Meet Shawn Wall | Educator and Philanthropist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shawn Wall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shawn, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Blessed to Be a Blessing started as a simple idea of creating a study abroad scholarship for Denver’s minority and low-income students after I returned from studying abroad in New Zealand in 2014. If I had come from money, this would’ve been easy to do by simply putting some money aside and creating a scholarship fund. However, that was not the case. I knew it would be challenging to get funding for a study abroad scholarship. Therefore, over the years, this idea grew into developing a nonprofit organization that focuses not only on study abroad scholarships but also on creating access to international education through various educational programs. Through a 501c3 nonprofit, one can collect funding for their mission through the support of community members and local grant-giving organizations and not have to come up with all the funds themselves.

I studied Business Management and Entrepreneurship for my bachelor’s, so I always figured I would one day create my own business. I expected it to be outside the social sector and never considered founding a nonprofit, but that is where life took me. Due to the lack of familiarity in this sector, I had to do a lot of self-teaching within this side of the business and enjoyed learning again, although it was a lot of work. Luckily, I am the child of two amazing parents who have worked in youth ministry my entire life, and I got a lot of guidance and support in this area from them. The idea grew to include multiple educational programs to introduce students to international education and its benefits, provide knowledge and a means of travel to students who have never done so before, and include the study abroad scholarship to help make traveling a reality. Together, these programs grew to create our International Education Equal Access Pipeline.

The foundation’s timing came sooner than expected, but I knew it was the right time (even during the COVID-19 pandemic). I had been living abroad for nearly four years and witnessed many hardships back home. I was devastated to see a constant barrage of negative news headlines from home and was not able to do anything to support the community that I love. It was then that I decided there was no more waiting, and it was time to make moves. This was June 2020. By September 2020, I had developed a team of local educators, young professionals, and youth workers to conduct in-person programs. I officially registered B2baB as an operating business in Colorado, and it’s been moving uphill ever since.

What should our readers know about your business?
We are Blessed to Be a Blessing (B2baB). Our mission is to create equal access to international education and cross-cultural experiences for low-income and underrepresented students. We operate in Denver but would love to expand across the state and the US.

International education has numerous benefits for students academically, professionally, and personally. In a world with an economy as globally interconnected as ours is, a knowledge of international peoples, their cultures, and an overall global outlook is essential to being competitive in the workforce and creating a better future for yourself, your community, and the world. Sadly, an opportunity gap exists in our secondary education system, and this educational experience is not easily accessible to all students. We have found a few major contributing factors to this issue: systematic oppression, generational wealth gaps, high program costs, a lack of time, and a lack of overall general knowledge of study abroad, international travel, and their benefits. We developed our three-step International Education Equal Access Pipeline to counteract these factors.

This pipeline first includes introducing students to travel and international education through free online introductory courses in our Blessed Scholars Online Travel Academy (BSOTA). With these programs and in-school information sessions, we have introduced hundreds of local students to the world of international education. The second step is the flagship Global Access Passport (GAP) Program. Through this program, students learn more in-depth about travel and studying abroad. There is an additional focus on travel budgeting during the planning process and while abroad, review and help with the passport application process, and hands-on experience planning for an international journey or a study abroad experience. After this program, students feel more confident planning and taking an international trip and have the ability to do so thanks to a complimentary passport provided with program completion. So far, we have had 20 students complete this program, and 90% of them have already used their passports! The third step is our Study Abroad Scholarship to help relieve the financial burdens of international education. Our first-ever scholarship recipient is currently studying in Seoul, South Korea, and we cannot wait to provide additional students access to their dreams in the coming years.

Getting to this step has been challenging with having a board and constituents in Colorado and an Executive Director across the globe. Working across time zones can be complicated, and a physical presence in the area is preferred in this line of work. Raising funds can be difficult for a niche startup nonprofit since grant-giving organizations must closely align with the mission. Thankfully, due to B2baB’s committed board and various connections within the Denver community, we have worked around these difficulties and challenges and reached this point, three years in, with a fully functional pipeline and continued opportunities to grow. Moving forward, we will continue to develop additional programs to further the access rate to international education. We are developing Virtual Exchange programs as a stepping stone to in-person exchanges and Pre-departure programming to support students preparing for their time abroad.

If you would like to learn more about B2baB, our programs, and supporting our mission, feel free to check out our website https://www.blessedscholars.org or reach out through social media or email. We are working to increase our community knowledge and support and would love to hear from you. As we approach the end of 2023, we come into the giving season and have begun our year-end campaign to raise funds to continue to grow our programs and impact. I invite you to join people across the state, country, and globe and participate in Giving Tuesday (Nov 28th), Colorado Gives Day (Dec 5th), or any time from now until the end of the year to give and show support for local organizations working to better our communities. To support B2baB, you can do so directly at https://www.coloradogives.org/donate/Blessed-To-Be-A-Blessing-3 or on our website listed above.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As I haven’t lived in Denver for some time, some of my favorite spots have changed or no longer exist. However, when I am home, I make sure to get my favorite burrito from Bocaza Mexican Grill and stop by Odell Brewery near downtown for my favorite Colorado beers. If I have a friend visiting, I will show them these places and tour them around the city and Parkhill (my home neighborhood). Although, I believe that if you are visiting Colorado, your time is much better spent outdoors. I would suggest visiting state and national parks, rock climbing with me, going camping, going rafting, hiking a fourteener, sandboarding down the sand dunes, and oh so much more. The possibilities are endless in our beautiful Rocky Mountain state.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It is hard to stay in contact with friends and family while abroad and one added benefit of the foundation of B2baB was an increase in communication with people back home. This includes my first-ever Entrepreneurship professor, Grace, who mentored me throughout the foundation process and helped me continue my education in the social sector of business. Next are my parents; Salt and Marcie. As mentioned, they have worked in the nonprofit sector for my entire life, and I would not have been able to make this a reality without their help, support, and network. Then comes my local team/board members: Kevin, Ike, Segen, and Christina. With their commitment of time and energy, our programs exist. They have helped create content, connect with students, and run our flagship Global Access Passport (GAP) Program. Additionally, like every nonprofit, this work could only be done with the financial support of community members who believe in our mission and have provided the funds to make our work a reality. Last, and certainly not least, is my wife, Dora. She has stuck by my side and provided support not only on the business side, serving as a board member, but has supported me mentally, emotionally, and financially as I left my job to focus solely on the development of B2baB. I owe much to every one of these individuals and B2baB’s constituents. This type of organization relies on a village to succeed; thankfully, I have a strong one behind me.

Website: www.blessedscholars.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b2bab.denver/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/b2bab

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/B2BAB.Denver