Theodora Update - December 2024

2024 represents the fourth full year of our development of the Theodora Project. Although we officially started our training in April of 2020, it wasn't until 2021 that we had enough initial training to actually start working with clients. And in reality, that was far sooner than we should have. But the effects of the Covid pandemic had made a bootstrapping approach the only way we could stay alive and move forward. Looking back now, the level of capability we had then was truly minimal.

 

Now fast forward to today. Theodora Ghana Virtual Assistants has made massive leaps forward this year. Our level of service to clients has expanded exponentially (see below Sample of Types Work Your TGVA Assistant Can Do For You). Truly, it is amazing to see the level of work these women are doing when you consider the majority of them had never even used a computer when we started just 4 years ago. It shows the potential this program has. Another measure of service quality is the substantial reduction in client turnover. That was a major weakness of ours in 2022 and 2023 as our own errors or lack of attention to client service led to our losing clients as fast as we were adding them. That is no longer the case. 

 

Financially, we also made breakthroughs. We will be breakeven for the year. This means 100% of salaries, rent, & business overhead were covered by the business revenues generated. That business revenue translates into a 20% annual reoccurring benefit on the original donation amount! That’s a statement very few social impact programs can make. Our people make on average three to four times the average salary for a woman in Ghana.

 

Management, leadership, and self-ownership attitude all advanced substantially. Starting this summer, I extracted myself from day-to-day management. The team has taken full responsibility for managing client work, client challenges, staff issues, and all other operational work. They, with minimal oversight, have designed and our implementing our first organized year-end fundraising effort. We expect our Employee Ownership Trust to be in place by January of 2025 fulfilling our promise from the beginning to build a business owned buy.

 

Having proved the viability of our concept, our Boards urged us to get more serious about raising the money necessary to expand our programs foundation and start building for growth. We launched Theodora with the barest amount of capital. But, the small team the started this project understood issues that would need to be addressed long-term to make a viable, sustainable, long-term program once the initial concept was proven. Some of these issues are:

 

• The need for a quality work space in a location that is reasonably accessible 
• Top quality IT infrastructure to allow us to work at the level our clients demand
• Housing assistance to get the women we recruit out of their negative environments and into a positive environment as soon as possible
• Trauma counseling – this goes hand-in-hand with the nature of our program and the people we serve and recruit 
• Access to healthcare – for the same reasons as our need for trauma counseling

 

Our own success is bringing challenges. We’re getting closer to potential capacity. But it takes a year to get one of our recruits to the point where they are able to billable. The current fundraising campaign is the first step in what will be an ongoing fundraising function for the operation. If you know people who are supporters of anti-trafficking, women’s rights and empowerment in Africa, or African economic development, we believe the accomplishments and potential of the Theodora Africa program will hold up to any donors scrutiny (our legal entity for donations, Podolny Group International, is a 501.c.3, tax exempt organization with a GuideStar Bronze transparency rating). Donations can be made through our website Donation page.

 

Samples of Work Your Theodora Ghana Virtual Assistant Can Do For You

 

Event Management - CRM Workflow Management

·       Analyze Current Workflow

·       Design Automated Workflow System using the CRM

·       Implement the Workflow System

·       Test and Optimize System

Podcast Marketing Program

·       Profile Setup

·       Potential Host Research and Selection

·       Client Approval

·       Outreach to Podcast Hosts

·       Booking and Scheduling

·       Recording Follow-Up

Entrepreneur’s Office Administration

·       Provide Accounting and Invoicing Support

·       Conduct Website and SEO Checks

·       Write New Business Proposals

·       Draft Google Posts for Clients

·       Provide Meeting Support

·       Research New Software Tools

·       Marketing Support

·       Support Owner’s Remote Work

 

LINKEDIN Campaign Management

·       Provide Profile Optimization

·       Develop Content Strategy

·       Create Content Calendar

·       Research Target Audience

·       Monitor and Enhance Engagement

·       Join Appropriate LinkedIn Groups

·       Develop Networking

·       Analyze and Track Result

·       Evaluate and Report

 

Improving the Productivity of a Busy Non-Profit Executive

·       Organizing and prioritizing her emails

·       Develop and Implement a Consistent Graphic Design System

·       Develop and Implement a Consistent Word Processing System

·       Meeting Recording, Documentation, and Follow up

·       Daily Task Management and Reporting