Rafael_Nobleman
Rafael Nobleman
My Business Training
Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri
About Shamsu
Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri is a passionate and hardworking carpenter from Bauchi State, Nigeria, with a vision to launch his own professional carpentry business, Fasaha Carpentry Services.
Inspired by his father and deeply rooted in the craft, Shamsu dreams of owning a shop that reflects quality, creativity, and community pride.
With over ten years of hands-on experience and a background in business management, he aims to deliver finely crafted furniture and woodwork solutions that are both functional and artistic. His mission is to build trust, beauty, and opportunity for his family and local youth.
Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri
Business Goals
Fasaha Carpentry Services is grounded in quality, trust, and creativity. “Fasaha,” meaning “skills,” reflects Shamsu’s dedication to craftsmanship and continuous growth. He values using top-quality materials, maintaining honest customer relationships, and training aspiring carpenters in his community.
Shamsu plans to open a fully equipped workshop offering furniture production, office furnishing, interior decor, and classroom furniture. The shop will showcase wooden statues and sample pieces, creating a welcoming, professional space.
His vision is to empower others, enhance local homes and workplaces, and uphold the dignity of skilled work. His target clients include families, offices, schools, and newlyweds furnishing new homes.
Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri
Obstacles
Shamsu began learning carpentry from his father before spending ten years as an apprentice mastering furniture making, interior design, and layout planning. He is known for his high standards, never compromising on material quality, even at the cost of short-term profit. His greatest joy is seeing a satisfied client.
Despite his passion, Shamsu faces significant obstacles. A lack of capital has prevented him from acquiring the modern tools needed to open his own shop.
Family responsibilities make saving difficult, yet he stays motivated by the belief that no condition is permanent and his dedication will create new opportunities.
Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri
Our Partnership
Shamsu seeks funding, essential carpentry tools, and mentorship from Leadership Initiatives to grow his business. His immediate needs include a circular saw, nailing machine, compressor, generator, and a complete carpentry toolbox.
He also hopes to receive training in financial management, customer service, and negotiation to build long-term stability. Shamsu envisions expanding into a showroom where clients can purchase or customize pieces, while offering apprenticeship opportunities to local youth.
Personally, he hopes to support his father, enroll his daughter in a top school, and purchase a motorcycle for daily travel. He strives to be known for honesty and craftsmanship.
My Grant Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to help grow and strengthen my business partner’s infrastructure.
At the end of the program, my team presented our final proposal to a panel of judges from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed us to apply our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded a grant that will fund the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, improve financial stability, and create new growth opportunities. Over the next year, this grant will help transform the future of their business and improve the quality of life for both the entrepreneur and their community.
My Grant Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri to gain a clear understanding of their business goals. Though Shamsu has leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we crafted a proposal detailing the infrastructure materials that would support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Shamsu to optimize their business through a new budget and financial tracking system.
This new budget enables Shamsu to allocate funds toward essential materials and equipment, supporting the optimization of their services. Effective financial tracking will be crucial for managing growing profits and preserving assets, ensuring the business’s long-term growth and stability.
Internship Highlights
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Shamsu Ibrahim Waziri, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration and helped us better understand Shamsu’s background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Shamsu gave us the insight we needed to begin brainstorming practical, personalized solutions. Each morning, our team held focused discussions to refine our ideas, reflect on expert advice from the day before, and adjust our timeline to move our plans forward efficiently.
Throughout the process, on-staff project coordinators and business development experts guided us, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Swiss Embassy, where I gained insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Switzerland and the United States.
The embassy functions as a center for international collaboration, working with partner countries and global organizations to address pressing issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Through this visit, I learned how diplomats engage in meaningful dialogue and policy development to create sustainable, people-focused solutions.
Officials from the Swiss Embassy shared how they partner with local communities to identify needs and implement programs that empower individuals and strengthen long-term development. This commitment to community-driven impact inspired my team and me as we worked to develop our own business proposal focused on creating lasting change.
During my visit to the Embassy of Guyana, I explored how diplomacy shapes international cooperation and development. The experience provided a deeper understanding of the embassy’s role in promoting peace, fostering economic partnerships, and addressing shared global challenges.
Embassy representatives discussed how their work supports cross-cultural exchange, advances policy priorities, and strengthens relationships between Guyana and the United States. I learned how embassies serve as bridges, connecting governments, communities, and organizations to create innovative solutions for global issues.
This visit broadened my perspective on international leadership and inspired me to think critically about how collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic planning can drive meaningful progress, principles we applied while developing our business proposal.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with top experts in business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
One of the highlights was a session with Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. She gave us a crash course in marketing and advertising, breaking down the key elements of what makes a campaign actually work. Her insights helped us think bigger and more strategically about how to position our partner’s business for success.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, we sharpened our ideas, refined our strategy, and built a powerful pitch deck to present at the end of the week. Their guidance helped us take our business proposal to the next level creating a plan designed not only to launch a venture, but to transform our business partner’s future.