On a cold January night in 2012, members of the African communities were invited by Mr Stanley L Straughter to talk with Wharton professionals about goals for development in communities back home in Africa. Our hosts are seen above flanking Mr Straughter.

Mr Straughter wants Africa to develop, wants jobs created in Africa, and is doing everything he can to make this happen. He was appointed Chairman of the just-created Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs in 2005, and since then has been trying to get the attention of the African Diaspora. And he knows the faculty at Wharton, which is arguably the leading school of business in the United States.

A lot of the African Diaspora are not doing so well, many are refugees from their countries that have collapsed into war or desperate poverty, and every dollar made in Philadelphia has to be divided between food, shelter, basic needs, taxes, and Western Union.

Western Union is happy that Africans so heavily use their services, and subtracts as much as 10% for this service. Western Union has made a lot of money from African immigrants, and so, for the second time, has teamed with USAID to award grants of up to $50,000 for good business plans by African diaspora in partnership with colleagues in their country of origin.

Since October 2009, Stanley Straughter has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Constituency for Africa (CFA). Over its 22 years of existence, previous chairmen have included Congressman Ronald V. Dellums, Mayor David N. Dinkins and Ambassador Andrew Young.

Stanley Straughter so wants Philadelphian Africans to get money for projects back home that he asked the Wharton School to help. On January 19 the Small Business Development Center invited members of the Mayor's Commission to come and chat about their business concepts, and told us that they are ready to help us with our business concepts before we submit them to USAID. Thank you so much.

Pictures on this page were taken during the 2.5-hour meeting (all pictures (c) www.mjota.org, 2012). Mr Stanley Straughter is the middle gentleman in the first picture, standing between our hosts from Wharton, one of whom was Dr Therese Flaherty.