The Uplift and Empower journey started with a single phone call. After spending multiple college summers in the worlds of finance and technology, all I knew for sure was that something was missing. I liked the business world, but I was more excited about the prospects of helping people accomplish their goals and reach their full potential. Like many starry-eyed college students, I wanted to “make an impact” though I wasn’t entirely sure about how to do that yet. Then, Eric Koester called.
The timing was perfect. We had our first introductory phone call in late August right around the time I was brainstorming potential career paths outside of the finance world I had formerly restricted myself to. By the time we spoke for the second time in mid-September, we’d decided on two things:
1. I wouldn’t be writing a fiction novel, and
2. I should focus on the big problems and questions on my mind.
The book title was Eric’s idea. It was inspired by my desire to uplift and empower individuals to be the best that they can be. I was trying to understand my current reality. I’d worked on million-dollar, sometimes even billion-dollar deals, in finance. I was living the dreams I’d always imagined for myself, and yet, every day on my walk to work I would pass by homeless people who could hardly afford a meal to eat.
I didn’t understand how these two worlds could co-exist, or rather, why these two worlds coexisted. Why had we [humanity] allowed things to get to this point? Why is there still poverty in the world when so many people live in luxury?
Life isn’t fair, I thought to myself. But why isn’t life fair? From that question, my research began.
There was a lot to research as well. Information overload left me feeling overwhelmed and discouraged quite frequently. I didn’t understand how I, a college senior, could come up with anything groundbreaking or new in the world of poverty alleviation. Experts with decades of experience couldn’t figure out solutions, so how could I?
To move forward, it took releasing the idea of creating some innovative solution and instead focusing on informing other people who were just like me—curious individuals without extensive background knowledge in the area. People who want to help, but don’t have the time to spend hours researching. People who want to learn more, but can’t sift through the academic jargon that makes some resources undecipherable. I wanted to understand this problem at a basic level so that I could share my insights with as many people as possible.
Everyone from a precocious middle schooler to a curious retiree (whether or not they have a college degree) should be able to understand poverty because eradicating extreme poverty will take all of us making an effort to alleviate poverty where we are. How can everyone get involved if only limited portions of our global population understand the issue?
Now, it’s important to differentiate between eradicating extreme poverty and alleviating poverty in general. Extreme poverty is defined by the World Bank as living on less than US$1.90 per day. I write a lot about relative poverty versus absolute poverty in Chapter Three of Uplift and Empower. It’s the reason why I can confidently say things like, “I think eradicating extreme poverty is possible” but still believe that poverty will always exist. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.” What is or is not considered a socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions will always shift and change over time. So, poverty, in some form, will always exist.
Uplift and Empower is primarily focused on extreme poverty—what it is and what steps can be taken to make sure everyone can afford life’s necessities such as food, water, clothing, and healthcare.
The book is a starting point for engaging in meaningful poverty alleviation work, and there is certainly more to learn. I am excited to continue researching this topic, engaging with my community, and discovering ways to make an impact beyond it. For now, I am going to focus on uplifting and empowering others in the best way that I can with the resources that I have. I’m ready to Uplift and Empower. Are you?
Short Excerpt From the Introduction to Uplift and Empower:
Life isn’t fair. This is especially true for the world’s poorest. But why isn’t life fair and what, specifically, contributes to it being so unfair when you are living in extreme poverty?
When I first considered trying to tackle the topic of poverty, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information already available. Decades of research, millions of organizations dedicated to the cause, and people with more advanced degrees than mine who were senior advisers for governments, nonprofits, or think tanks already existed. When I typed “poverty” into my university’s library catalog, over sixty thousand results popped up.
At first, my business-focused brain believed my curiosity was new, but as I reflected on my shifting interests over the years, I realized conducting a self-guided deep dive into poverty alleviation was not as random as it seemed. From the third grade, when I developed far-fetched aspirations of becoming the governor of my state, I had an interest in understanding individuals’ problems and finding solutions.
However, I knew I could not possibly be the only student curious about wealth inequality. I knew as a low-income student at an elite university, I felt uncomfortably aware of the stark disparities between income levels every time I walked around my historic campus grounds. I knew extreme poverty in a world with over two thousand billionaires just didn’t add up…
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uplift and Empower was published on August 15, here is the link to buy it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641379243/! (The book is also available for sale with distributors worldwide.)
If you want to connect, you can reach me via email danielle.tarigha@gmail.com or connect with me on social media:
Instagram (@daniellehawatarigha)
Facebook (Uplift and Empower)
Twitter (@danielle_hawa)
