Wounded Women: You May Be Down But Not Out!

Malcolm D. Allen - Speaker, Author, Trainer, Successful Entrepreneur, & Philanthropist Malcolm Allen was born and grew up in austere circumstances in Lake Providence, Louisiana, a town once cited by Time Magazine as one of the poorest towns in America. To escape the plight of his birthplace Malcolm enlisted in the United States Navy delayed entry program in 1991. While in the Navy Malcolm served honorably in Iraq, and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and received numerous letters of accommodations, awards and medals. Malcolm’s experiences in foreign lands with other people increased his awareness of the difficult obstacles experienced in all societies. In Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere he witnessed poverty and oppression of a different nature than that which he’d seen growing up. Yet he also noted the similarities. Seeing that hopelessness was a common root in all human tragedies, Malcolm vowed to bring hope to as many needy souls as he could. Knowing instinctively that one must start at home, Malcolm returned to the United States, and began to revisit his home town. He also went to other cities, searching their most impoverished neighborhoods for the seeds of hope. After his honorable discharge in 1996 Malcolm reinvented himself as a businessman. As the years have passed he has focused his entrepreneurial acumen on empowering people, creating opportunities, and rebuilding communities. In his work he uses methods built around the principles of Knowledge, Hard Work, and Opportunity: If people know enough and are willing to work hard, then they will have an opportunity to succeed. People and communities fall into the downward spiral because of a lack of knowledge, and soon after find that all opportunities have fled. When opportunity becomes too distant it might as well not exist, but if people see an opportunity, and have a way to gain the knowledge necessary to take advantage of it, then they will have a real chance at success.