Acumen Academy Foundry members Monique Cooper-Liverpool and Wainright Acquoi are two Liberians on a mission to grow environmental entrepreneurship in their country. Monique is the Founder and CEO of Petra Resources, a management consulting firm providing environmental and social evaluations and assessments and advising natural resource development projects across Liberia. 

Below, she tells the story of her growing friendship and impactful partnership with Wain, whose educational organization, TRIBE, partnered with Petra to create the first-of-its-kind environmental-focused startup program for youth in Liberia. 

Together, Monique and Wain leverage the power of the Acumen network to identify common goals and expand their collective impact, championing a new generation of young thinkers with the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit to drive environmental change across Liberia.

Now let's hear from Monique in her own words.

When I read in an Acumen newsletter that Wain’s organization had been awarded Acumen Angels funding, I immediately reached out. I wanted to know how I could support his thinking and leadership journey. Our first conversation lasted two hours — my mind racing with questions, ideas, and suggestions for Wain and his team as they navigated their new organization.

This call happened shortly after I had completed my Acumen Academy Fellowship, at a time when I was eager to continue challenging myself to give more  — an energy for which I will cherish my Acumen community. Forcing myself to ignore the fear of “not having enough time,” I connected with Andrés Felipe Vera Ramírez, Acumen Academy’s Community Animator. I asked him how I could engage more with the Foundry — Acumen Academy’s Fellowship and Accelerator program alumni network. He offered meaningful guidance and among a few tailored suggestions, he recommended I connect with Wain.

In one of our many conversations thereafter, I told Wain about how my personal values have been translated and now embodied across my company, Petra Resources. I told him about our Pay It Forward initiative which was created to publicly assert the company’s business principles, which we believe should extend throughout society. They are: demonstrating gratitude, advancing urgent action and dialogue for our shared environment, and investing in young leaders committed to these principles. 

A lightbulb went off for both of us. 

I was invited to be a guest speaker at a monthly seminar for TRIBE’s Re-Novate program, an entrepreneurial academy for high school students supported by Acumen Angels. Inspired by the students’ thoughtful engagement, I spoke to Wain about partnering to build upon Petra’s Pay It Forward program. 

Within a few weeks, his team got back to us detailing the approaches, activities, timelines, and costs that would make a partnership program possible. Working together and grounded by our shared goals, we had found a way for both organizations to achieve our objectives and expand our collective impact.

Petra Resources and TRIBE reimagined Petra’s Pay It Forward model, creating The Petra Environmental Research and Startup Challenge to promote and champion a new generation of thinkers for Liberia’s environmental and natural resources sectors. Through this program and partnership, Monique and Wain are inspiring young Liberians to explore the sciences and discover new solutions that address the country's growing environmental challenges including climate change, pollution, and improper waste management.

As part of the initiative, the two companies drafted a report highlighting the project implementation journey and key learnings and insights for the sector. They emphasize the importance of building a collaborative, strategic, and innovative ecosystem of partnerships in order to amplify impact across Liberia’s environmental sector. 

The overarching goal is to help interested and relevant key stakeholders learn and understand the significance of these initiatives and feel inspired to explore ways for further development and collaboration.

The Pay It Forward initiative successfully ended having seen more applications than the previous year, connecting with Petra’s ideal demographic of university and senior high school students. The program catalyzed an ecosystem of passionate, cause-driven students and social entrepreneurs actively working to solve problems and create positive environmental change in Liberia.