Tijan Watt: Dreaming of the Continent as Cradle, Compass, and Catalyst
In this episode, we travel to Gorée Island in Dakar to speak with Tijan Watt, an entrepreneur and impact investor building a bold future for African innovation. Rooted in a transatlantic heritage that includes Tuskegee and Senegal, Tijan shares how both his African and Black American family history, HBCU education, and deep cultural pride shaped his path. Through his work with Wuri Ventures, Tijan champions local entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and creativity grounded in African realities. He reflects on moving to Senegal to invest in talent, nurture community, and reimagine development from within. For Tijan, meaningful innovation starts with love, local knowledge, and the freedom to imagine—and build—on your own terms.JUMP TO’s1:48 Jam Tan! Tijan shares the Pulaar phrase for “peace only” kicking off the conversation with peace. 5:50 The importance of Black excellence and the legacy of ancestors, including Tijan’s great-aunt Norma, a researcher on the polio vaccine.9:21 Talking about his own academic and professional journey, including his time at Howard University.11:46 Tijan shares his initial impressions of Senegal.20:57 He explains the concept of entrepreneurial capital and the importance of taking risks and creating jobs in Africa.40:09 Tijan discusses the concept of a "winning Senegal" and the importance of self-belief and positive change.41:03 The need for African countries to take control of their own destiny.42:07 Tijan discusses the future of innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa and the importance of creating spaces for entrepreneurs.42:50 He emphasizes the need for African countries to leverage their cultural assets and create opportunities for young people and explore the continent’s “soft power”.45:43 Darren wraps up the episode, and the season.
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Farah Mami: Dreaming of Liberation Rooted in Love
In this episode, we journey to Tunis to speak with Farah Mami, philanthropist, impact investor, and social entrepreneur committed to leading with heart, integrity, and deep cultural pride. Rooted in both Tunisia and France, Farah moves between worlds—geographically, spiritually, and professionally. She shares a powerful story of reclaiming authenticity, navigating the tensions of belonging, and redefining leadership on her own terms. As the chair of the Tunisia chapter of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and a global advocate for women in business, she’s reshaping what leadership can look like when it’s grounded in care, equity, and spiritual alignment. Farah’s work aims to foster personal growth and community well-being. In this conversation she also reflects on the role of love as both anchor and fuel.JUMP TO’s00:43 Introducing Farah.2:00 Farah’s invocation is a call for 05:30 Going between Paris and Tunis and the difficulty of living your true self in a culture of shaming.15:10 The power of women to build communities.19:20 The potential for women’s leadership to grow beyond where it is today 20:00 The importance of men’s support for women to change the narrative 23:00 Hear Farah’s ideas on becoming a successful entrepreneur and living a full life24:30 What it will take for Tunisia to embrace opportunities and “go out to the world”29:30 Tunisia holding space as a regional leader30:00 The need for love and for safe spaces.
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39:27
Feven Tsehaye: Dreaming of What Heals and Holds Us
In this episode, we travel to Addis Ababa to speak with Feven Tsehaye, a purpose-driven entrepreneur, healer, and founder and CEO of Chakka Origins—a social enterprise reclaiming the wisdom of Ethiopia’s ancestral knowledge around biodiversity and indigenous plants while working with female smallholder farming communities. Feven’s story is rooted in both tradition and transformation as she draws on a childhood shaped by community, land, and the power of women. With a background in social impact, including work at the Gates foundation and graduate study on micro-finance approaches in southern Ethiopia, her work bridges the ancient and the modern, creating high-impact natural products while centering sustainability, equity, and care. In this conversation, Feven explores what it means to lead with care, build with purpose, and honor cultural knowledge. She reminds us that healing is both personal and political—and that joy, like justice, is something we must cultivate with intention.Jump To’s06:20 Feven discusses the knowledge of indigenous plants and medicines passed down through generations and how coming into contact with that knowledge changed her life.07:00 The importance of storytelling 11:15 The beginning of Chakka Origins as a business with wider impact in mind.14:10 On reclaiming industrial production and the narrative that goes with it.16:00 The importance of Ethiopia’s biodiversity and connection to the land to the country’s national psyche. Did you know the country has five Biosphere Reserves!18:15 Creating a largely women-driven supply chain. 21:30 The importance of aligning oneself with one’s personal values to survive the tidal waves of modern life.24:00 Hear about Feven’s obsession with Ethiopian cardamom31:00 What does climate justice mean in Ethiopia?34:30 Feven circles back to community, especially Ethiopia’s women entrepreneurs, and how this engenders the ability to dream.
