E62: Tope Fajingbesi believes we must maintain a connection to our home country as immigrants

Hello, I'd really like to grow this email list. If you enjoy this newsletter, it would mean the world to Jola and I if you encouraged one friend/fellow immigrant/colleague to subscribe…Very likely, the the only thing you will get in return is warm fuzzy feelings, and if I can attribute it to you, I’d personally send you a thank you email.

Join us as we explore the bitter-sweet world of the immigrant.

In this episode, I’m speaking with Tope Fajingbesi, ex-Global Chief Financial Officer of Ashoka, and Founder of She-EO, a company focused on helping women of African descent develop resilience, grow, and become catalysts for positive change.

For many immigrants, speaking a second language is a core part of their identity. In some cases, they speak as many as four languages. For example, I am fluent in English and my native tongue Igbo. I also understand a smattering of Hausa (the language spoken in the Northern part of Nigeria) and French.

But once we move to a new country, we seem to do a poor job of transferring these gifts to our kids.

Tope Fajingbesi thinks we are doing worse than a poor job. She believes we are robbing our kids.

We are robbing them of the language.

We are robbing them of their cultural heritage.

We are robbing them of a core part of their identity.

And I think she makes a great point. In this conversation, the farmer lady and I chat about the immigrant identity. We also explored

* How she deals with unconscious bias

* Food as a way to build community

* The immigrant mentality

* Why she thinks America hasn’t changed in the past 22 years she’s lived there

* And why we must be deliberate as immigrants.

Enjoy!

Official Links

👋🏽 Follow Tope on LinkedIn

🔗 Learn more about She-EO

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomerspod.com