BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kissena Frazier is all about education, and she's found a way to teach differently by tapping into the Minority and Women Owned Business space, also known as MWBE. She is the owner of AKcess Granted LLC.
"Many of these businesses, they have to spend at least 30% of their budgets with MWBE, so it really just gives us a chance to have a seat at the table and be able to offer our services to businesses that may or may not have known about us outside of us being certified," Frazier said.
She got her status by participating in a program at the Beverly Gray Exchange Center in Buffalo. This center was designed specifically to support black businesses and entrepreneurs.
Frazier is a college access consultant who primarily serves the under-served minority student population in high school and college.
She recently held workshops at Alfred State for college freshmen focusing on time management.
"We did different activities. How do you spend your day? We all have 24 hours in a day. We broke down everything that they do. We talked about their goals. We talked about their priorities," Frazier said.
Another workshop that she said is popular is about the digital footprint.
"Our youth do not understand that the digital footprint that they set right now at 14, 15, 16, 17 can follow them well into their their adulthood," Frazier said. "The choices that they make right now will definitely impact them getting scholarships later on going to college or if they choose to not go to college and go into the workforce."
The end goal for AKcess Granted is to blossom and help young people in Buffalo and beyond.
"Now having this MWBE certification will allow me to do that in the state of New York. It puts me in a different place. People will be able to come and seek me out, but I am already not waiting for people to come look for me because now I'm coming to look for you. If I know that you have an education space that my services would be able to benefit the population that you serve, I'm going to be in your inbox very soon."
For more information on AKcess Granted, call (716) 336-4865 or e-mail at Kissena@Akcessgranted.com.