From Ohio to Washington DC to……Botswana!
By Mike Solarz, 2014 ProInspire Fellow
After spending three years in a promising career in public accounting with a “Big Four” firm, I decided it was time to transition into a position that better aligned with my desire to promote social impact. The ProInspire Fellowship fit the bill for the needed change– I applied and was fortunate enough to be placed into the program. I spent the fellowship year working at Dantes Partners, an affordable housing developer in the District of Columbia. I learned a lot during my fellowship year and believe my time with the ProInspire Fellowship program and with Dantes Partners forced me outside of my comfort zone, forcing me to assimilate into a new career in a new city.
Midway through my fellowship year, I began contemplating what my “next step” would be upon the conclusion of the fellowship. Having spent a summer interning in China while pursuing my undergraduate degree, I determined that getting short-term exposure to the social sector in an international capacity would make for a good experience before transitioning to my next long term role. Fortunately, Monisha Kapila, ProInspire Founder and CEO, connected me with several ProInspire alumni who had experience working or volunteering abroad after their fellowship year. A former fellow from the previous year’s class was overseas with Technoserve, an NGO whose tagline is “Business Solutions to Poverty”, and the fellow had positive things to say about the experience and recommended applying.
That was back in January of 2015. Fast forward to June of 2015—I applied and interviewed for a position in Gaborone, Botswana, which I gladly accepted upon receiving an offer. The Technoserve program in Botswana, Tokafala, provides advisory and mentorship services to citizen-owned companies in Botswana. My position entails providing access to finance support to SMMEs (Small, Micro, Medium Enterprises). I assist program participants in drafting business plans, forecasting future projections via financial modeling, and developing relationships with various financial institutions.
Mike at top of the tallest hill in Gaborone, where he resides
To be quite honest, the transition into my Technoserve role and into Botswana has been rather seamless. I attribute this, in part, to Botswana being relatively westernized in comparison to most of its African counterparts where international development work is currently being carried out. While we have frequent water outages (three to four times a week), power outages are very rare, and I even have an A/C unit in my apartment and (albeit slow) Wi-Fi. However, the more significant attribution of smooth transition is a result of my experience obtained via ProInspire and Dantes Partners.
So what did my fellowship year teach me that has allowed for me to smoothly transition in Botswana? I think it really comes down to three key points:
1) I don’t know all of the answers– One of the first required readings for the ProInspire Fellowship was The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. The book clearly states colleagues, subordinates, and managers will be immediately turned off by any newcomer who thinks he knows all of the solutions to a company’s problems on Day One. It is more effective to sit back and build a working knowledge of a company, problem, or situation, before one can utilize expertise to provide a solution. In an international context, this can be even taken a step further—I am cognizant of the fact I am in Botswana and the cultural norms are different than that of the United States—the norms are not necessarily better or worse—just different.
I believe an open mindset has allowed me to build a strong rapport with my Technoserve colleagues and clients, and has allowed me to integrate into Botswana’s culture. I don’t claim to know all of the answers, but hope that I can provide unique insights to my colleagues and clients, once I have obtained all relevant facts and details.
Mike prepping for bungee jumping at Vic Falls at Zambia/Zimbabwe Border
2) “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”- I think Kelly Clarkson knew exactly what she was talking about with these song lyrics. I spent my fellowship year at Dantes Partners, a highly successful and reputable affordable housing developer in DC. The fast pace and complexity definitely made for a challenging work environment. There were aspects of various development projects I was tasked with spearheading and, sometimes, issues arose, putting obstacles directly in the way of goal achievement. While goals didn’t always seem achievable, with a bit of patience, creativity, hard work, and teamwork, we were nearly always able to overcome obstacles. I learned a lot from my bosses at Dantes Partners, both of whom didn’t take “no” for an answer (yet they also realized that obstacles would sometimes have to be overcome before the “no” was converted to a “yes”). Frequent challenging situations allowed me to grow both my soft skills and technical skills and allowed for much celebration when barriers were overcome. The fellowship experience taught to me to embrace challenging situations and to consider the potential learnings from the situation. If you don’t take “no” for an answer, you’ll be surprised what can be achieved—and despite frequent challenging circumstances, you’ll almost always come out alive.
While in Botswana, I often get frustrated with the relatively slow pace of operation in comparison to the United States—however, I am now able to remind myself that I can learn a lot from the Batswana (people of Botswana) and that any achievements reached during my time here are to be considered big successes in light of cultural differences.
3) A support network is critical– I learned this during my ProInspire Fellowship year as I, a lifelong Ohioan, transplanted myself to Washington DC for the year. Knowing only a few people in the DC area, the transition was initially a bit challenging socially. However, my “support network” was critical in this adjustment. My network consisted of a few friends and family in the DC area, my friends and family back in Ohio, and even friends located across the U.S. and globe that I could occasionally just have a quick text message conversation with to lift my spirits. This network was critical in terms of allowing me to vent after a rough day at work or share my successes after a good day at the office. Over time, my local network grew to include individuals such as my fellow ProInspire Fellows.
Now that I’m in Botswana, I have again realized the importance of a support network. And, now, I can include my new DC friends in the group of people I can have a quick conversation with to lighten the mood—a conversation with a friend or family member is quick to lift spirits. At the same time, I have been able to meet a lot of cool new people in Botswana, who I can now add to my local support network.
While I’m now about a seventeen hour flight away from DC right now, the lessons that I’ve learned during my year in DC with Dantes Partners and ProInspire know no boundaries. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the experience of the ProInspire Fellowship and I consider myself very fortunate to now have this incredible opportunity in Botswana. And with this good fortune, I like to keep in mind, “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”
2014 ProInspire Fellow Mike Solarz currently serves as an access to finance consultant for Tokafala, a development program for entrepreneurs in Botswana, implemented by Technoserve. Mike began his career at PwC and spent his fellowship year at Dantes Partners, an affordable housing developer in Washington, D.C. Mike holds a B.S. in accountancy from Miami University in Ohio and is a licensed CPA.