Tim Kelley is delighted to help expand entrepreneurship in West Africa this spring.
Kelley, Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business entrepreneurship chair, will travel to Togo to work with the University of Kara for six weeks as part of his role in the Fulbright Specialist Program, operated by the U.S. State Department.
“It’s exactly why I signed up for the program, and this is right on target for me,” said Kelley, who served twice over two years as a State Department aid contractor to the National Bank of Angola.
The program sends several hundred American scholars and professionals abroad annually to share their knowledge and fortify institutions overseas while tackling common challenges that benefit U.S. communities around the world.
Kelley, founder and chairman of GCU-based angel investment group Canyon Angels, is eager to assist Kara in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, which he said has been a mandate set by the Togo government.
“They have a goal of creating jobs,” Kelley said. “I think part of what the message becomes, or whatever we can transmit in the form of a mindset, is that it's about solving problems. How do you create value for others, and whether you do it within an existing company or when starting your own entity?
“Those are just details of the formal structure, but it's the same mindset. It's improving life for other people, capturing that and making that a reality. My mantra has always been: The best way to have a job is to create your own.”
Kelley will be part of a four-member staff for this project under the title of the Center for Innovation and Professional Entrepreneurship. They’ll design the curriculum, train the professors so that the program can establish sustainability after Kelley departs, seek relationships with other entities (perhaps GCU) on a consistent basis to exchange practices and venture ideas, and build an ecosystem in which businesses can start to form and scale.
Kelley hopes to help more entrepreneurs formalize their businesses. “Part of the mission is to not only inspire people to view their entrepreneurial activity as a way in which to better their environments, which most survivalist entrepreneurs actually do, but that next level is that I have never seen a small business that cannot scale to a larger business.
“Whether it's a daycare, whether it's a burger shop, whether it's somebody selling bricks that they make on the side of the road. I have yet to find a small business that cannot become a larger business and scale, but you must have the pathway to legal incorporation and financial control.”
Kelley has been learning to speak French, the official language of Togo, to become better acclimated and prepared during his six-week stint, which starts March 20.
The Fulbright Special Program posts more than 40 projects in countries spanning from Colombia to Kosovo to Egypt to Vietnam. Its specialists consult on two- to six-week collaborative projects sculpted and requested by foreign receiving institutions in more than 150 countries.
Kelley has more than 35 years of experience as an entrepreneur in construction, education, finance real estate and software in Mexico, South America and Africa, managing more than $200 million in projects in Mexico and more than 2 million square feet of office, commercial and residential space throughout Latin America.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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