Mr. Ibrahima Souare, SVP Budgeting, Forecasting, and Economic development, Go Africa LLC & Go Africa Trading LLC.
In the emerging economic development career of Ibrahima Souare, small business development has become his passion. This passion was initiated during his tenure with South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO), where he was first exposed to the challenges faced by aspiring small businesses and entrepreneurs regarding access to capital, access to contracts, business growth strategies, and operational management. Since then, he has developed a keen expertise in business development of small, women, and ethnic minority businesses in their pursuit of scaling as it relates to business financing, securing private & public contracts, building achievable business plans, and obtaining certifications (such as MWBE, SBA 8(a), DBE), and other technical growth intentions.
Currently, Mr. Souare advances the mission of New York State Department of Economic Development (a.k.a. Empire State Development), fulfilling the role of Business Development Associate with the Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development. Mr. Souare is responsible for monitoring and managing the activities of over 96+ NYS agencies and public authorities’ utilization of MWBEs, development and delivery of capacity-building educational contents for MWBEs, and conducting statewide outreach efforts on behalf of the program.
Besides his professional role, Mr. Souare is an active member of Sigma Phi Rho Fraternity and Go Africa Network, respectively, and is founding member of NYS African Chamber of Commerce. He’s a certified Instructor with New York City Department of Small Business Services, where he lends his time to facilitating workshops and seminars to small businesses and entrepreneurs across the five boroughs of NYC.
Mr. Souare holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from CUNY Lehman College, and recently completed his Masters in Public Administration from Marxe’s Schools of Public and International Affairs as a Fellow with the prestigious National Urban Fellows program.
Mr. Souare is originally from West Africa, Guinea (Conakry) and speaks three additional languages (French, Manike, and Susu).
Connect Online
Twitter: @IAMSouare
LinkedIn: Ibrahima S. Souare
