Our Founders' Story

Valentine and Mona Davies are native Sierra Leoneans who immigrated to

America intheir early years with their respective families.  Each attended public

schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and continued, as expected, to

undergraduate and ultimately graduate schools. 

 

Growing up in immigrant households, the couple recognized the need for a

network to support both the parents and students (particularly students in

high school) through the transition into the American academic, cultural, and

professional communities.  However, the growing divide between African-born

parents and their American-raised children was not lost on the couple

during their secondary school years, especially as they witnessed the alarming 

rate of parent and student disengagement impacting their community.

 

The African Diaspora Youth Network (ADYN) was developed in 2004 by Valentine Davies, a secondary education consultant, and his wife Mona Davies, an economic empowerment strategist, as an education outreach program to link African diaspora families with support resources to strengthen community integration and advance secondary and post-secondary achievement.

 

2005 - The entrepreneurial couple founded The Culture Shop, a socially and environmentally responsible retail and 

e-commerce marketplace that provided artisans and small-scale farmers in emerging markets with a US-based outlet for their handcrafts.  The location was also a venue for cultural performances, educational programs, financial literacy and market-readiness workshops. ADYN became an education outreach program under the Culture Shop to support the company’s community building initiatives.

 

2007 - Mr. Davies collaborated with the Center for Social Leadership, a DC based non profit, to facilitate the summer Young Leaders Program  - a one week program for middle and high school youth that develops critical leadership skills including team building, personal action planning, conflict management and negotiation skills. The program's underwriters have included Gallup Corporation, George Washington University, and FBR Capital Markets Charitable Foundation. 

 

2009 - The Culture Shop partnered with Levantamos, a DC-based non-profit that provides community-focused business planning and implementation to students in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro by hosting and training budding Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs. Drawing from her experience as a Museum Shop and Catalog Buyer for both the Smithsonian Catalog and The Culture Shop, Mrs. Davies provided consultations to local NGOs and craft organizations in Rio de Janeiro, and facilitated market readiness workshops with local artisans (youth and adults.) 

 

2009 - Mr. Davies, in his role as founding director for post-secondary success for a Washington, DC urban school, developed and piloted the Baltimore-Washington Nativity Schools College Fair, a 35-school college fair to support six Baltimore-Washington urban middle schools that target disadvantaged students. The Walmart Foundation funded the initiative in year two with a national role-out. 

 

2011 - Mr. Davies, in partnership with Georgetown University's Georgetown Scholarship Program, and a generous grant from College Board, launched the "Boys to Men" Mentor Program, an innovative mentoring initiative linking GU undergraduate male students with middle school male students of color. The initiative focused on the importance of persistence and motivation while navigating the road to college. Programming included a “mock lecture” on the human brain with Professor William Rebeck, mentor discussion panels, mentor/mentee baseball games on campus, dinner with students, parents, Georgetown mentors, and campus administrators. The summer focused on student-mentor-parent activities including professional baseball game outings at Nationals Stadium. 

 

Mona Davies is a George Washinton University World Executive MBA graduate and has over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of international development and emerging markets.  She has built partnerships with the private sector, government and non-governmental organizations to improve systems, develop strategies, disseminate innovative approaches, and advance sustainable solutions to create large scale economic and social value in Africa.  She directed the research, design, resource planning and implementation of small and large scale economic empowerment projects in (20) Sub-Saharan countries, including the project featured in this  video on Women's Economic Empowerment.  A consumate globetrotter, Ms. Davies is passionate about introducing and connecting the global community to ADYN's community.  On her reading list?  Go Global by Stacie Berdan.

 

Valentine Davies is a graduate of Marymount University (Ed.M., K-12 Administration and Supervision) with a concentration on secondary and post-secondary planning for students and parents of the African diaspora.  Mr. Davies partners with local high schools, regional universities, and community-based organizations (CBOs) to design, implement, and facilitate year-round college access and achievement programs that strengthen academic and college readiness skills for local high school students.  As the founding director of post-secondary planning for a Washington, DC urban school, Mr. Davies is most proud of his successful collaboration with a team that managed a 90% on-time high school graduation rate (through four graduating classes (2009-2013) for Washington, DC youth from the African diaspora.  Mr. Davies' favorite reference book? The World and Africa (W.E. Burghardt Du Bois.)