In theory there are more successful Black executives and entrepreneurs in the United States than there are available private or public paid board seats. Taking or adding additional seats on existing US Boards will not close a gap this big. A pan-African strategy to access Board opportunities may be the answer.
For context and to hint at Africa as a market opportunity, we can point out facts like there being more businesses in Africa generating over $1B per year in revenues than there are in the US. But B-Direct’s impact goes beyond identifying more paid Board seats. The best businesses in Africa are not just capable of solving African problems, they could potentially solve global problems in a world whose consumers and inhabitants will be predominantly diverse.
Today, 1 out of 6 people on Earth live in Africa with 77% of this population under the age of 35. It is predicted that the proportion will change to 1 in 4 by 2050 and 1 in 3 by 2100.
The year 2020 taught us that quality of living is a conversation of interconnection. By connecting US Black talent to African businesses, B-Direct can help solve Africa’s entrepreneurial capital gap problem, support Africans in solving African problems, bring more inclusivity to US corporate environments, create stronger economic ties between the US and Africa, build better understandings of African challenges and opportunities in the US, and expand the conversation of cultural relevance.
- Africa’s business advisory industry remains dominated by top consulting firms that are too expensive for its private sector
- There are more capable Black executives in the US, than there are available public and private board seats.
- The number of African corporations and businesses aspiring to raise capital and expand across Africa and globally is increasing
- The necessity for stronger ties between the US and Africa is becoming more urgent
- Despite industry growth many continental African value chains are not localized
- In many African countries, capital investment disproportionately goes to non-African founders and non-African based companies
- US corporations need better opportunities to gain ground-level insight and understanding of African markets
- Intellectual capital on the continent of Africa, needs to be supported by its US Diaspora
B-Direct™ is multiplying corporate and advisory board opportunities for US Black executives and entrepreneurs by providing a unique approach that prepares them for board placement on African based corporations looking to locally and globally scale.
Our Board Partners
Our corporate and advisory board partners range from high-growth African early-stage, public or private companies with well-established board governance to early-stage startups that are looking to establish a high impact advisory board.
Our candidate pool
B-Direct™ is selecting executives from national and multinational corporations with extensive experience or an equivalent span of control from Director to C- Level positions and successful entrepreneurs that have successfully built or sold companies.
Mutual Benefit
B-Direct™ creates transatlantic, socio-economic benefits by changing Africa’s relationship with its U.S. Diaspora. We believe that creating a transatlantic outlook of cultural interconnection will result in business communication that enables accurate interpretations of content and context.
Curated Community
We have a unique Board Search Model that we call a “curated community”: Curated because both candidates and companies are selected for preliminary readiness and prepared with governance training and social awareness tools to assure cultural and skill alignment; and a Community because we intentionally strive for successful candidate-company matches that build an understanding of cultural commonality and an expectation for mutual benefit.
Connect: Connect disconnected cultures for economic and social advancement.
Grow Networks: Consider the socioeconomic needs of Africans and their US Diaspora by ensuring their alignment to the formation and evolution of new global economies
Develop Cultural Trust: Develop cultural comfort, understanding, and confidence to remove the perception of threats within cross-cultural engagement.
Understand: Promote a global awareness of the opportunity of Africa and leverage our resources to grow African value chains and expand the diversity of corporate supply chains.
Transfer of Access: Position the US as the most impactful geography for human and intellectual capital investments into Africa
- 135 US Private Companies with over $1B in Revenues Annually
- 438 Private African Companies with over 1B in Revenues Annually
- 25% are subsidiary group companies of foreign domicile multinationals
- 50% have a local origin
- 40% are publicly listed
- 60% are privately owned
- 700 African companies with over $500M in Revenues Annually
- A successful Black executive or entrepreneur looking to maximize your talent globally
- A successful Black executive or entrepreneur that desires to be on a paid board
- A successful Black executive or entrepreneur that ‘wants more options’
- A successful Black executive or entrepreneur that believes they have reached their US corporate ceiling
- Maximize their talent and intellectual sophistication globally
- Be on a paid Board or Advisory Board
- Grow value chains within the world’s largest free trading block
- Develop global perspective and experience
- Create new paths to generational wealth
- Be recognized as a corporate transatlantic business pioneer
- Executives from national and multinational corporations
- Extensive experience or an equivalent span of control from Director to C-Level positions
- Successful entrepreneurs that have successfully built or sold a company
- Note: Prior board experience is great, but not a requirement
- looking for top executive talent to help you get to the next level of growth
- looking to raise capital in and outside of Africa
- that would benefit from global networks, access, best-practices, and perspective
- looking to scale or leapfrog to your global potential
- Help access new markets
- Access international capital and Direct Diaspora Investment
- Help position their operational capacity for the expectation for global supply chains
- Support the growth of local value chains and secure opportunities of corporate supply chain offerings
- Develop cross border and transatlantic growth strategies
- Help leapfrog to late-stage status
B-Direct’s a pipeline of U.S. based talent is interested, screened, and prepared to serve on the Board of Directors or Advisory Boards of African Venture-backed and Private Equity portfolio companies, and Private companies. In developing our governance and cultural training there are a few points we considered:
- The understanding that no 2 markets are the same and each has its own unique nuances, challenges, and opportunities.
