Nia | Kwanzaa 2025

Kwanzaa Day 5 of 7 | #Nia (Purpose): In 2012, I wrote an article called “The 3 T’s of Giving Back to the IT Community”. It was a piece about the intentionality behind giving back to the community - in this case, the IT community. 

I was reminded of the article when I thought about Purpose. In the article, one of the things I highlighted was the concept of "Teaching", and I mentioned the year I was a volunteer instructor for a high school STEM/computer competition team (we won a national award that year, BTW). Sharing my knowledge with kids from my Community, and watching them succeed, was definitely a purpose-driven initiative for me, and would have been a rewarding experience for me even if we didn't win. (...but we did win. Did I mention that earlier?) 😉

Nia reminds me that our collective vocation is to build and develop our community. For me, that means using my skills and experiences to empower others—whether through speaking engagements, mentoring, or writing. Each “T” in that article (Talk, Teach, Text) represents a way to share knowledge and create opportunities for others to thrive.

I'm hoping 2026 is a year we all can gain more clarity and focus regarding our Purpose, so that everything we do contributes to strengthening the Community and inspiring others [especially our Youth] to live out their purpose.

See my blog for more #Kwanzaa posts > https://lnkd.in/eAqb8x-W #HabariGani #KwanzaaPrompts