A renowned entrepreneur and business leader, Dorian Dickinson has an impressive record of success across a diverse range of sectors including renewable energy and environment, wastewater and waste management, rural development, tourism and hospitality, agriculture, and consumer products. With extensive experience in global operations, business development, and project management, Dorian has worked alongside government leaders, businesses, and NGOs to deliver integrated solutions that enhance the lives of communities in need of hope and opportunity.

Dorian brings a strategic approach to every project, leveraging his expertise to identify specific challenges, maximize potential, increase opportunities for growth, and expand global reach. His reputation as a global leader in business development and strategic integration has earned him coverage in hundreds of newspaper articles, appearances on over 2,000 radio stations, and interviews on major networks such as FOX, CBS, and ABC, where he shares insights on emerging trends, business development, and global growth opportunities.

Journey of Growth and Impact

Initially, Dorian pursued a career in law enforcement but found himself being drawn towards business development and strategic integration, which are crucial for the growth and expansion of any organization. Recognizing the potential career opportunities that concentrating on business development could provide, he began to enjoy working on diverse projects that required creative, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The range of responsibilities that came with the job provided a sense of challenge and variety, which made his work engaging and fascinating. Moreover, being able to influence the direction and success of the companies he worked for was rewarding. From the start, Dorian was involved in high-level decision-making and had a direct impact on the overall strategy and success of the companies.

FundingHope

FundingHope was born out of the disruption and fallout from the COVID pandemic. Prior to the onset of COVID, Dorian Dickinson was working exclusively on rural and economic development initiatives in developing countries and conflict zones. When COVID shut down business and travel, his business went from 100-to-0 in 48 hours. Dickinson used this down time to analyze and explore the challenges faced by communities struggling to advance. The common theme that kept coming up was a lack of funding for small businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators often led to decreased economic development activity in communities most in need. This often led to an increase in crime and poverty, and a loss of hope for a better future. Dickinson believes that engaging “the crowd” can level the playing field for business owners historically left behind by traditional banks and Wall Street, especially women and minority founders.

Encompassing Skills for Success

To thrive in the current volatile global business environment, it is essential to possess a particular set of business skills that enables you to operate in any community, country, or global region effectively, ensuring the growth of your business at the opportune moment. Dorian’s background of working across various continents, including North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America, has instilled in him a profound sense of self-awareness, cultural diversity, humility, and empathy towards others. His extensive overseas experience has also cultivated a perpetual curiosity in him to solve the challenges faced by the most vulnerable, honed his negotiation skills, and developed his ability to deliver solutions that enhance the lives of individuals, families, and communities, with both patience and urgency.

Vision and Purpose

Each company has its own distinct identity and vision that caters to the problems and challenges it intends to address. The vision of a company is essentially the “what” of the organization. At FundingHope, the purpose and vision are centered around assisting businesses that are contributing to sustainability in underserved communities to raise the necessary capital from a larger audience. This not only provides the business with an opportunity to flourish but also generates more employment opportunities, fosters economic growth in the areas that need it the most, and revitalizes hope for a better future within the community.

Expanding the Reach of FundingHope

Global partnerships are vitally important to being able to expand the reach of FundingHope. Having a clear development strategy, knowing the areas that can benefit most from improving the access to capital for small business owners, and forging deep relationships within the communities we work has uniquely positioned FundingHope for growth in the United States and beyond.

Collective Accountability

FundingHope owes much of its success to the team’s ability to keep each other accountable and on-task. Through the team’s collective efforts, it has transformed the idea of helping others raise funds into a reality by creating the world’s first investment crowdfunding platform that connects everyday impact investors with small business owners and innovators focused on sustainability in underprivileged communities. The team brings a diverse set of hard and soft skills to the development process. Its education and work experience provide the company with a solid foundation, while its risk and cost management skills, coupled with the team’s patience and dedication, allow the company to navigate the business development process with ease. These core project management skills have enabled FundingHope to advance to where it is in an impressively short period of time, and it believes the team will continue to drive its success in the future.

From Conflict to Success

The origins of FundingHope can be traced back to 2017, when Dorian was involved in the construction of the first commercial chicken processing facility in Afghanistan in over four decades. Despite the challenging circumstances, which included negotiating with various parties with differing self-interests during a period of intense conflict, Dorian and his team managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible task. By utilizing strong communication skills, demonstrating empathy, and honestly presenting the benefits and opportunities to alleviate hunger and uplift numerous communities, the project was successfully completed, benefiting not only Dorian’s team, but also the people of Afghanistan who were in desperate need of assistance.

Driving Successful Project Development

Dorian recognizes that stakeholder alignment is crucial to achieving a common goal. To achieve this, he begins by identifying the stakeholders and involving them in the development process. This helps them feel invested in the project and encourages them to share their ideas and provide honest feedback. Additionally, he takes the time to understand each stakeholder’s needs and concerns, ensuring that they are addressed early on. It’s important to communicate the benefits of the project to each stakeholder, making it clear what’s “in-it” for them or their organization. Once initial alignment is established, the development process can begin. However, stakeholder engagement and alignment are not one-time events; they require ongoing communication to address changing needs and concerns that may arise during the development process.

Staying Ahead of the Game

In order to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and emerging technologies across the multiple industries that FundingHope operates in, Dorian begins each day by reading the digital and print versions of the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. This is followed by reviewing The Hustle’s morning newsletter, which provides a comprehensive recap of the latest tech and business news, trends, and upcoming trends.

During the workday, Dorian stays in touch with entrepreneurs, investors, and fintech professionals to better understand their requirements and how FundingHope can assist them in achieving their objectives.

Building Bridges for a Sustainable Future

Since meeting the team from Building Bridges in Geneva last year, Dorian has been very appreciative of their efforts of aligning finance with sustainability. Building Bridges is a global collaborative effort, based in Switzerland, that aims to advance sustainable finance around the world. The Building Bridges team recognizes that the scale and complexity of achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal targets by 2030 requires “building bridges” between multiple stakeholders in the finance, government, and international development communities. Dorian makes sure to attend, and participate in, Building Bridges Week each year, which is held the first week of October in Geneva, Switzerland.

Website: https://fundinghope.com/