In academia and as a career professional, I have always attempted to merge my passion for young people with my business skills. Having spent almost two decades working in varied capacities across many sectors, I have witnessed the ways in which individuals and institutions display their concerns for failing schools. I began to envision professionals, industries, and sectors working together, i.e. collaborating toward a common goal – the transformation of elementary and secondary schools in communities all across the nation. As an accounting and finance professional in the private sector, I developed an appreciation for measurable outcomes, clearly defined financial goals, organizational effectiveness, and efficiencies as salient priorities. Similarly, the important role that strategic philanthropy, especially in education, plays in the overall agendas of private companies and entrepreneurs always seemed to support the organizational priorities of maintaining competitiveness and ensuring longevity. My volunteer efforts and pro bono consulting work with nonprofits allowed me to witness how that sector’s work in bridging economic and social gaps was becoming more critical for the sustainability and viability of neighborhoods and communities. The support and maintenance of community institutions such as schools was gradually becoming a prominent aspect of nonprofit missions. As a theology student and local church officer, I gained a definite understanding of the religious sector’s need to respond to the range of social and economic dilemmas confronting their parishioners on a daily basis. The ministerial pursuits of faith communities were extending beyond tradition in order to achieve a certain degree of relevance in surrounding communities.

Trahud Enterprises was born out of my experiences across the sectors and is the concretization of my life’s passion for young people and education. I am attempting to build bridges across the sectors as a means of creating platforms for people and organizations to discover their roles and responsibilities in reforming local schools. A framework that encourages new voices to participate in how we educate our youth carries greater potential than our reliance on systems and structures that have failed our children far too long. By integrating the expertise of those who recognize different learning styles and paces, we can prevent thousands of gifted and talented young people from collapsing into oblivion. The fresh perspectives of participants from all sectors is critical to school age learning, in part because these entities represent the environments in which most of our youth will work. Professionals and firms from across the sectors know best what knowledge and skills students will need in order to become successful leaders, citizens, managers, and workers. The collaboration of policymakers, business people, clerics, social service providers, foundations, concerned citizens, corporations, academics, and school administrators from all of the sectors represents infinite possibilities for reform locally, nationally, and even globally.