Paying it Forward by Leading Change
When we ask donors why they believe in our work, so many say a version of, “Someone invested in me, and so I’m paying it forward.” For Ousmane Kabré, that someone was a Mrs Hélène Ouedraogo, a woman in Burkina Faso, the west African country he calls home, who took a chance on him. She only knew Ousmane from his young entrepreneurial business delivering bread to her early every morning, but she respected his tenacity and agreed to sponsor him coming to Wisconsin to study.
His journey is inspirational. He earned his Liberal Arts Transfer/Accounting degree at Madison College in 2013, where he received several of our Foundation scholarships. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration and then a Masters degree in Accounting at UW-Madison. While at Madison College, he served as Student Senate President as WTCS State Ambassador. He went on to work at Ernst & Young, LLP successfully, before leaving to start his own nonprofit, Leading Change Africa. Leading Change Africa sponsors young African women and men to pursue their education and own entrepreneurial leanings. Right now there are 9 students at Madison College through his program. For Ousmane, this is the epitome of paying it forward.
Ousmane recently received the 2021 Distinguished Alumni award at Madison College, which you can read more about here.
