Father Daniel Kiriti, Kenyan Coordinator
Fr Daniel Kiriti, parish priest (pastor) of the Catholic parish in Naivasha, Kenya from 2004 to 2012, is now in a very remote area of Kenya, East Pokot. He celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination in August 2013. He was trained at St. Augustine Seminary for philosophy in Bungoma, Kenya and St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi for theology. In 1996 he received a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Santa Clara University in California. The focus of his work has been children and young people. He has visited the San Francisco Bay Area to speak about his work and to help us understand the need for education, particularly for girls, in Africa.
Margo McAuliffe, Executive Director & Founder; non-voting board member
Margo McAuliffe is a retired high school math teacher, mother of 2 and grandmother of 4. She was born in Portland, Oregon, where she lived until she attended Mills College in Oakland, CA, earning a B.A. in mathematics in 1958. She taught math in several high schools in Oregon and Utah, ending her career at Menlo Atherton High School in Menlo Park, CA. Currently she tutors math students in her home and travels to Naivasha, Kenya each summer for 2 months of volunteering in the high schools.
Njeri Jomo Albrecht
Jane grew up on a small family farm in the suburbs of Nairobi, Kenya. She spent the first four years of her work life as an elementary school teacher. She relocated from Kenya to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1992. She spent ten years working in the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry in logistics and quality assurance roles, and, subsequently, five years in real estate sales and mortgage origination. She is an investor and a director in a venture in the hospitality industry in Nairobi for the past 8 years.
Njeri’s hobbies include long-distance running (6 marathons, including the Boston Marathon twice), mountaineering (Mt.Whitney, Kilimanjaro twice, and Mt. Kenya to Point Lenana), hiking, swimming, tennis, golf, and skiing. A proud resident of Sunnyvale, CA, she is married to a wonderful, supportive husband, Eric Albrecht, and being blessed to have two wonderful kids, Jomo (age 5) and Wahu (age 3).
Kay Williams, Board Secretary
Kay Carmody Williams has been employed for over 30 years in educational travel, currently at the Stanford Alumni Association Travel/Study program. She has been an active community volunteer all her life, serving on several non-profit boards and committees, including La Leche League International, PTA, United Menlo-Atherton, the Mid-Peninsula Task Force for Integrated Education, the Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto, and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Palo Alto, CA. She and her husband live in Redwood City and are the parents of four and grandparents of four.
Flora Sullivan, Board President
Flora Sullivan moved to Menlo Park with her family after nearly 15 years researching and working in international development organizations in Africa and the Middle East, with a primary emphasis on manpower development. She met Margo McAuliffe at Menlo Atherton High School when she worked with a core team of faculty and parents to change the campus climate. Later she taught in a disadvantaged local school district and stepped in as a grief counselor to classes where student(s) had experienced trauma or loss.
Flora was a career counselor for dislocated high tech workers at Cisco and two Bay Area county Workforce Development Boards. She gave a series of workplace preparedness classes in homeless shelters and centers for at risk youths and women. Today she sustains a wide network of collaboration with individuals and organizations supporting resiliency, leadership and compassion.
Judy Murphy, Portland, OR, coordinator
Judy Murphy is a retired social worker who has lived her whole life in and around Portland, Oregon. She spent most of her working life with an agency that served the frail elderly and the poorest of the poor. She and Margo met in high school and have been close friends for almost 60 years. Judy has gone to Kenya 4 times, sharing her heart and expertise with Jecinta Gakahu, social worker in the Catholic parish. They serve orphans, people who are HIV positive, poor people and victims of the tribal clashes of 2008. Judy has 5 children and 10 grandchildren.
Scholastica Mwangi
Scholastica Kinuthia Mwangi earned her MBA in accounting and human resources from California State University-Hayward and received a BA in political science from the University of Nairobi. Currently she works for Public Health Law and Policy, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, CA. Prior to joining this organization, she worked for a number of organizations in finance and accounting functions. Scholastica is from Kenya where she had previously worked as a researcher for the University of Nairobi’s Center for Development Studies and Urban Housing.
Mary Anne Rodgers
Mary Anne Rodgers is an attorney who specializes in advising tax exempt organizations. She is general counsel at a large Bay Area private foundation. She has extensive experience with international and domestic charitable giving. Her experience includes work on children, community, health, and conservation issues. She has traveled widely including to Kenya and other developing countries. She has been an advisor to several nonprofit organizations. Mary Anne lives in Menlo Park with her husband. They are the parents of two college students.
Peter Ojany
Peter Ojany, Board Member
Peter Ojany is a finance professional at a biotechnology company in the San Francisco Bay area. Prior to that, he held senior positions at a variety of industries including semiconductor, software and special chemicals. He holds a B.Sc. degree in both Finance and Management Information Systems from St. Joseph’s University, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the American Red Cross (Silicon Valley Chapter) and volunteers for the First Aid Services Team (FAST).
Peter is from Nairobi, Kenya and continues to have close ties with the region. He met his wife, Maya, in California and they were married in Kenya. They have a beautiful child and live in Menlo Park, California
Alison Staab
Alison Staab came to the Bay Area in 1983 to work as an engineer. A major turning point in her life occurred in 2000 during a trip to India to build houses with Habitat for Humanity, and she became interested in education, particularly in developing countries. When she heard about Kenya Help her interest was piqued! She has traveled to India many times to volunteer and to other parts of the world as well. She enjoys working with people from other cultures and assisting new immigrants adjust to life in the US. She lives in Santa Clara with her husband, Ed.