- Candidate success in the U.S. does not guarantee success in Africa.
- Candidates must understand Africa’s urgency to build businesses and value chains in Africa.
- Understand that transference of their value must yield both immediate and longterm value.
- interested in developing a clearer understanding on how to expand to African markets
- interested making paid board seats more available, even if it isn’t with your corporation
- interested in building a pipeline of globally experienced Black human capital
- interested developing strategic and authentic partnerships with African business pioneers
- interested in access to African innovations
- interested in having stronger ties to the world’s youngest workforce and growing middle-class
- Unique DEI initiatives that create a deeper connection with their diverse executives
- Access to on-the-ground understanding of Africa’s unique challenges and opportunities
- Increasing the board pipeline for Black Americans, even if it isn’t with your corporation
- Diversifying their global vendor pool and manufacturing partners
- Having the insight to develop inclusive products and solutions for a diverse global customer base
- Closer ties to the world’s youngest workforce and largest middle-class
- Uniquely expanding philanthropic and Foundation efforts
Our board recruitment services support African businesses interested in accessing new markets, capital, and the information to unlock growth.
A well-developed Advisory Board can provide you invaluable access, insight, and perspective. Let us help you develop from scratch or select US executive talent for a virtual advisory board.
B-Direct Prep™ is a unique culture-based board training program designed for board director candidates and boards to create the cultural awareness, sensitivity, and flexibility necessary for productive governance teams. B-Direct™ has benchmarked proven DEI techniques to create a process for preparing US executives and entrepreneurs to effectively communicate with new cultures and successfully contribute to African boardrooms.
Chief Operating Officer
Founder
Chief Growth and
Transformation Officer
Global and US business success and impact does not guarantee business success in Africa. B-Direct Prep™ is a unique governance and culture-based board training program that is designed to create the cultural awareness, sensitivity, and flexibility necessary to support African governance teams.
Board governance on the continent of Africa is not 1 size fits all. B-Direct’s™ groundbreaking online joint training curriculums with Africa-based virtual learning providers Milpark Education and Cosec8 and Archives equips our Board candidates with a curriculum based on African culture and universal and country specific governance requirements.
A serial 'Afripreneur', Larry is President and Co-Founder of CyberAlliance, a multinational technology and cyber security firm that has continued to scale its presence across 8 countries on the continent of Africa and the United States with a focus on democratizing access to dynamic and affordable cyber security solutions for public and private sector organizations.
In his tenure as Managing Partner and COO of the oldest black-owned global strategy consulting firm in the US, B&C International, Larry led initiatives that resulted in multiple transatlantic economic development-focused Memorandums of Understanding, Cooperation Agreements, and global partnerships. These transformative initiatives created thousands of jobs throughout the continent of Africa. He played a lead role in the organization of transatlantic public and private sector U.S. - Africa Black Business Summits, which are creating ecosystems for the launch of upcoming US Business Resource Centers across Africa. These growth hubs will be focused on growing small & medium-sized businesses in the US and Africa through joint ventures.
Larry is a Portfolio Advisor for South African VC firm – Launch Africa, the most active VC on the continent of Africa, serves on the Advisory Boards of Dream Academy (Botswana) and the East African Chamber of Commerce (EACC), the Board of Directors of UDI Community Development Corporation, one of the oldest CDC’s in the United States, and has previously served on the Board of Commissioners for Durham Housing Authority and the Board of Visitors for the School of Business at North Carolina Central University.
Larry has been a featured speaker or panelist for various events and has authored and co-authored thought pieces on transatlantic business growth, technology, sustainability, and DEI for the US Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Center for Business & Economic Research (UK), the East Africa Chamber of Commerce, the NC Sustainable Energy Association (USA), the US Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and many others.
Larry earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from North Carolina Central University with independent coursework at Duke University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Construction Executive Management Program.
