T H E D I G I T A L D I P L O M A T

The Journey From
Unemployed to Employer

Today, I’m an Award-winning Tech & Food Founder, Woman and Youth Advocate, International Consultant and Adviser. But at the age of 24, I was on the road to fulfilling my dreams until the unthinkable happened. After receiving a full-tuition scholarship twice, I completed a Bachelors and dual Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and International Relations, and Public Administration in 7 years. Despite having many academic accolades, I found myself in a position like most people in this generation: unemployed. After receiving tons of rejection letters and applying for government support, I decided: “If they won’t hire me, I’ll hire myself.” This catalytic declaration was when The Digital Diplomat was born.

Past and Present Organizations I’ve Worked With Over the Years

Background

Widely recognized as The Digital Diplomat™, Wendy Ekua (W.E.) Da’Cruz promotes the adoption of digitalization to help drive economic development. Awarded the 2021 Minority eCommerce Firm of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA, she is the cofounder of the Virtual Global Consultant (VGC) Group, a global IT company helps entrepreneurs, companies, and organizations adopt digitalization to access new revenue and value-producing opportunities.

Through the use of digital tools and technologies, she and her partner Naomi Cook are responsible for helping to generate millions of dollars a year in at-will donations and business sales for VGC clients, with focusing on US and African-based companies. As an internationally recognized tech expert & thought leader in her field, she’s been invited to speak at high-level events, such as the US-Africa Business Summit (Mozambique), World Export Development Forum (Ethiopia), Africa Fintech Summit 2019 (Ethiopia), and DHL eCommerce Conference (Ghana). As a U.S. Embassy Speaker, she has led a masterclass for the Academy of African Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and an in-person training for the U.S. Embassy Pretoria and Zimbabwe – to name a few.

Appointed by the White House’s US Secretary of Commercial Services to the District Export Council in eastern Michigan and At-Large Board Member for the national association, she continues to promote global entrepreneurship worldwide. Most recently, she was selected as part of the 2023 class of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) Next Generation (Next Gen) Global Leaders Network and is a member of USGLC’s State Advisory Committee; and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture appointed her to serve on the Agriculture Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Processed Foods.

As an International Consultant, she has developed and delivered an online training course on technology and innovation for African businesses in addressing the impact of COVID-19 for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

She launched The Mushroom Angel Company with her husband during the pandemic. They produce whole foods made from mushrooms. Their first product, Cruz Burgers, is currently available in more than 100 locations across the Midwest region (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Illinois). Her new food experiences will support agribusinesses & consumer packaged goods in the US & Africa.

A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Ghanaian-American New Jersey native is a wife & mother of three currently in Detroit, Michigan.

U.S. Embassy of Zimbabwe

U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa

World Export Development Forum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Lilongwe, Malawi

Solving
the fight
between
whole foods &
processed
foods.

Mushroom Angel Company

Mushroom Angel Company

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