Interned with Leadership Initiatives to improve a business in the developing world.

Consulted with CEOs and marketing experts to develop viable solutions for a business in Bauchi State, Nigeria.

Received a grant reviewed by leaders from Exxon, The United Nations, and the Nigerian Embassy to implement solutions for my business partner.

Charles Becker

Tucson High Magnet School

Class of 2023

Charles will be a junior at Tucson High Magnet School in the fall. His previous course selection has included AP and Honors courses.

Charles gravitates towards athletic extracurricular activities such as track and field and martial arts. He plays both the saxophone and the oboe. He spends time volunteering at the Tucson Community Food Bank and enjoys giving back to the community.

Charles is excited to participate in the Leadership Initiatives Business Summit because he hopes to pursue a future in business and one day start his own business. This internship will help him enhance his knowledge in the steps needed for a business startup along with real business experience, leading him to be able to contribute to society in a meaningful way.

Collaborated With A Business In The Developing World

Earned a Development Grant to Enact Solutions

Collaborated With Business Development Experts

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.

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.

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 Business Consultant Training

Usman Hussaini

Business Statistics

Mr. Hussaini does not currently have a permanent store front. In the future, he would like his business to be located along Dass Park or the Muda Lawan Area in Bauchi State, Nigeria.

Mr. Hussaini is a proud auto repair mechanic and enjoys fixing and repairing car engines.

The other services that Mr. Hussaini can provide include are oil changes, wheel repair (specifically ball joint problems), and gasket changes.

Mr. Hussaini tries to work as efficiently as possible with his services ranging from 25 minutes to a couple of hours from start to finish.

About Usman

Mr. Hussaini aspires to be like his previous mentor and employer, Dan Gombe, and not only own an auto mechanic repair business, but also sell spare car parts.

In 2016, Mr. Hussaini and his wife had their first child - a boy named Aminu. Three years later, they had another baby boy named Idris.

In 2014, Mr. Hussaini decided to join “Gombe Auto Mechanic Repair”. One year later, Mr. Hussaini married his wife Zuwaira Usman.

Usman Hussaini was born in Gombe, Nigeria in 1990. He attended school until 2009 when his father died after his high school graduation.

Community Impact

Mr. Hussaini is personally responsible for the wellbeing of his wife and two children. This business would directly impact three people in his community.

In addition to Mr. Hussaini’s desire to support his family, he hopes to empower young people through mentorship and employment opportunities, just as his former employer Dan Gombe did for him.

His children, Idris and Aminu, are two and five years old. Aminu is attending nursery school, which adds school fees to the list of family expenditures.

Through this business venture, Mr. Hussaini hopes to finance his family’s living expenses, save money for his family’s future, and pass the business down to his sons.

Our Partnership

He wishes to empower people from his community and assist them in breaking the cycle of poverty.

Mr. Hussaini hopes to transform his ideas into a self-sufficient family business that will allow him to pursue his dreams of selling spare auto parts, just like his mentor.

Before partnering with Leadership Initiatives, Mr. Hussaini worked as a motorcycle mechanic. While he enjoyed the work, he was not making enough to support himself, much less his family.

Mr. Hussaini is very excited and honored to collaborate with Leadership Initiatives’ International Leadership & Business Interns.

Leadership Initiatives is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating future leaders across the globe through experiential learning. 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 the internship, I presented my research proposal to a panel of judges including Ahmed Muhammed, Auwal Yakbu, and Marshall Bailly. Respectively, these judges are Harvard Medical School Director of Talent Acquisition, Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Program Manager, and Leadership Initiatives Founder & Executive Director.

In order to address the lack of an identifiable brand for my business partner Usman Hussaini and his auto repair shop, I presented this proposal to the distinguished panel of judges. I proposed a newly designed name, Usman’s Auto Repair, that went along with general advertising materials meant to establish a larger client base for the repair shop.

My Business Proposal

I devised a marketing plan that would allow Mr. Usman Hussaini to expand his outreach and increase his overall sales. In order to do this, I proposed a new logo, business name, and some new advertising materials.

In order to implement these new branding opportunities, I devised a multi-step marketing plan meant to increase his demographic pool and overall customer base. Mr. Hussaini was provided with a new business name: Usman’s Auto Repair, which would be printed on banners, business cards, and fliers. One thing that has always set Mr. Hussaini apart from his competition is his attention to detail and quick turnaround on repairs. I capitalized on this by advertising the quick turnaround on fliers and banners that can be posted around the town.

The proposed advertising campaign would increase the customer base of Usman’s Auto Repair, increasing his overall revenue. Diversifying his demographic outreach will allow Mr. Hussaini to expand his market to new vehicle owners, varying car brands, and an overall new clientele

Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Mr. Usman Hussaini, and Nigerian project coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.

We learned more about his life, family, and desires for the proposed business venture, as well as the challenges he was facing.

By discussing first-hand the challenges our partner faced, our team successfully and efficiently began to brainstorm solutions to launch his business.

The on-staff project coordinators and business development experts helped facilitate the ideation process and ensured our team asked the right questions to produce fruitful results.

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.

Meeting the Business Partner

Our team met with leading experts in the field of business and economic development from the State Department, Exxon, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and top US companies and nonprofits.

These leaders included Dr. Sarah Stiles, Professor and Provost at Georgetown University, and Tiffany Norwood, serial entrepreneur with seven startups and nearly a billion dollars in funding under her belt.

With their guidance, we streamlined our initial ideas to further our efforts in launching the venture our business partner envisioned.

Our team advanced our communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through hands-on project management and development.

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.

Top Executives & Experts

Our team then worked directly with Professor Heather Aranyi, leading communication coach and faculty in Northwestern University’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship.

Professor Aranyi supported our team in developing the story behind our pitch, properly framing our business venture, and honing our pitching and communication skills.

Professor Aranyi’s coaching prepared my team for the pitch at the end of the internship and helped us build our entrepreneurial toolkit.

With her collaboration, we consolidated our proposal into a targeted and effective plan that embodied the vision of our business partner.

Throughout the internship, we polished our communication and presentation skills while preparing ourselves to sell the story of our business partner and his business.

Communication & Pitch Coaching

Our team pitched the final proposal to a panel of expert judges from Harvard University, the Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Development Team, and the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee.

custom team picture with ahmed

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.

Pitch To Development Experts