Meet Sabrina
Drawn to Harlem by “community”, “convenience”, and “legacy”, Sabrina has lived in Harlem for a total of about 15 years. As soon as she moved into the neighborhood she felt a sense of community, having friends and family who were already in Harlem. Through NACA, a national organization that helps people get housing in their communities, she got her apartment and has also felt a welcoming atmosphere in her building, “My building is amazing. We'll have happy hour, or elected officials will come and let us yell at them. Very engaged neighbors,” she laughs. Sabrina sees how engaged the community is in supporting one another and showing up for community board meetings to protect the Harlem they love so much. She makes sure she is also engaged and doing her part whether it is through attending community board meetings or making her voice heard with elected officials or through the work she does with her own businesses.
Sabrina is the CEO and founder of World of Money and Wekeza, author, and a broadcaster on a WBLS show, “[World of Money is] the leading provider of immersive financial education for children ages seven to 18, here in New York City, as well as across the country and four african countries... We have the digital classes and… we're having in-person... [classes] continuing in July... That's for children. And then I founded Wekeza, which means save and invest in Swahili, that provides family financial education and financial support services, such as investing in US publicly traded companies for families from the African diaspora…” Her approach to finance is learning the personal stories of the individuals they are helping, “I'm interested in their language, I'm interested in their culture. Then you have them engaged… And then align that with money. Then that's how we have the conversation, by recognizing, celebrating that person's unique culture… Maybe… your culture says you shouldn't.... talk about money, or you may say, talk all about it.... Understanding what those cultures say infuses or empowers that whole conversation regarding money.” Many of the students are Harlem residents, and she also has events in Harlem as well, “So a year and a half ago, we had a business pitch competition at the Schomburg with ten central Harlem schools... When children and parents and teachers, superintendents… all ran to the Schomburg to see our brilliant children show their pitch, their businesses. That's community…”
“I… have the idea, so I just have to create the roadmap to get there… And the information just will come to you.. You don’t need anybody else’s… approval to say whether or not what you’re doing and seeing or envisioning for your life is valid or not... You better go get it.”
Her world view is greatly influenced by her upbringing, her father was in the military so she traveled frequently and lived abroad in Germany, France, and England. She still loves to travel and living abroad contributed to her love of history, connecting events and perspectives to a larger world view, and wanting to learn more about people’s individual stories and cultures, “Because the world matters.” In Harlem, she loves to see connections to a larger world perspective within the community, “I like East 116th street between Lenox and 7th, little Senegal. I love that. You walk into those businesses and you think you're in Touba in Senegal.” Her passion for learning the personal stories of people that is seen in her work is also seen in her everyday interactions, “I'll go into little Senegal into their businesses and support those businesses and talk with them… and hear the call to prayer in the back. I love that. And spending time at Supermarket Fine Fare at 116th and Lenox and talking with the staff there who, a lot of them are from Senegal, you know, as opposed to just taking my bag and leaving...”
The upbringing she has had has also led to her boldness in going after what she wants, “When we lived in Germany, I remember when we took… road trips… my father would give me the map and he would say, 'We're going to Frankfurt. Tell me how to get there.' I was in 3rd, 4th grade, and I would have to create that roadmap… And that is kind of like a metaphor to a real life experience, I… have the idea, so I just have to create the roadmap to get there… And the information just will come to you, will absolutely come to you. You don't need anybody else's… approval to say whether or not what you're doing and seeing or envisioning for your life is valid or not, because they don't know. How do they know they're trying to figure it out themselves? And they'll spend a lot of time trying to talk you out of something that's simmering in your soul. You better go get it.”
Sabrina describes her journey as following “whispers” of what she is meant to do. Her career path did not start in finance, she was a history major at Lincoln University and was a stand up comedian for a period of time. During that time she had a pivotal Harlem experience that connects to her interest and passion for ownership, “...On 125th and Fifth Avenue, it used to be the famous Uptown Comedy Club. The line was around the corner and down the street. It was the livest hip hop, Black owned club… Everybody came in there… I think about all the comics that came out of that club, you know, from Tracy Morgan to Mike Epps to JB Smooth… And that goes back to the ownership… and the culture. We've got to own this stuff...” Attending a financial workshop with a friend in 2005 led her to starting World of Money, “Stand up came from a whisper, I was at a comedy club. Someone suggested you should try, did that, maybe did it for about four years or whatever. Then other whispers came. Whisper was the World of Money. Whisper was Wekeza… I encourage everyone... to follow that whisper, that initiative that you're feeling, go for it.” She shared a story that marks her Harlem journey saying, “I was walking down the street and this elderly woman said, 'You walk like you own the earth.' And ever since then, I've signed my emails… to everyone, 'Walk like you own the earth.'” For Sabrina, Harlem means, “Family, building, legacy, history.” Describing the community she says, “Vibrant, loving, hopeful. Some make it a way out of no way. You know, I look at these paintings on the wall [of Sugar Hill Creamery]... behind every face that you pass in Harlem is an amazing story.” Moving forward she wants to continue building her legacy in Harlem through her work, family, and joy she brings to others.
