Sam Ben-Yehuda
My Business Training
Usaina Muhammad
Quick Facts
Usaina Muhammad, warmly known as "Maman Kursum," is a resilient 41-year-old widow from the Malam Goje community.
Raised in a large family, she spent her childhood selling fruits and helping in her father's shop, though her traditional parents did not prioritize her formal education past primary school.
After her husband passed away, Usaina became the sole provider for nine children, including four from her late brother.
Possessing an admirable work ethic inspired by her mother, she took on tedious domestic cleaning and laundry jobs to save enough capital to care for her family independently and build a better future.
Usaina Muhammad
Business Goals
Usaina aims to open a fully operational retail grocery store named Maman Shukrah Provision Store.
Located on a busy main street less than a kilometer from her home, the business will open daily from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
She will sell daily household essentials, including pasta, detergent, sachet milk, snacks, and small beverages.
Her ideal customers are local neighborhood women who value product availability, fixed pricing, and excellent customer service.
By advertising her business and installing large outdoor signs, Usaina will build deep community trust and maximize sales during the peak March and April fasting season.
Usaina Muhammad
Business Obstacles
While Usaina has extensive sales experience from her childhood, her business growth is currently hindered by significant structural barriers.
Operating from a single shared room, she lacks a personal storefront to safely store and display her shop’s inventory.
She operates without vital equipment, including a deep freezer, a power generator, wooden display counters, and wall-mounted shelving.
Additionally, she struggles to balance her immediate household expenses with store finances.
Without formal financial record-keeping training, she finds it highly challenging to keep her business afloat while navigating customer debts from close friends and extended family members.
Usaina Muhammad
Vulnerabilities
Usaina is partnering with Leadership Initiatives to transition her small, home-based retail operation into a permanent, thriving main-street provision store.
This collaboration will provide her new startup with vital physical infrastructure, including a secure storefront, counter units, and wall-mounted display shelves.
Additionally, she will receive critical equipment such as a deep freezer and a power generator, along with essential startup funding to expand her grocery inventory.
This vital support will also give Usaina the necessary resources to operate efficiently, attract neighborhood foot traffic, maintain fixed pricing, and comfortably generate long-term financial stability for her household.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Usaina Muhammad to develop a clear understanding of their business goals. Though they have leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we created a proposal detailing the marketing materials necessary to support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Usaina Muhammad to optimize their business through a new brand identity
Investments in a logo and marketing materials, such as signs and flyers, are vital for establishing a strong brand identity and expanding the customer base. These visual assets create a consistent and memorable image that builds trust and recognition among potential clients.
My Business Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to strengthen my business partner’s brand.
At the conclusion of the program, my team presented our final proposal to a panel of judges from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed us to demonstrate our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded grant funding to support the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, strengthen financial stability, and create new growth opportunities. Over the next year, this grant will help transform the future of their business and improve the quality of life for both the entrepreneur and their community.
Internship Highlights
- Business Partner Meeting
- Visit To The Embassy Of New Zealand
- Diplomacy Briefing At The Egyptian Embassy
- Professional Mentorship
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Usaina Muhammad, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration. It allowed us to better understand our partner's background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Usaina Muhammad provided the insight we needed to begin brainstorming practical, personalized solutions. Each morning, our team held focused discussions to refine our ideas, reflect on expert advice from the day before, and adjust our timeline to move our plans forward efficiently.
Throughout the process, on-staff project coordinators and business development experts offered guidance, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Embassy of New Zealand, where I gained firsthand insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between New Zealand and the United States.
The embassy serves as a center for international collaboration, partnering with countries and global organizations to address pressing issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Through this visit, I learned how diplomats engage in meaningful dialogue and policy development to create sustainable, people-focused solutions.
Officials from the Embassy of New Zealand shared how they collaborate with local communities to identify needs and implement programs that empower individuals and strengthen long-term development. This commitment to community-driven impact inspired my team and me as we worked to develop our own business proposal focused on creating lasting change.
During my visit to the Egyptian Embassy, I gained insight into how diplomacy shapes international cooperation and development. The experience deepened my understanding of the embassy’s role in promoting peace, fostering economic partnerships, and addressing shared global challenges.
Embassy representatives discussed how their work supports cross-cultural exchange, advances policy priorities, and strengthens relationships between the Egyptian people and the United States. I learned how embassies serve as bridges, connecting governments, communities, and organizations to create innovative solutions for global issues.
This visit broadened my perspective on international leadership and inspired me to think critically about how collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic planning can drive meaningful progress- principles that our team applied while developing our business proposal.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
One of the highlights was a session with Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.
My team also worked directly with a personal mentor. Our mentor provided us with career insights, project support, and feedback for our business ideas. The meetings we had throughout the week with our mentor provided critical insights from the initial business ideation phase through our project presentation.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, including Eric Rosenstein, we refined our ideas, strengthened our strategy, and developed a powerful and polished pitch deck to present at the end of the week. Their guidance helped us take our business proposal to the next level, creating a plan designed not only to launch a venture, but to transform our business partner’s future.