Founder
Andrá is the founding Principal, President & Chief Transformation Officer of The KhafreWard Corporation and is a valued and trusted leader, experiential learning training advisor and consultant to corporate executives across a broad range of industries, including financial services, retail, consumer products, construction and educational institutions to healthcare, utilities, government, and manufacturing corporations across the United States and internationally.
His travels and work on the continent of Africa are extensive. Among the countries impacted by his firm’s results include Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. The scope of the firm’s impact on the continent of Africa has ranged from working with NGOs to Universities & educational institutions; from rural and village health care facilities to leadership training for small and emerging private owned businesses; and, from faith-based organizations to government agencies supporting economic development and expanding international growth opportunities. The firm has also provided consulting services to clients with facilities and relationships in the UAE.
Mr. Ward was appointed to the Board of Regents of Northern Kentucky University, a Division I institution, by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and is currently serving as Chairman of the Board, in his second a six-year term. He was appointed by the Hamilton County (OH) Board of Commissioners to a three-year term to the Economic Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council where he also serves as Vice Chair.
The KhafreWard Corporation provides services and expertise in a full range of human resource management consulting and training, leveraging the collaborative efforts of the firm’s resources along with the client’s vision in order to create a unique professional development and organizational transformational experience.
Chief Growth and Transformation Officer
As Global Vice President, Verint Systems Inc. Ward served as P&L leader of Verint’s $700M global Enterprise Intelligence business. Ward’s professional career also includes McKesson Corporation where he served as Director, Product Management and Business Unit Strategy Leader. Ward’s earlier career encompasses leadership roles at US Bank as well as 17 years at General Electric Co. in various roles of increasing responsibility.
Ward holds a BSBA in Information Systems from Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH and a Lean Six Sigma, Black Belt certification from General Electric Co.. Ward is also a member of the Private Directors Association, a national organization whose mission is to connect board-ready executives and current board directors with privately held companies for corporate board consideration and LEAD360 a leadership organization specifically supporting Black corporate executives Director to Sr. Vice President in level.
Chief Operating Officer
B-Direct is diversifying the strategies that are focused on disrupting board placement disparities. We support all current movements aiming to:
- close racial wealth gaps
- increase the number of paid Black directors
- create innovative inclusion strategies for United States corporations; and
- develop stronger commercial and social ties between the U.S. and the continent of Africa
We Are Just Doing it Uniquely Different!
Like many, we have accepted the above as challenges, but strive to address them globally and with mutual benefit.
Become a Disruptor or a Game Changer
- Maximizes talent and intellectual sophistication globally
- Provides opportunity to be on paid Board of Directors or Advisory Board
- Grows value chains within the world's largest free trading block
- Develops global perspective and experience
- Creates new paths to generational wealth
- Provides recognition as a corporate transatlantic business pioneer
African Companies
- Helps access new markets
- Provides access to international capital and Direct Diaspora investment
- Helps position operational capacity for the expectation of global supply chains
- Supports the growth of local value chains and secures opportunities of corporate supply chain offerings
- Develops cross boarder and transatlantic growth strategies
- Helps leapfrog to late-stage status
- Provides unique DEI initiatives that create a deeper connection with company Black executives
- Enables access to on-the-ground understanding of Africa's unique challenges
- Increases the board pipeline for Black Americans
- Diversifies global vendor pool and manufacturing partners
- Provides insightfulness to develop inclusive products and solutions for a diverse global customer base
- Creates closer ties to world's youngest workforce and largest middle-class
- Uniquely expands philanthropic and Foundation efforts
As part of this commitment, their financial contribution will support access to B-Direct Prep’s™ cultural awareness and ESG training curriculums designed to equip them with the cultural dexterity and governance skills necessary to successfully transpose their U.S. experience and success to African business growth.
As part of this commitment, their financial contribution will support access to B-Direct Prep’s™ cultural awareness and ESG training curriculums designed to equip them with the cultural dexterity and governance skills necessary to successfully transpose their U.S. experience and success to African business growth.
Unique to B-Direct™ Prep is the opportunity for immersion learning. Through trips to sites such as the House of Slaves on Goree Island, the Door of No Return in Ghana, or Robbin Island in South Africa these experiences are opportunities for U.S. Black executives to see Africa from African soil. This experience is designed to help potential Board candidates strengthen their appreciation and context for Africa's complexity. B-Direct's first-hand immerson experience supports deeper, more authentic cultural connections and gives a view of economic development from a new perspective.
B-Direct™ periodically offers virtual masterclasses led by African leaders of industry to provide potential candidates a practical appreciation and understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities found in various African geographies and industries. B-Direct™ masterclasses support its transatlantic business initiative to interconnect local and global African business growth, Diasporic professional opportunity, and U.S. corporate interest.
View Article