We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Crystal Aryitey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

As far back as I can remember, I’ve seen my parents serving our community. Since my dad was in the Military, I didn’t grow up around my biological extended family, but my parents taught me that blood didn’t make a family; love did, and I was always surrounded by love. Whether it was the neighborhood kids that my mom made sure had a warm meal, the church members my parents picked up for rides to church, or the children from the group home that came over to swim, our home was filled with family- people that my parents loved and that love us. Recently, I encountered a young lady who was raised in the group home. When she saw us, she smiled and gave my mom the biggest hug. She called her mom. She recalled the life lessons and memories from her past. I’m not sure about the circumstances that brought her to the group home, but I know she found a family in mine. Through the example of my parents, I learned that kindness is our most valuable asset. It is our responsibility and privilege to show kindness and love to people. When I became an educator, it was natural from me to adopt my students as my own, they became my children and will always be. As an educator, I’ve learned about educational disparities, social risk factors, and the ugliness of hatred. I’ve also learned that many of the world’s problems can be solved through love. My mission is to show love and kindness to as many people as I can. I may not be able to fix the world’s problems, but what I can do- I will do, and I will do it to the best of my ability.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2018 I started Destiny Driven Inc., a nonprofit that uses Debate to amplify youth voices and develop the self-confidence needed to empower youth to advocate for themselves and their community. As an educator, I’ve discovered that communication is a valuable skill that our children lack. There are severe educational disparities in this country that render black and brown youth vulnerable to educational risk factors that funnel them through the school-to-prison pipeline. Unfortunately, I saw this pipeline with my own eyes when I became a reading instructor at a local juvenile detention center and met many former students there. At the detention center, I taught poets, orators, musicians, and carpenters- brilliant young people whose dreams were deferred because of poor decisions and a system that has failed to cultivate their genius. I became committed to uplifting their voices. Debate teaches written skills, critical thinking, persuasive techniques, and confidence. It develops students as effective communicators, with the ability to advocate for themselves in a society that oftentimes silences their voices. In Alabama, youth are taught to be seen but not heard, and for marginalized communities, oftentimes, they aren’t seen at all. Destiny Driven encourages students to speak boldly, having the knowledge and confidence to navigate the social barriers they may face. Oftentimes, youth are regarded as a problem that needs to be fixed; however, in Destiny Driven, students become the change agents in their lives and community. Through debate, we develop students that can not only speak up for themselves, but leaders that use their abilities to make their futures and community better.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I started Destiny Driven Inc. I was an educator. Honestly, I didn’t know much about the nonprofit world and I didn’t have the experience to run a business. All I had was passion. I’d been an educator since 2011, and I knew children needed more than they received in the traditional school setting. I knew how to connect with children, and I knew that it would take a village to support our youth. Frederick Douglass once stated, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men’. I knew that youth in the detention centers were graduating to prison cells at much higher rates than those graduating from school. With this knowledge, I set out to build strong children. When I first started my nonprofit, I used my checks from teaching to fund the organization. I did this for two years, without any additional funds. I did this not because I was so noble but because I’ve seen my parents do something similar all my life, and I felt it was the right thing to do. Over those two years, I built my reputation as a youth advocate dedicated to the community. That reputation, coupled with the results of my program, the success stories of my students, and my growing knowledge in fundraising enabled me to establish myself and begin receiving local and national funding.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

In essence, my ‘side hustle’ was Destiny Driven- my nonprofit. I would teach all day and run my nonprofit classes at night. On top of that, on the nights that I wasn’t with the youth in my community, I was in class pursuing my doctorate in Education Leadership, Policy, and Law. Since I hadn’t received funding then, I developed the curriculum, recruited the students, managed all the marketing, and taught all the classes. When I received my first grant funding, the first thing I did was find presenters to conduct the classes. At the time, I still was not paying myself, but I knew I needed help in order to scale my business. As an educator by trade, this was a difficult decision; however, it was necessary. Hiring teachers enabled me to focus on running the business and securing more funding, which enabled me to provide more programs for the community youth. Last year, I made the decision to end my career as a former educator and focus wholeheartedly on Destiny Driven Inc. It’s impossible for me to talk about this process without talking about my faith and God’s purpose for my life. I prayed about this decision many nights, and God reminded me of the name of my organization: Destiny Driven. Sometimes, we hold on to what’s familiar instead of walking to purpose. Purpose can be scary, but you can’t have Destiny and fear at the same time. God assured me He’d be with me, and I decided to choose Destiny. To supplement my income, I looked at what I had to offer. As an English teacher, I knew I was a gifted writer, so on this new journey, I became a grant writer. I now run Destiny Driven and work as a grant worker and program coordinator for another local nonprofit. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish with Destiny Driven, and I look forward to what God has in store for the organization and for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://destinydrivendebate.org/
• Facebook: Destiny Driven Inc.
• Youtube: Destiny Driven Inc.