Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Marchand.
Hi Kimberly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, my parents instilled in me the importance of giving back to the community and faith in God. They encouraged my pursuit of community service-oriented endeavors and set a great example of loving others and giving back to the less fortunate. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and have a deep love for my city and my fellow Houstonians. My lifelong career of service to other started at the age of 5 in Girl Scouts of America and has remained prevalent as I journeyed to Howard University and back to Houston as a young adult. As an adult, I have continued to participate in numerous community service organizations and initiatives across the city, but I always felt the urge to do more.
I have spent most of my professional career in the education sector and truly have a heart for the next generation of scholars and leaders. In more recent years, I have been on a journey of faith and self-discovery that has led me to explore the basis of my faith and identity and how I can contribute to society in an even more meaningful way. The culmination of my faith journey and lifelong desire to serve God and others resulted in the founding of my non-profit Restoration Cornerstone. The vision of Restoration Cornerstone is to restore the foundational understanding of the covenant with Christ as the cornerstone for generational impact and legacy. Restoration Cornerstone is the perfect blend of my passion for youth and young adults and my passion for God.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles I faced starting Restoration Cornerstone was the work that I had to do within myself to help make it a reality. The journey of becoming strong in my identity, exploring my faith, and wrestling with doubt and unbelief were barriers to getting started. I have known for a while that the Lord wanted to use me for something greater than myself, but imposter syndrome and comparison tried to be thieves of my purpose. We live in a world of instant gratification and where the highlight reels of social media can paralyze potential. Although I wish I had discovered sooner, a deeper understanding of the importance of covenant with Christ and my identity found in Him, I now understand everything I journeyed through was for the Lord to use my story to help the next generation.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our aim is to equip, resource and empower Generation Z as they restore their covenant with Christ and renew the covenantal understanding of faith, love, community, and family. I truly believe that having a solid understanding of one’s identity and a relationship with Jesus Christ are the keys to success that so many are looking for. It would have been great to have a place that helped me understand those keys in more detail as I came of age, and my hope is that Restoration Cornerstone can be that pillar in the community to help point youth and young adults in the right direction. I love to think that Restoration Cornerstone is helping to do the authentic root work so many young people are desiring to help set them up for success in life. There will be quarterly events starting in 2023 that address different areas of interest and struggle for Generation Z members trying to wrestle through questions of identity and faith as they mature into adulthood. There is also a podcast called Generation Cornerstone, that interviews young adults who have had lasting success in their lives with Christ as the cornerstone in the areas of relationships, business, finance, community building, etc.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
As cliché as it might sound, as Nike says, “Just Do It!” I cannot tell you how long I have been sitting on some of the ideas I’ve had and how many missed opportunities there have been to engage with this work or start sooner. I let perfect be the enemy of good on more than one occasion and the result was not doing anything at all. There is a time to plan and organize, but we often allow fear to get in the way of moving forward. I wish I had known that it is okay to learn on the job; that I do not have to have every answer, and everything laid out to the “T” to get going. I think sometimes we get scared of the big vision God has given us for our life and try to understand how we could ever pull off something so grand. The good news I have realized is that we don’t have it to do it alone. As Philippians 4:13 says, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: restorationcornerstone12
Image Credits
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