Why Her?
Amber N. McIntyre, Dr. Ashley D. Milton, Jasmine N. White
WHO IS SHE?
She Grows It™ is a full-service consulting and investment migration advisory firm, but who is the she behind the She? She is a Black girl, and that Black girl eventually grows up. She is beautiful; she always has been, but the fight to acknowledge that beauty is not without scars, misconceptions, or fighting false realities. She is educated at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and a predominantly white institution (PWI). She has refined herself, mastering fields, disciplines, and technologies, and does so in places of work that do not see her, consider her, or pay her equally. She is also entrepreneurial and skilled at navigating unknown waters by learning to do more with less and creating diamonds from lumps of coal.
She is philosophical as well as spiritual, drinking knowledge from books and taking communion on the streets of communities whose people tell their stories as gospels. She works many jobs, wears many hats, and serves many people, yet most nights she falls asleep, wondering who will serve her. Regardless of the moment of sadness, light brings a new day with a continued mission for growth, freedom, connection, and evolution. She remembers that she is her ancestors' wildest dreams because Sankofa taught her that her history is not taboo. And so the journey must continue, growth must ensue, and change must come, and she is going to make it happen by any means necessary. That is who she is, and that is who she will always be.
WHAT HAS SHE DONE?
She Grows It, or SGI for short, was established to create a global vehicle that valued Black people and, in turn, helped Black people understand and articulate their value to the world. She Grows It was created by Dr. Ashley Milton as a drop-mic moment to global anti-Blackness and the weight of not truly being free. The desire to just work, unencumbered by race or gender, found itself rooted in the organizational structure of SGI, but most importantly, in the culture of a curated team that collectively values humility, hunger, and human intelligence. Under the advisory of Jasmine White and Amber McIntyre, SGI was created to be a vehicle for lifestyle, strategy, and development solutions that build communities of the future with people who are free. All three of these women exemplify Black excellence at the highest levels, each working in their own unique area of policy specialization, governance, and development. Fostering growth and executing leadership roles covering topics spanning religious freedom and democracy, digital communications, strategic engagement and advocacy, climate science, green finance, and carbon markets, to name but a few. Having traversed the continent from north to east, south to west, and central, the women behind She have spent their careers in Africa, covering a gamut of foreign policy issues, helping communities of people in diverse places, and speaking diverse languages, all on behalf of and without compromise to Black people.
"She is African, not because she was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in her. "
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"She is African, not because she was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in her. " --- --- ---
WHERE HAS SHE BEEN?
She has transversed this continent from exploring the floors of the Congo Forest to diving into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Africa is where she has been. From holding positions influencing the leadership of the African Union, to descending into the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, standing on the closest point on the African continent to the United States, doing business in the richest square mile on the African continent, and partying in Ghana, the center of the world, during the now-famous Detty December, Africa is where she chooses to be. The valuation of Black people starts with matter, a global debate intentionally held outside of the reach, access, and advocacy of the Black African diaspora for hundreds of years. It's not a debate; it is a fact that our lives do matter, however our realities tell us otherwise. The disassociation with our state of being is very much connected to our oppressed state of living, unable to simply live or even thrive in place without the burden, veracity, or limitation of racism, embedded into the cultural and institutional fabric of the global world order.
She has been in the room among the numbers, had a voice in the space, led the meeting, and drafted the talking points. However, because she was not able to attend the meeting before the meeting, and before that meeting, because she was on the agenda, it gives her perspective on how to leverage her place in spaces not meant for her people to grow and prosper. And, because Africa is her specialty, her desire, and where her interests are, She will continue to show up through the challenges and growing pains of development and during times of peace and prosperity. She knows that Africa will be the place where her future lineage and legacy will be free to grow, connect, and evolve safely. She has spent her career advocating, crafting policy for, and leading on issues related to African diplomacy, evolutionary governance, and access to capital for human growth and development, as well as for infrastructure and technology growth on the African continent. She is African, not because she was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in her.
WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?
She matters. Her voice, her body, her agency, her lived experience—they all matter. It is important that she take up space because her presence is the source. She is he and he is in her; together, she knows we can go forward faster. To know that every woman comes from the same woman is to know that her maternal lineage is African - African Ancestry. A confirmation of Africa being born in her and a lesson in citing the source. She cites Black women because she understands their importance. She knows that Africa was born in her; therefore, she knows that she will fight with the spirit of Nana Yaa Asantewaa for the respect and restoration of our rightful place. She knows that “nobody’s free until everybody’s free,” as Fannie Lou Hammer taught us. So “we out!” Like Harriet, out of any situation not serving our best interest. Out of any circumstance not for our upliftment. Out of ventures that do not provide equitable returns. Out of any place not allowing us to evolve regeneratively.
“She Grows It is a multipurpose vehicle for the people.”
WHAT DOES THIS WORK MEAN FOR ACHIEVING FREEDOM AND GROWTH?
She Grows It is a multipurpose vehicle for the people. She believes that freedom is revolutionary because it's something we collectively are manifesting. That freedom starts in the mind with self-acknowledgement of matter and of innate excellence and grows to family, society, and country. She believes the self-acknowledgement of mere presence, beyond a lens of perceived inferiority put in place to limit our growth, is the start of freeing the mind. And that collective political and economic freedom requires a connected Black African Diaspora that prioritizes freedom, growth, connection, and evolution. When we take control of the political and economic drivers of our situation, we as a united collective become free, we grow, continue to connect, and further evolve. She also believes that evolution starts with acknowledging our worthiness to persist, to be in the space, and that taking up space is the beginning of repairing. Repair is the foundation of reparations, and reparations start with a visit or a vacation, which can open doors to repatriation. She is working to create repatriation pathways that will be led by policy focused and curated to uplift the Black man, the Black woman, the Black child, the Black family, and the Black community as a whole. And she believes this is the work required to achieve regenerative growth for the progression of our next 7–10 generations.
Author: Ashley D. Milton, PhD