West Africa

From Gary De Carolis:

Five words that describe Issouf Ouattara: Family, resilience, integrity, respect and excellence.

I am Issouf Ouattara, an established lawyer in the banking industry back home, Issouf was forced to abandon his career and leave his family behind for an undetermined amount of time to establish himself in the U.S. Though difficult, the tradeoff – a safe home base for his family and a new career path – far outweighed those initial challenges. Nearly 14 years have passed since I moved to Vermont from Burkina Faso in West Africa. I restarted my studies and career from the bottom up, learned English, and established a secure new home life for my wife and three children. I graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) with a Master of Public Administration in 2020 and currently work for UVM Payroll and Tax Services as a payroll processor.