Suhaib Khan
Suhaib Khan - “I think of LEND as an equalizer, so that no matter your experience, background or connections, you have an equal chance to make your business successful.”
Can you tell us more about yourself and how you got involved in LEND?
“I joined LEND in the fall of my sophomore year at Northwestern. I was always interested in economic development (I was an economics and political science major), and a traditional path for those majors is to go into consulting. LEND had an element of the consulting lens, but it was fundamentally about helping small businesses. The microeconomics of what LEND does is fascinating. It’s a case study of human behavior and of how things actually work - it gets you up to speed on what real life is. It’s not words on a page - it’s actually worlds and lives, people’s hopes and dreams. LEND influenced my career and what I wanted to do with my life. It got me hooked on nonprofit work. I did LEND full time, eventually becoming the president, and it became the biggest thing I committed to during my time at Northwestern.”
What is your role in LEND? Can you explain how the Board works?
“I am a board member. There are two primary committees: loan and marketing. There are four board members on the loan committee and the other four are on the marketing committee. I’m on the loan committee, which entails monthly meetings to review and make decisions on all loans that come in. I also attend monthly meetings with the full Board of Directors, where we finalize and validate loans as well as discuss any big decision that needs to be made (for example, filing annually to maintain nonprofit status or discuss major partnerships).”
How does LEND operate as a student run/lead organization but still have a board of non-students?
“The board is a resource for the students. We provide institutional knowledge because board members have been a part of LEND for longer than the students and have deeper relationships with the community members. The board can make introductions and facilitate initial relationships, but the co-presidents would be owning and managing that relationship. If there is a decision that requires a major pivot to how the organization operates (like major partnerships, branding, long term vision), that decision may require advice from the board and the board has final decision making power.”
What makes LEND different from other lenders? Why should business owners work with LEND?
“It’s the level of effort you’re going to get and customizability. We do more business advisory than loans. A lot of value I’ve seen created is ‘hey, we’re going to sit with you for however many weeks you need and get this business planned on paper.’ A lot of times, this service isn’t something that currently exists in the market for new entrepreneurs. But, if you're applying for a grant or even a bank loan, you have to have that. That may privilege certain folks and cut out others who don’t have past business experience and connections. I think of LEND as an equalizer so that everyone, no matter their past experience, can come in on the same footing. Everyone needs a shot and we want to make sure they have a fair shot. For a business to succeed you need to be able to tell a great story to your customers, partners, lenders etc. and we here at LEND help entrepreneurs craft that story. That’s what LEND is able to do.”
How have you seen LEND help the Evanston community?
“Badou Diakhate. He’s in southern Evanston on Howard Street, and he’s got the best Senegalese food. I’d go down there all the time to help him with his business strategy. I think it’s one of those interactions where when I met him, I was so inspired and impassioned by the work he was doing and the way he approached his craft. At LEND, we are not chefs like Badou, nor do we have the deep understanding of West African food that Badou does. What we do have is the ability to catalyze Badou’s ideas through business strategy. We’d say ‘ok, you want to do x, y, z, these are your dreams. Here’s how we can do that.’ Seeing what he could achieve was so gratifying. You saw Badou get a little closer to the dreams he had, how he wanted to build his restaurant, and how he could bring his product to the community,”
Clarence from C&W Market is probably a little more well known. He got a couple of loans from LEND. The role he plays in the community is so important because not only is Clarence running a business, but he’s also holding down this neighborhood that was prone to a lot of different things. Clarence’s goal was so much bigger than making money - it was ‘I want to be part of this community and improve it from within.’”
What is your vision for LEND – where do you see the organization a couple of years down the road?
“I definitely want LEND to continue providing loans to entrepreneurs and creating partnerships in the community, and making sure there’s a deeper connection between current and former LEND clients. The opportunity to provide additional business services that may be more cutting edge (like the digital marketing space) is only going to increase over time. It will be critical to the vitality of Evanston that these business owners are able to keep up, so bringing that to the forefront will also be a part of LEND’s remit moving forward.