed Kitchen is well-positioned to thrive and become a beloved destination for authentic Nigerian cuisine.
My Grant Proposal
Presentation
In the International Leadership and Business Internship, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading developmental experts in order to build my partners business and brand.
At the conclusion of this internship, our team pitched the final proposal to a panel of esteemed judges from the Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Development Team and the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed our team to practice our skills and utilize our entrepreneurial toolkit, all while showcasing our efforts to transform the business we partnered with.
At the end of the pitch, we were able to receive feedback on our proposal for our business partner. Over the next year, our business partner’s venture will be made into reality and monitored for sustained success and growth.
Internship Highlights
- Business Meeting
- Ugandan Embassy
- Embassy of Switzerland
- Expert Assistance

Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Ikilimat Abdulazeez, and our Nigerian project coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.
We learned more about their life, family, and desires for the proposed business venture, as well as the challenges they were facing. By discussing first-hand the challenges our partner faced, our team successfully and efficiently began to brainstorm solutions to launch their business.
Each morning we held constructive discussions about our ideas, the advice we received the day before, and the timeline necessary to begin implementing our ideas in real-time.
The on-staff project coordinators and business development experts helped facilitate the ideation process and ensured our team asked the right questions to produce tangible results.

I had the unique opportunity to visit the Ugandan Embassy, where I learned about diplomatic relations between Uganda and the United States.
The embassy serves as a hub for collaboration with partner countries and international organizations, which facilitates the creation of solutions to address global issues, such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change.
Ugandan diplomats and officials work closely with local communities to identify needs and design programs that empower individuals and enhance overall societal well-being. This community-centered problem-solving is something my team and I aspired towards while crafting our business proposal.

I also visited the Embassy of Switzerland to learn about the role that Switzerland plays in domestic and international development work. We discussed critical topics including investments, international trade, and human rights.
While touring the embassy, I learned about the wide range of policy issues and gained a better understanding of the embassy’s role in international development through sustainable and inclusive initiatives.
My visit to the Embassy of Switzerland was not only educational, but inspiring. It allowed me to see Switzerland’s pivotal role in advancing international development and how I can implement their ideals into my own work.

Our team met with leading experts in the fields of business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the State Department, and GlobalGiving.
One such expert was Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Program. She provided us with a crash course in advertising and marketing, in which we learned essential components of an effective marketing campaign.
Our work with Ms. Brooks was essential in preparing us for our culminating pitch deck presentation. With her and other expert guidance, we streamlined our initial ideas to further our efforts in launching the venture our business partner envisioned.
By the end of the week, we had incorporated the advice of leading experts from across the globe for our business proposal to empower and transform the life of our business partner.