A Bit of Our Backstory | Operation Seed Inc

As of November 2022, this has been a two-year journey for me (Bernadette).

The first year of the journey was spent mostly in my head and heart.

Lots of prayer for GOD's guidance has been and continues to be an integral part of our process.

~~~

A Bit of Our Backstory...

On November 22, 2020, during a discussion with my Sunday School class, I experienced my annual heartstring-pull for our youth in general, and our high school seniors in particular, who don't quite meet the traditional "what I want to be when I grow up" and "what makes me an outstanding student now" profiles that most of us are familiar with as adults. Later, I did what writers do...I wrote about it. Then I put it away. Every now and then, my heart would remind me of what I had written.
On June 2, 2021, I had an initial consultation with my business consultant (who is also a personal friend), Salina Barksdale-Clark of Salina At Your Service, LLC. and her daughter, Chase Clark. Chase is the founder of Chase's Chance, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Salina serves as the Board President for Chase's Chance. Mrs. Clark and Ms. Clark encouraged and counseled me from their wealth of expertise and experience on next steps in my journey to the nonprofit world [Salina At-Your-Service, LLC | Business Consultant (salinaatyourservice.com) Chase's Chance (chaseschanceinc.org)].
January 18, 2022, I attended a virtual workshop given by NC LEAP on Non-Profit Formation.
January 21, 2022, I reached out to Elon University School of Law in Greensboro about their free Small Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic for assistance with the non-profit creation process.
February 21, 2022, I attended a virtual nonprofit development workshop, Developing Profitable Nonprofit Programs, facilitated by Alana Allen, Founder and Executive Director of the I Am A Queen 501(c)(3) nonprofit on her Alana Knows Nonprofits Facebook page. I also joined her Facebook group, I Started A Nonprofit! Now What?.
April 7, 2022, I had my first Zoom meeting with Professor John Flynn, the Director for the Elon University School of Law Small Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic. Over the course of approximately six weeks, this resulted in Professor Flynn and his student attorneys preparing and assisting me in submitting the required legal documents to incorporate and establish OPERATION: SEED INC. This included: Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Conflict of Interest, and the 1023EZ. The Articles of Incorporation were approved by the NC Department of the Secretary of State on April 29, 2022. The IRS EIN number was assigned on April 29, 2022. The 501(c)(3) status was granted by the IRS on May 25, 2022. The Exemption from the NC provisions of the Charitable Solicitation Act was granted on June 17, 2022.
April 9, 2022, I attended a grant-writing webinar facilitated by Linda Peavy of LiPav Consulting, LLC.
On April 10 and April 29, 2022, I spoke with and sent a letter of invitation to two of my closest friends, Teresa Gilliard and Karen Moore, introducing them to my nonprofit vision and mission, and invited them to consider joining the board. Both accepted. Mrs. Denise Little joined the Board on August 22, 2022, and serves as our Treasurer. Mrs. Gilliard is our Board Chair.
I successfully completed the five-part Nonprofit Development Series offered by the GTCC Small Business Center and facilitated by Dr. Kathryn Addo, STC Consulting on May 5, 2022.
On June 15, 2022, Teresa Gilliard, Karen Moore, and I met with Kassie Ettefagh, the Business and Nonprofit Librarian for the Greensboro Public Libraries. She reviewed our mission and vision for OPERATION: SEED INC. and introduced us to helpful resources for nonprofit development such as: the Foundation Directory Online and Candid.
In August 2022, a prayer circle was established at the request of our Board Chair, Mrs. Teresa Gilliard, and currently consists of four members: Mr. Joseph Hagan, Mrs. Ernice Hagan, Ms. Betty Williams, and Reverend Guila Cooper. Mrs. Moore had to withdraw from the Board on July 18, 2022; but she continues to be supportive of our mission and serves as our Prayer Circle Liaison.
In between and since the above dates, we have: created a website; joined Google Workspace for Nonprofits; established OPERATION: SEED INC. email addresses on Google Workspace for Nonprofits; opened an account at Truist Bank; set up our profile on Guidestar; joined donorbox.org; added a donation button to our website; created a brochure; had several board meetings (including the most recent in which Salina Clark joined to provide input, encouragement, and guidance); watched Alana Allen's YouTube video: What Happens After You Receive Your 501(c)(3) Status, and her recorded Facebook session: Conversations With A Nonprofit Funder - Darlene J. McClinton. Both of which were very engaging, educational, and encouraging.
We applied for the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Community Grant (we were not one of the awardees, so I requested and was granted a very helpful feedback session on our application by Mr. Marcus Thomas).
Additionally, we have applied for grants with: BTL Foundation Small Grants Program on July 5, 2022, and Golden Pear Grants on July 6, 2022. Awards have not yet been announced.
Our short-term goals are to create a Facebook page (done), upgrade our website (done), initiate our first fundraising campaign, and begin our engagement process with Guilford County Schools and other community organizations in order to identify at least three Class of 2023 high school seniors for our inaugural OPERATION: SEED INC. support efforts.
Joined the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium on August 2, 2022.

We are learning as we grow and excited about this opportunity to sow into the lives of young adults who aspire to become entrepreneurs! We would love for you to engage with us and with our emerging entrepreneurial dreamers.

If you are interested, please contact us at: info@operationseed.org