Our Partner
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Lakilia Bedeau adheres to that motto. As the founder of B Dynamic Inc., and Director of Tornado Alley Youth Services Center, Bedeau has been working to provide services and life skills to local youth and their families and to provide local businesses with the tools to properly train young adults.
Over the years, Lakilia has been recognized for her efforts. She was selected as the 2016 Education Support Professional of Kentucky by the National Education Association and in 2016, she was invited to the White House’s Champions of Change convention as the representative of Kentucky. Recently she was recognized as the 2019 Young Leader of Western Kentucky by the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce.
Of this most recent accolade she says, “Although the recognition has assisted with getting my name and mission out, it’s not about me. I am simply trying to be of service to others and make a difference one student, one family at a time.”
Having worked in the education field for ten years and having been part of the family resource center at Paducah Tilghman High School, Bedeau has seen the need firsthand to provide students with the most basic of abilities. B Dynamic was her answer to years of both hearing about students’ lack of basic skills to make it in the workforce and her desire to do something about it. It was not an immediate result; in fact, it was something she contended with for four years. It was simply the right timing that finally brought it about.
“When you know your purpose and your instincts align, you get results such as this,” she says. “Destiny happens and you are able to have a positive impact within your community, state and eventually the nation.”
In creating B Dynamic, she has formed a system that was not available to her when she was growing up – a system of support and encouragement as well as time management, budgeting, interpersonal skills, resume writing, communication – things she hopes to instill in many first-generation students as well as her own children. The idea is that no one has to figure this all out alone, especially when there is help and an available support system. B Dynamic’s goal is, as she puts it, a way to “help individuals navigate this thing called ‘life.’” It is a channel of positivity that she has mined through uphill challenges she has faced in life including bullying and self-esteem battles. In her time at Paducah Tilghman, she sees herself in many of the students moving their way up in the world. She says, “I am simply being what I needed as a child.”
As a businesswoman, inclusivity and open doors for business owners of color are achievements she wants to see happen in the Western Kentucky. “All aspiring business leaders, no matter the race, can have a chance at being successful in Paducah,” she explains. It’s a can’t-lose-situation in Bedeau’s eyes. she says. “You will see more confident youth who will now be equipped to transition into adulthood,” she says. “Business owners will now have options to choose from within the Western Kentucky area. Everyone in Western Kentucky wins.”
Her advice to anyone, whether it is a student, a young adult trying to find his/her place in the world, or a local businessman, is this: “Never let anyone tell you that your vision or dream is too big.”
