On this Juneteenth, leaders in San Francisco are being recognized and celebrated.
Dr. Karwanna D. Irving is making a difference by empowering entrepreneurs to succeed and grow with a pathway on how to get government contracts.
"I feel like a vessel to be able to really transform lives with the information that I'm sharing," Irving said.
Irving has a consulting and coaching firm for small businesses called She's Got Goals LLC.
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"For me, especially growing up in the inner city – I grew up Bayview–Hunters Point – and seeing the struggle, I always wanted to find a better way not just for me but for the people that are in my community," she said.
Irving is set on making a difference.
"I empower Black and Brown business owners as well as women entrepreneurs on how to grow and scale their business and have economic power in the government contracting space," she said.
That includes a roadmap to landing government contracts, an idea that started years ago in the video and photography industry.
"I was actually working as a freelancer in my video and photography business several years ago and I was actually freelancing for a billionaire and asked him how he became so successful," Irving said. "He told me it was government contracts that helped him."
It took a couple of years before Irving figured it out and became a government contracts expert.
"I mentor them through the same blueprint that has worked for me, that has worked for several other clients, but I also release free content on YouTube," she said.
Remy Jules, executive director of Elect Solutions Consulting, is a client.
"I am forever grateful," Jules said. "Not only am I doing contract work here, specifically in Texas, but this has recently allowed me to go after contract opportunities in Michigan."
At the Juneteenth Business Awards Banquet of the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, Irving will receive a visionary leadership award, recognition that matters to her.
"This is such an amazing way to help close the wealth gaps for especially small businesses, minority owned, especially women," she said.
