Kennedy Odede

President and Chief Executive Officer

Kennedy is an internationally recognized community organizer. Kennedy was born and lived for twenty-three of his twenty-six years in the Kibera slum, the largest slum in Africa. As the oldest of eight children, he assumed responsibility for his family at the age of ten.  The first time Kennedy ever had extra money—20 cents in 2004—he bought a soccer ball and started Shining Hope for Communities. As President & CEO of Shining Hope, Kennedy started The Kibera School for Girls, the slum’s first tuition free school for girls.  Under Kennedy’s leadership Shining Hope has also opened a community health clinic, built eco-friendly toilets, and currently operates a community center from which we run extensive community programming such as health care and education outreach, gardens, gender violence support groups, microenterprise for HIV positive women, literacy/computer training, and hundreds of jobs.  Kennedy is a 2010 Echoing Green Fellow, won the 2010 Dell Social Innovation Competition, wrote an Op-Ed that appeared in the New York Times, and was recently honored by President Bill Clinton.  He is a senior fellow with Humanity in Action and a senior at Wesleyan University.  Kennedy is twenty-seven-years-old and speaks six languages, and is one of very few people from Kibera to ever attend an accredited four-year college.

What inspires you? What do you believe in?

“I believe that the world is a mirror.  In the face of terrible injustice and inequality, we must reflect to the world the change that we would like to see.  Whatever we do in this world will be reflected back to us, and so we must fight and fight hard for what is right.  If the world is going to change, we must recognize that we must all play our parts.  It is not sustainable to live in a world where 20% of the population consumes 80% of the world’s resources.  I hope that one day no other child will have to suffer as I did and I believe that as a global community we must come together to make this possible.  We must never give up.  There were many times in my life that I was sure I would die, that there was no hope for me, but I never allowed myself to be daunted by the great odds I faced.”

Jessica Posner

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer

Jessica is the co-founder of Shining Hope for Communities, a non-profit that combats extreme poverty and gender inequality in Kibera—Africa’s largest slum.  Shining Hope runs the Kibera School for Girls—the slum’s first free school for girls, as well as a community health clinic, clean toilet initiative, youth and community education, and economic development initiatives.  Jessica is a nationally recognized social entrepreneur and activist.  She won the 2010 Do Something Award and was named “America’s top-world changer 25 and under” live on VH1. Jessica also received the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University in May 2009 with honors in African-American Studies. She is twenty-four-years-old and fluent in Swahili.

What inspires you?  What do you believe in?

“Kennedy always inspires me because he fought against all odds to create remarkable change in both his community and his own life.  I am always moved to action by the resilience of our students and community members who face daunting odds, but hang on to their dreams of a better life.  I will never forget August 18th, 2009: the day we dedicated the Kibera School for Girls, along with the community, demonstrating a collective belief in the power of hope. I believe strongly in always cultivating awareness of the challenges in your path.  Then, I believe in moving forward not in spite of, but because of these great challenges.  Things happen when we keep going while everyone around us tells us to give up.  I think there is magic in what others might call crazy, that there is always the possibility for rupture when we dive in headfirst, and don’t look back.”

Katherine Kitfield Bascom

Associate Managing Director

Katherine is Shining Hope for Communities’ Associate Managing Director. She is a native of Vermont, and a 2010 graduate of Wesleyan University. Katherine has worked in Bangladesh for programs providing agricultural grants to support women, and brings these experiences and her unwavering enthusiasm to support Shining Hope’s operations and vision. Katherine is the recipient of Wesleyan University’s Service Careers Fellowship for her dedication to community work, the Northwest Institute for Social Change’s Media Fellowship, and a prestigious post-graduate writing fellowship with Wesleyan University’s Writing Programs. She currently lives in New York City, and is also an artist, yoga teacher, and dancer.

What inspires you? What do you believe in?

“The potential that each individual has to realize and live their dreams. Each of us is capable of evolving beyond our present condition, our history, the prescribed social norms, and the mental and physical oppression in our lives. We are responsible for one another, but we must first be responsible for ourselves. Authentic change begins in the mind and spirals outward into society: changing–and challenging–yourself to choose freedom and compassion in the everyday is the first step toward overcoming injustice and oppression. My friends, family, and others out there who spend their lives fighting for a more inspired and beautiful world are a perpetual source of motivation for me, everyday.”

Xiaoxi Tu

Manager of Strategic Development

Xiaoxi is the Manager of Strategic Development for Shining Hope for Communities. She is responsible for researching and developing program proposals, reports, and publications, coordinating development activities between Shining Hope’s US and Kenya teams, and managing donor relations in Kenya. Prior to joining Shining Hope, Xiaoxi worked in program development at a national anti-poverty non-profit based in New York City. She also has non-profit administration experience in fields including education, the performing arts, and international relations. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2009 with high honors, where she studied music and intellectual history.

What inspires you? What do you believe in?

“I am inspired by our courageous, curious, and creative students, and the warmth of the Kibera community. I am inspired by the knowledge that mere good intentions are not enough; we need to constantly evaluate and innovate. I believe that if we approach our work with critical honesty and analytical integrity, we can build a clearer vision for a brighter future.”

Jordyn Wells

Director of Strategy and Evaluation

After graduating from Bard College in 2006, Jordyn joined Do Something, a New York based national non-profit that inspires and supports young people changing the world. As Do Something’s Chief Program Officer she provided young people with the funds and training to start and grow their own community action projects and non-profit organizations managing the distribution over of 400 grants annually, including the Do Something Awards, a televised awards show on Vh1 (Jessica was the 2010 Do Something Award grand prize winner). In the fall of 2010 Jordyn left Do Something and traveled to East Africa to consult on metrics and evaluation and program development for several non-profit organizations, including Shining Hope. She currently divides her time between NYC, where she is pursing her MSW at Columbia and Kenya.  Jordyn is managing the design and build out of our metrics and evaluation system, the development of our Kenyan operations and management systems and overseeing the continued development of the KSG curriculum.