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Oren Smith | Clinical Social Worker & Founder of The Resurgence Project

I came up with the “Resurgence Project” fully in 2019, Although the concept of my business was always in me and on my mind as a child. As an adult, God brought all the pieces together at the right time. After finishing school at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. I came back home to Newark, NJ. where I was blessed with a job as a special needs teacher, working with children who were developmentally behind when it came to how they learned and developed, So they needed special care and help to get them on grade level and leave them with as much dignity as possible so that they didn’t feel any different from the other children. One day I got an opportunity to work directly with the child study team due to me having a child who was very hard to manage behavior wise and she also could not grasp educational concepts on her grade level. The child study team asked me did i know how to write IEP’s, which i did and so I did for that child which led me to know that teaching wasn’t what i really wanted to do but the social, psychological, and behavioral part was exactly what I was interested in. I moved to Washington, DC. in 2014 and in 2016 I got a job with DC government with an agency called The Community Partnership for The Prevention of Homeless. Working there housing all of these homeless families with children I started to develop all the parts for the “Resurgence Project”. Once that job ended for me in 2019 and I finished school for the second time, I said I never wanted to work for anyone again and i was offered a private contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and became a Clinical Social Worker. That contract freed me up in so many ways not just financially, but also i was able to bring my ideas and concepts to help those individuals who had mental health diagnosis and behavioral problems. I started to get noticed with the other agencies for my work and they started using some of my concepts to help the clients with much success. I want to think Mr. West for taking a chance on me which opened so many doors. In 2021 I decided to move to Atlanta, GA where I hit the streets making connections with the social services industry in Atlanta. I explained what I was doing and those agencies started asking me to work for them but I didn’t because it was my mission to bring the “Resurgence project to the city of Atlanta and the surrounding areas. I put a big event last May of 2023 where me and my team fed mentally ill and low income families and I started signing people up which my agency after sharing with the my holistic approach to mental illness and homelessness and everyone was on board and happy to be apart. So the “Resurgence Project” came out of me seeing what other agencies were not doing and how my concepts worked after all my education and work experience. I just knew I had the answer to making it better because God gave it to me, in my heart. to help people who are considered to be of a low caliber and had no real station in life. Read more>>

Khadijah Abrams (Torbert) | Sr. Corporate Communications Specialist III

When I look back at how “Made Worthy” came to be, it feels like a journey that’s been stitched together with all my life’s ups and downs. It all started back in Opelika, my hometown, where I found little escapes in my diary – it was like a secret friend I could tell everything to without any fear. Read more>>

Tenesha | Vinyl & Embroidery Maven

Starting an online boutique is something I had no question in my mind that I’ve always wanted to do, but for a long time I just couldn’t figure out my niche. I went to the High School of Fashion Industries in NYC, so as a teen, that is when I started designing. I learned the ins and out of Fashion Design which led me to go on to college and pursue the business side of the Fashion Industry. I attended Delaware State University where I graduated with a degree in Textiles minoring in Marketing Management. While in school, I was able to intern with some great designers, located in Delaware and in Brooklyn on the weekends. Throughout the school week, I was working at the Bookstore at my University, which led me to realize how much money there is in school pride! Now, fast forward; With all the experience I received in school and building up the courage to stop sleeping on myself, I decided to finally start my online boutique in 2018 (Zeal Kitty) this business stemmed from me being a part of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. I dedicated all my designs to the organization that I am a part of. After receiving 3x what I’d usually make at the company I was currently working at within the first few months, I had made up my mind that I would never put another company before my own. These big Fortune 500 companies had then become my side hustle. My business grew so fast, so quick that I truly had to take it seriously. After endless marketing and building connections the demand of Zeal Kitty got bigger and I made $100,000 my first year in business. Two years into the business and $250,000 later; I turned Zeal Kitty into something bigger, Perspective Threads which now designs for all NPHC organizations and it’s still expanding! Read more>>