Afrokaribe: Coach Training

Cultivating inclusive wellness + fitness + community

Coach Val and her company VF Solutions doesn't just talk about it - she IS about it.

"I am who I serve. I am her."

WHO:

Val Fleurantin has a record of eight years of connecting and serving the North Minneapolis community and Twin Cities metro area through:

• Commitment to fighting health inequity in the North Minneapolis community
• Providing of programs for people of color that are fun, educational, and culturally relevant
• Developing authentic community spaces and partnering with corporate organizations to advocate for diversity in workplace wellness.
• Creating Afrokaribe, a dance cardio fitness class rooted in Afro-Caribbean dance and current music. 

During a successful tech career, hearing a KMOJ story on the health disparities faced by her peers and neighbors  in North Minneapolis changed her life. She changed her life to change her community. Eight years later, it's times to grow.  

WHAT:

Coach Val is ready to scale her company and impact by formalizing her curriculum and training the first cohort of instructors. In order to reach more people, grow more financial opportunities for the women she serves, and keep the heart of Afrokaribe on the Black and brown women it was created to connect with, VF Solutions is seeking funding from the communities she reaches, lives she's touched, and other wellness leaders and BIPOC entrepreneurs. 

• VF Solutions' first cohort teacher training program will include:

  • a stipend paid to participants to cover their focused time on training/cover missed income to attend training 

  • a longer time period for training and shadow teaching to be able to more authentically fit into the lives and responsibilities of the cohort

  • detailed education about body mechanics, music tracking, dance rhythm, choreography concepts, entrepreneurship as a fitness and wellness professional, and a marketing plan, as well as certification in CPR and professional photos to use in their own promotional materials 

  • formalizing and certifying Afrokaribe nationally 

WHY:

Fact Coach Val’s business model is inspired by the specific needs of Black and brown women in    urban centers: centering diversity in the wellness conversation, using cultural relevance into every aspect, and removing barriers from participation and opportunities.

Afrokaribe will only be grown authentically. This means the teacher training will be made up exclusively of Black and brown women in urban centers. The typical training models within the health and wellness industries include high-tuition rates to participate and extensive intensive hours for certifications - that model is not inclusive to our community or these women

Fact Only 5.7% of all fitness instructors and 9% of all Wellness professionals in America are Black. Meanwhile 80% of Black women are classified as overweight or obese in America and African Americans have the highest mortality rate for all cancers combined, compared with any other racial or ethnic group.

Our health is an inside job. It needs to be culturally-informed and speak to what our lives are actually like, from juggling multiple responsibilities and living in food deserts, to not having enough support and resources to even rest. Coach Val has been hustling and serving Minneapolis with her company VF Solutions for 8 years now, proving her staying power despite Black-owned business statistics (8 out of 10 Black-owned businesses fail in the first 18 months). 

Fact Black entrepreneurs are far less likely to secure business capital than their white counterparts, and when they do, that capital comes in much smaller amounts and with much higher interest rates.

Coach Val’s story of leaving corporate America when it didn’t fit with her realities of life as a mom and soul-connected woman is brave. Her commitment to actively fighting health disparities for her peers and elders has been consistent and trackable. She took a leap of faith on herself and it’s time for those who can help to bridge the resource gap for BIPOC entrepreneurs.  Help VF Solutions grow to scale with curriculum creation and teacher training so she can impact the health and wellness of more Black and brown women across the country. For the communities of people that don't get to live near Coach Val, give to today to give them a chance of being seen in their wellness. 

Supporting BIPOC communities requires investing in BIPOC leaders. 

• We lack the support and privilege to bring our work to scale.
• We suffer from burnout because our work is fundamentally relational. Since no one can cover for our work, a week off for us, feels like a week off of protecting the progress of our community.
• We all are up against gatekeepers of funding and opportunities,

More importantly, I come across dozens of potential leaders daily and don't have the resources to lead them. 

TAKE ACTION:

• Calling everyone who believes in the power of communal gathering and health equity services TO DONATE NOW.
• Calling everyone who wants to support a Black woman-owned enterprise grow to scale in a community-held, non-capitalist purporting frame TO DONATE NOW.
• Calling everyone whose life has been positively affected by Coach Val, Afrokaribe, the communities she touches through her corporate wellness programs and beyond…TO DONATE NOW. 

If you cannot donate today, please share the message of this campaign in your circles and communities so that others may support the movement of VF Solutions throughout Minneapolis. 

"It is in our blood to dance together, to sweat together, to hold each other. My programs are multi-generational, family-oriented and donation-based. Everyone is truly welcome as is. That is why it’s time to grow."

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GIFT AND YOUR SUPPORT.