Jacqueline NGO MPII

Behind the rise of the Little Africa enterprise is its founder and CEO, Jacqueline NGO MPIl. She is the cultural ambassador for Paris little-noticed but trendsetting community of Afro-Parisian entrepreneurs - who are fusing these two vibrant cultures to create magic in food, art, and fashion.

This young entrepreneur had a vision to transform her passion for art, tourism and languages into a multidimensional project with character. It's a sustainable and inclusive enterprise whose mission is to help connect individuals and corporations to African culture in Paris. The Little Africa venture is the culmination of her ten-year career in the tourism industry. After a trip to Mexico, she was struck by the presence of afro-descendants in that country, and in that moment, she had an epiphany. After reading an African proverb saying "Unless you know where you come from, you cannot know where you are going", she realized that to be the best ambassador for her African culture, she needed to be knowledgable about her roots. Especially now, than Africa is at a turning point, emerging from the narrative of the poor continent to the reality that it's the continent for opportunity and growth.

In 2014, she launched the website www.littleafrica.fr. Jacqueline first established Little Africa as a platform with a focus on the promotion of the art forms and businesses of the African diaspora in Paris. The next year, she expanded to giving tours in neighborhoods ranging from Saint-Germain-des-Pres to Goutte d'Or, providing an opportunity for visitors to explore them from a new and unique perspective. Not one to rest on her laurels, Jacqueline is constantly redefining and expanding her activities. She wears many hats: cultural ambassador, curator, author, publisher and philanthropist. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed, Jacqueline has garnered the attention of publications spanning the globe and was featured in Huffington Post as one of the three Travel Entrepreneurs to follow and Paris Vogue's feature "How to travel toAfrica without leaving Paris?" And most recently, Jacqueline was selected to be a mentee in the Bank of America & Vital Voices program focusing on the power of mentoring to help women entrepreneurs advance in their respective fields.