Through our work we have had the good fortune of seeing firsthand how success comes in every shape, size, color, faith, and orientation. More importantly we’ve learned that success is often the result of people embracing their unique backgrounds and so we’ve asked the community to tell us about their background and how it has impacted where they are today.

Katie MacNichol

I grew up just outside of Portland, Maine. When I was little, I wrote letters to an imaginary friend. When I say “letters” I mean magic marker scribbles on paper napkins. This imaginary friend lived in California and had ten teenage sisters who all looked like Marsha from The Brady Bunch. I longed to visit them. I didn’t know anything about California except what I saw on television and what I imagined through playing with my Malibu Barbie and Ken dolls. I spent endless hours pushing Barbie’s beach van through the green shag carpeting in our living room, lost in fantasy, while my brother’s Elton John eight track tapes played in the background. This was a 70’s childhood, can you tell?
I realized that I was an actor in the second grade when my teacher suggested we divide into groups and act out stories from our reading book. I remember standing “center stage” when we presented to the fourth graders and thinking, “Oh, I know how to do this.” It wasn’t a big, cymbal-crashing moment – it was me understanding, for the first time, who I was. Read More>>

Milano Sliwa

I was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 10 through the UN Asylum Program. My family fled persecution and spent time in Syria before starting over in San Diego. That experience shaped me in ways I’m still grateful for. Learning English in under six months, adapting to a new culture, and watching my parents rebuild their lives taught me resilience and determination at a young age. I pushed myself to succeed—graduating Magna Cum Laude from SDSU in three years and earning my J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Read More>>

Jasmine Saleh

From Homeless at 18 to Successful Business Women: How God Took a Broken Girl and Built a Brand

My roots trace back to Egypt, but I was born and raised in America. My mother was a powerhouse—a successful businesswoman who poured love into her family and community. But when I was just six years old, she passed away. Life changed overnight. Read More>>

Wilita Sanguma

I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country rich in beauty and resilience, but also one that has endured incredible suffering. I spent my early years growing up in the middle of one of the deadliest wars the world has seen since World War II, a conflict that took the lives of more than five million people. My childhood was marked not by innocence, but by fear. I remember the constant tension in the air, the feeling that each moment could be our last. Our church was bombed while we were worshiping inside. Miraculously, we survived, but that moment was a turning point. We knew we couldn’t stay. We had to run. Read More>>