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41:57
Madji Sock: Dreaming of Shared Wealth and Shared Wisdom
In this episode, we head to Dakar to speak with Madji Sock, an insightful entrepreneur, investor, and ecosystem builder whose work bridges tradition and innovation across Senegal and beyond. Madji brings a grounded, fearless presence shaped by a childhood split between continents, a deep reverence for Senegalese culture, and a belief in the transformative power of women. From co-founding the Women’s Investment Club—now a model replicated across Africa— to leading her own investment studio, Haskè Ventures, Madji has championed new ways for women to build, invest, and lead on their own terms. In this conversation, she reflects on how local traditions like tontines inspired scalable investment vehicles, the power of women’s leadership in Senegal, and what it will take to move African ventures from “one to ten.”JUMP TO:00:40… where Darren introduces season co-host Elisabeth Makumbi who hosts this episode 03:05… Madji’s invocation, where she calls in Wolof for divine intervention in these troubled times.06:00… Madji discusses her upbringing and how a name can have such profound influence over a life, as well as the role of food and music - and discussions about women and girls’ causes at the dinner table.09:00… The influence of the US and particularly New York, on her ambitions in life and on the draw of Senegal.10:55… Her journey to co-founding the Women’s Investment Club15:20… Shout out to Wendy Luhabe of South Africa’s WIPHOLD (Women Investment Portfolio Holdings).18:30… The role of powerful women in Senegalese society.22:00… Admiration for the authenticity in young people’s voices today.23:50… African entrepreneurs’ difficulties growing continental champions; how it is one thing to be able to grow a company, to “get from 0 to 1”, quite another to “get from 1 to 10.”.28:00… The people of Senegal “are still getting up and building” - be that in business or the arts/ entertainment spaces and how hope is driving the country past a “tipping point”.
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Ore Disu: Dreaming of New Worlds in Conversation with Old Ones
In this episode, we travel to Benin City, Nigeria, to speak with Ore Disu, a visionary cultural strategist and founding director of the Institute of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA). Ore is reshaping how we understand history, art, and African identity. From childhood days spent leafing through family photo albums in Lagos to building a groundbreaking institution at the heart of Nigeria’s cultural resurgence, Ore’s journey is rooted in care and creative reclamation. In this conversation, she reflects on how objects, stories, and even food become vessels of memory and belonging—and why repatriation must mean more than the return of artifacts but also be about revitalizing artist spaces so African creativity can flourish.JUMP TO02:00… Ore starts the conversation with an invocation in Yoruba: “The river, no matter how far it flows, always knows its source.”04:40… Ore explains how museums create spaces where you can connect to people who “don't immediately have an obvious association or commonality with you”.06:50… Learn about the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) as both a space of memory and of evidenced history, but also a space for current creativity and future imagining.08:30… The connection between Timbuktu and the work of MOWWA and why reimagining “citadels of knowledge” and investing in memory is so important.12:30… Ore discusses how in African culture and traditions, community was often more important than permanence and how that can help us define modern African cultural values.16:50… Ore pushes back against being “villagized” and instead highlights the importance of movement across the continent to tell African stories.20:54… Ore goes on to look at how art and material culture can erase artificial lines and colonial boundaries.25:26… “Dream big!” Ore looks at what restitution could look like, beyond just the returning of objects, but revitalizing ecosystems for artists and artisanal spaces which she says has the potential to be a more powerful enterprise. 33.00… To ward off from this becoming a “restitution moment” of feel-good photo ops, what do we as Africans, as Black people, want out of it?33.50… This week, something special as Dreaming in Color’s Cora Daniels rounds out the program with her outro debut.
The equitable future we seek requires celebrating the genius of today’s leaders of color. In Dreaming in Color, hear from champions in the charge for equity and justice. Hosted by Darren Isom, a partner in the The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office, this podcast offers leaders of color space to share how they have leveraged their unique assets and abilities to embrace excellence, drive impact, and more fully define what success looks like. Grounded in both his New Orleans roots and his experience as a queer Black leader in the social sector, Darren invites listeners into the candid kitchen table conversations that have long helped shape the journeys of BIPOC leaders. Together, we embrace these leaders’ ingenuity, learn from their wisdom and wit, reflect on their words with authenticity and humor, and listen as we think of how we can collectively strive to do and be better. This is Dreaming in Color.
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