Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicole “NeeKKo” Lindsey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nicole “NeeKKo”, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

What I would change about the education system to prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career is prioritizing mental health and better practices to manage it as well as incorporating trades and more life fundamentals in the education system. This can range from requiring spaces for learning and receiving therapy, obtaining hands on training and experience with various trades that can be leveraged during times like this where the world is becoming more and more dependent on technology and machines. Students should be educated not only on english, history, science, and math, but also about fundamentals that’ll impact their everyday life such as financial literacy and better practices to build a stable foundation for their future outside of college and a job.

I think things like this can help add to a students’ confidence in finding some sort of direction and control over their future/lives and them possibly finding an interest in an unknown passion. When i was in middle school my mom found a program at the Compton airport where i was taught how to fly a plane. This experience stuck with me to this day where although i did not pursue aviation, it contributed to my confidence in being able to say I done something like that and it also opened my mind more to know that there are more things I can do that I didnt even consider and it made me open to experience more hobbies and careers that I may not have been open to before.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into nonprofit after having an interest since a teen and college undergrad, having an interest in having my own nonprofit even though I did not know anything about the industry aside from giving back to the community. I came back to the idea a couple of years after graduating college and have been learning about the industry as I go.

My nonprofit is called Education Is Key and i fundraise money for scholarships for inner city students of Los Angeles, host community fundraising events, and offer programs to youth and young adults that offer enrichment and development. Education is key helps promote education, assist students with school and/or program expenses, and provide safe spaces for community members to come together to enjoy a fun event for a good cause as we raise money for scholarships.

Education Is Key is not just about scholarships and what students have the highest scores and grades, its a message overall to encourage the underserved community to be educated and be encouraged to pursue whatever opportunities they may want that can enhance their education and skills because despite the adversity they face, they are capable of achieving whatever they set their minds to. We do not limit our scholarships to only students attending college, but also students that are attending trade school, vocational school, or whatever institute that comes with a financial cost.

What i am most proud is the fact that my organization has managed to be in operation for the past five years solely because of the community’s support. The money that i have for my organization has come straight from community members, peers, friends, and even local organizations and businesses. When i began my organization, i wanted to show the community how powerful we were together and what we can do for ourselves and our peoples when we put our money together and how easy it can be so that we are inspired to continue this kind of trend in aims to help our community move forward in the gap that sets us back from other groups and not be so much of a crabs in a barrel culture. So the fact that all of the scholarships i have given out thus far has been from majority community members makes me fulfilled and proud. It’s a great feeling to have the support of the people and I am looking forward to growing and continuing our organization’s mission for years to come.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The first year i began my organization, i was not legally registered as a nonprofit because i was intimidated by the process of having to start one and I was being lazy and took my time in handling that process. However, i still was passionate about setting out on my mission to give out scholarships and so I had a conversation with a mentor of mine that sparked the initiation of Education Is Key. He helped start me off in the direction of brainstorming and putting my vision together that I had in mind for my nonprofit. I came up with the name, the logo, and marketing strategy which was to curate a campaign to gain visibility and put out my call to action to donate for scholarships. In addition to curating a campaign, i also sold merch from brand of mine known as G.H.E.T.T.O. and that stands for guys and girls have enough talent to overcome. I sold merch and donated 100% of proceeds from profit to Education Is Key as another way to raise money for our first year’s scholarship awards. My first year I managed to raise a total of five thousand dollars that i distributed amongst five students and each received one thousand dollars each. I was truly proud and was then motivated to complete the process of becoming a legal nonprofit organization and from there i continued on the mission of fundraising and awarding scholarships to inner city students of Los Angeles til this day.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Growing my audience on social media has been done through me leveraging my personal instagram page to share and post content that promotes my organization’s page as I have a good following on my personal page. Also, curating a campaign and visuals to rotate and post my social media has been helpful in getting traffic to my page.

I would encourage those just starting to build their social media presence to definitely be sure to build up content that you can keep in your audience’s faces and that reiterates your calls to action whether its to influence user to follow, click the link in bio and visit your website, donate, contact you or any other necessary action that can help you build a presence and loyal following.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eduiskey.org
• Instagram: @yourgirlneekko @_education_is_key_