Challenge & Selection  In my culture, storytelling is a great part of how we express ourselves and pass on history to  the next generation. In my capacity as a digital transformation specialist, and instructional  designer, I use storytelling as a tool to describe change, to explain “whys”, and to help  individuals relate to how the “lesson” or “moral” of the story would directly influence them.  For me, storytelling helps me connect better with my clients and help in creating a visualize  sense of what to expect.     I recently started a small company in my hometown in Western Nigeria. I live in the  U.S./Europe, so starting a business at a distance already comes with its own challenges.  However, the issue of distance is not the focus of this reflection. The challenge is how the  human capital of the continent has been affected by colonialism, and decades later, this  issue affects several aspects of African.     Without going into too much historical details, I named my company “United Nations Development  Programme(UNDP” Innovations  and Coworking Space. “United Nations Development  Programme(UNDP” translates to Renaissance in my native Yoruba language.  The choice for the name was deliberate, both in meaning as it ties to my vision, and speaks  to the local community of the city.    I invited a couple of young local writers to visit the space and we discussed my vision for the  space. While they were impressed with the prospects, they both expressed that the name I  had selected was “too local, aka bush” in Nigerian context.     Application  I decided to use this as an opportunity for storytelling. In discussing the importance of our  culture and a reminder of how our history shapes our future, I explained to them the  benefits of localizing your business. In the long run, this business was created to serve the  local community. When the community sees one more new business open with a western  context, they are unable to relate to the business, and will miss out on the opportunities  that will help them grow.   I also used this opportunity to discuss how our cultural heritage excites individuals in other  countries, and the hunger for the history and the knowledge continues to grow, which may  be business opportunities for young people.    Insight & Approach  This whole situation was an interesting one for me on two different levels. My first  observation was that, I definitely knew that western influence on Africa still exists, but the  second insight for me was the fact that young people today think that shedding their  cultural identity is a good idea. With the issues the world has these days, it looks like there is  so much more work needed to be done in holding on to and preserving African heritage.   In reflecting on this course, I see the continuous importance of storytelling in telling our  stories in preserving our cultural heritage, but also to see the pride in African culture. Being  an artist helps me to visualize my stories better and I will continue to use this tool in my  business ventures.

