About Me

Darius Coulibaly was born and raised in a poor and rural environment in northern and southern Côte d’Ivoire, where he witnessed firsthand poverty. Darius grew up without electricity, clean and running water, no indoor plumbing, no health centers; and, he walked long distances to fetch water, wood, farm, and to go to school. Rampant diseases, the lack of health centers, deaths and funerals were normal and a frequent cycle of events in Darius’childhood. He quickly became familiar with the despair and frustration endemic to individuals and communities struggling to survive. As a youngster and teenager, he literally watched children dying in their mother’s hands from malaria, cholera, dysentery, malnutrition, and many other preventable and curable diseases. Darius was puzzled and became more inquisitive as his mother could not answer the millions of questions he had. For instance, why did the 6year old Gnerewa died from diarrhea in her mother’s hands while the entire family stood powerlessly around her. In the midst of his unanswered questions, Darius discovered his call and purpose in life: serving the poor and combating poverty wherever it exists. Standing over seven feet tall, Darius’s height symbolizes the towering challenges that people living in poverty face daily. Darius’call to serve the poor was nurtured at a very young age by his mother Marie Coulibaly, who to this day continues to assist the poor and needy in his hometown in Korhogo, Cote d’Ivoire. She has been and continues to be Darius’s biggest role model and source of inspiration. By God’s grace, Darius landed alone miraculously in the United States at age 17. Darius was blessed with a strong supporting cast that he calls family- the Smiths, Morriseys, Jacksons, and Tinnermons. As a senior high school student in Greensboro, North Carolina, Darius was blessed with a full athletic scholarship from Vanderbilt University where he completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies and obtained a Masters degree in Economics with a concentration in Development Economics, while competing in the toughest collegiate basketball conference, the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Guided by his personal bouts with poverty and his faith in Jesus Christ, and driven by his passion to serve poor communities around the world, Darius founded Empowering The Poor in 2006, with the mission to empower poor communities to self-reliance through education, healthcare, and micro loans programs in the United States and around the world. Empowering The Poor was awarded the 501(c) (3) status by the Internal Revenue Service on June 14, 2007. Working directly with poor communities, Empowering The Poor aims to teach the poor how to fish for the rest of their lives versus feeding them for one day, empowering them to self-reliance versus making them depend on handouts. Darius is an educator; he is a licensed special education teacher at Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, where he teaches Geometry and Environmental Science. He is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he teaches Economics (Principles of Macroeconomics). Darius is a guest lecturer and speaker, and his speaking themes include “Poverty and HIV/AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa”, “Foreign Aid and Economic Growth in sub Saharan Africa”, “academic achievement gap in the United States”, “Pre and post colonial Africa”, faith-related issues, and international development related issues. Darius writes and speaks fluently in French, English, and he is highly proficient in German, and Bambara (African dialect). Darius is the Founder and Chief Executive Servant of Empowering The Poor. Darius is married to his beautiful queen, Sophonie Coulibaly