Compassion comes full circle when giving makes you a better advisor

My journey to becoming an advisor who is a better listener, asks better questions and deepens relationships occurred in an unconventional way. It came when I married my purpose in life with my professional skills. The combination of purpose and profession manifested in the Ghana Impact Project, a charity I founded in 2021 to equip physically challenged children and adults in Ghana to rebuild their ability to walk and even run. 

In 1995, when I was 11 years old, my family emigrated from Ghana to the U.S. Beyond the adjustment to a totally different environment, I was shocked to see students in my school whisking around in electric wheelchairs, dashing through the hallways and appearing to enjoy reasonably normal lives.

I hadn’t seen physically challenged children in Ghana. I clearly remember coming home from school one day and asking my parents why there were so many physically challenged kids in America. That was when I learned that we had such kids in Ghana too, but I hadn’t seen them because they had no way to be out and about. Hardly any schools, or for that matter, any public facilities, had ramps or elevators. Worse, some members of the society saw their physical challenge as contagious, or as a curse from God. I was 11 and I knew that someday, I would bring Ghanaian children the equipment that they deserved.

By 2021, I was well along in my advisory career. The harsh realities of the Covid-19 pandemic reminded me of my childhood promise to myself. It was time to bring that promise to fruition. I founded the Ghana Impact Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to accomplish two goals: to raise money to provide mobility resources, such as prosthetics, wheelchairs and crutches, to the physically challenged in Ghana, and to raise awareness and education to help curb the stigma of being physically challenged in Ghana.

In 2022, its first year, the Ghana Impact Project raised $10,000 that provided prosthetics for 20 children in Ghana.

Creating the Ghana Impact Project stemmed from my soul-searching about the legacy I want to leave and the impact I want to have today. Thanks to the process of launching a nonprofit, I’m better now at running my practice, from defining a vision and organizing a board to fundraising and executing the plan. But most important, I better understand my clients. Before, I focused almost exclusively on their financial goals. Now, I take the time to understand what really motivates them and how they define lifelong success. I want them to have the same fulfillment of their life objectives that I’ve achieved for mine.

Kobby Okum is a certified financial planner based in Leesburg, Virginia.