10 networking meetings. 5 Speaking Engagements. 3 Get-Together Dinners. 3 Interviews. 1 Lab Session, and a Filming. (And countless bouts of laughter, and unbridled joy. And boundless hope.) That about sums up my three days in Nashville, Tennessee.

Towards the end of the pandemic, The Transformational Business Network chapters (Africa, Asia and The Americas) started imagineering a future of close collaboration for our enterprise-based interventions to fight poverty and advance human flourishing. It is unimaginable what waits to manifest when self-interest is tossed to the four winds, and a bigger vision is cast around bringing people together – across boundaries, cultures and expectations.

But sentiment has never been known to change anything. Action does. Along this trajectory, we reached out to Belmont University’s Jack C. Massey College of Business whose ethos is a reflection of our own. And an alliance – a beautiful alliance – the TBN Alliance, was birthed this year.

To invert an old saying, lifting all boats creates a rising tide. The 1500 small and growing businesses we will help to empower will create at least 10,000 much needed jobs, and spin off even more enterprises.

The momentum is on, and it’s full throttle ahead. This week is testament to that.