HAPPY NEW YEAR KIDOGO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!
THE PRESENT
Before we look back at 2023, let's stay present and mark the last day of Kwanzaa!! Kidogo Kids, Amara, Zoë, Alan, Micah, and Chetanna did a fabulous job teaching us about the 7 Kwanzaa principles. Here's compilation of their lessons:
THE PAST YEAR
Here's a list of the highlights:
-Black History Month Celebration Weekend at the Museum of Science Boston- February
-MassChallenge Resolve event: MassChallenge Community Choice Award- February
-Black Children's Book Week- 2 events" Read N' Game and Storytime at the Museum of Science Boston- February
-Joined Ujima Good Business Alliance-March
-Completed Black and Latinx Media Mastery- March
-TEDxRoxbury talk- May
-Juneteenth- June
-BAMS Fest- June
-Read N' Win: Summer Reading Marathon July- August (two author events)
-WOCCON Roadshow- July
-Read N' Do- August
-Received Pipeline Angels investment- August
-Participated in Breshnaverse
-Released "The Wiz"-Inspired Halloween coloring sheets
-Expanding the Kidogo Team- December
-Kwanzaa Video Series- December
Here's a video review of the list above!
I am certainly proud of all that Kidogo accomplished! We continue to climb, rung by rung, step by step. This journey is not for the swift, but for those who endure.
I also take this moment to reflect on the challenges. For instance, I pitched Kidogo to dozens of potential investors (outside of Pipeline Angels :-)) without any bites. I have attempted to build an active discussion community and then lacked the capacity to nurture it. I wished that more people attended our events. These challenges bring about opportunities for learning, growing, and making progress. I give myself permission to be disappointed, but then to extend myself (and others) GRACE.
THE FUTURE
We are working on a few fantastic events: Black History Month celebration at the Museum of Science Boston, a musical tour and workshop of the African Diaspora, a couple of other Read N' Dos.... We are also ramping up our content production. We finally found a great animation studio!! Kidogo's tech team will launch into building our app! It will begin with customer discovery interviews, so please expect a call or an email inviting you to share your ideas, opinions, and needs with us.
I have been accepted into an awesome fellowship, but there's a gag order until they announce it. I am stoked about this opportunity and my apologies for this mysterious and vague announcement.
I don't have anything poignant or powerful to say at the moment. I am simply in a grateful mood. I am thankful for all of you. My heart is full of love, excitement, and a tiiiiiny bit of anxiety (hey! I've always been honest with you guys, lol!).
For the Kids, for the Culture,
Keeana