Ebonie Mbeteni
CEO | Founder of Duteni co LTD
Ebonie was born and raised right outside Washington D.0 (USA Capital) in Lake Ridge, Virginia. Growing up she got to learn & experience first-hand the functions of the largest employer in America (the USA Central government). She’s a third generation entrepreneur and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Entrepreneur-ship from IUP (USA). She became a Bank Manager at Bank of America (one of the largest banks in the world) at the age of 27 (the 2nd youngest in the region) leading a low perform-ing bank to the top 3 in the region.
After her first child was born, she took time away from her career and raised her three children for the next 13 years. While home with her 3 children she kept up skills up as an entrepreneur by starting small businesses and helping to build her husband’s career in investment banking and commercial real estate. As her children got older, Ebonie strategically started to build her brand and business resume/CV through the use of social media and networking. Ebonie founded what is now Duteni from the USA in 2020 during a pandemic. She managed, facilitated and built a client base promoting and marketing the beauty of Tanzania. Her past experience in tourism, hospitality and developing professional training programs while strategically building several successful small businesses and employing over 200 employees at the height of one of her companies, all contributed to her success as an entrepreneur.
Her connection to Tanzania started back in 2004 when she met her husband who is from Tanzania. She began visiting the country of Tanzania back in 2009. After marriage and having their first child they set a goal to one day return to Tanzania to Success Is Attainable, But Success build a company whose mission would be to not only help contribute to the Tanzanian community but also to employ Tanzanians and share their joint Requires An Actionable Plan That knowledge and skills from America. Ebonies vision has always been to bridge the Yields Measurable Results gap between America and Tanzania. As a world traveler, in 2019 she visited 7 countries with her husband and three children. During this trip she shared their travels on social media. This launched interest from friends family and followers who were curious about the continent of Africa but didn’t know where to begin. The idea to start a tour company grew from this. She slowly starting building and developing As a proud, African American, who has a unique exposure and experience from her company while still in the US. For two years she marketed, promoted and both the Tanzanian and American culture, she has the ability to provide facilitated tourist visiting and researching Tanzania and Zanzibar for potential understanding, knowledge and experience that most foreign investors may lack. investment, real estate and safari trips. This lead to bringing over 45 tourist to Her bi cultural family has been coming to Tanzania since 2009. In 2019 she and Tanzania at the peak pandemic with a team of only 4 people
Featured in:
The Guardian Newspaper (Tanzania)
Canvas Rebel Magazine (United States)
Shoutout DFW (United States)
Voyage Dallas (United States)
DFW Child (United States)
The New York Times (Coming soon, United States) Tanzania in 2021. Upon landing in Tanzania and getting settled she was laser focused on establishing her company brand, growth, partnership and delivering 5-star service to all her partners and patrons. Through old fashioned grit, networking, knocking on doors, hustle and consistent marketing, within 6 months of moving to Tanzania she was leading training with the top 40 companies in Tanzania, featured in the local newspaper, interviewed by media for her accomplishments and grew her company into two profitable departments in less than a year. Due to client demand for expanded services, Duteni is divided into two departments, Duteni Corporate (Professional and Corporate Services) and Duteni Tours (Tourism and Hospitality).
As a female led, family owned and black owned small busi-ness owner in a male dominated industry she has led her company to partner with and provide service to some of the biggest companies, organizations and government agencies in Tanzania and America. One of her most cherished quotes is by Reinhold Niebuhr,
‘Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ Words to live by but she adds, when applicable, sometimes you must fight like hell. Fight for your dreams, fight to be heard, to be noticed, to succeed. Dreams are nothing without action. If you can’t run, walk, if you can’t walk, crawl but at some point, you must move. Trust yourself, your instincts and your resolve and just push forward. Ebonie believes success is attainable, but success requires an actionable plan that yields measurable results. There’s room at the top for everyone!
