Leonard Mbonani Bikanga has been working to defend the rights of children with disabilities in Kenya for more than 40 years. He began his career as a special educator and then a disability assessment officer but 20 years ago transitioned into his current role as the founder and Director of the Kenyan nonprofit organization, Kuhenza for the Children.

Leonard and his staff have supported hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities in accessing life-saving medical care, education services, and loving inclusion in their families and communities. As part of this work, Leonard has designed and delivered a suite of disability training programs, tailored to different influential community leader groups including pastors, traditional healers, and government officials. He has also developed these trainings for children with disabilities themselves and their parents. Trainees who complete these workshops go on to advocate for the rights of children with disabilities in their communities by bringing them out of hiding, counseling them, helping them access schools and medical care, and sensitizing their communities on the rights of people with disabilities through public talks and stakeholder meetings.

Each year, Leonard and his team train hundreds of community leaders as disability advocates who improve the lives of more than 70,000 children with disabilities.

Cynthia’s work as a wildlife biologist brought her to Kenya, where she was inspired to start Kupenda. She was particularly motivated to do something to help children with disabilities after discovering that she might have been killed if she had been born in Kenya because she was born without her left hand. Cynthia has over 10 years of experience as a wildlife biologist with multiple nonprofit and government agencies, which provides her with an understanding of the biology related to many disabilities and the skills to manage this growing organization. She has also taught biology classes for over a decade, which gives her insight into education systems similar to those in which Kupenda works and helps her present difficult concepts to groups we work with in Kenya and the U.S. Cynthia has a Master’s degree in Biology and Ecology and a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Conservation.

As Kupenda’s US CEO and Founder, Cynthia oversees the organization’s administration, programs and strategic planning. Her other key duties include fundraising, marketing, and community outreach. She reports directly to the Board of Directors.

Cynthia also advocates for justice and inclusion of children with disabilities through her public talks, guitar performances, piano playing, writing, and by facilitating trainings and workshops to help individuals and organizations around the world become more inclusive.

Philip is an award-winning documentary-style filmmaker. Born and raised in Paris, France, he became fascinated with the creative world at a young age – spending many hours filming his own versions of MTV music videos. After an internship with hip hop video icon, director Little X, he landed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work alongside Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch as an assistant editor at Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Since then, he’s developed and refined his own, unique style as a director, cinematographer & editor. His work has been featured in magazines like Communication Arts, AdWeek and received nods from the AICP and Webby Awards. His most recent feature documentary, KUPENDA, which tells the story of three students with disabilities who challenged their community’s beliefs when they set out to climb Africa’s tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, won the Best Feature Documentary award at Festival Inclus in Barcelona. Philip is currently in development on several documentary series.

Martha Karo has over 30 years of experience as a teacher for students who are deaf. Until 2017, she was also the head teacher at the Gede Special School, the first special needs school supported by Kupenda. Martha’s work and experience helps Kupenda stay connected to the local education system. Her devotion to children with disabilities is demonstrated by the endless hours she works with the Kuhenza team. As Project Director, Martha co-manages the organization’s Advocacy, Education and Medical activities alongside the Executive Director. She also manages the organization’s Child Sponsorship Program.

Ryan Schwartz’s first feature as writer/director, Summer of 8, was acquired by FilmBuff in 2016 and released theatrically by MGM/Orion. Starring Matt Shively (The Real O’Neals) and Shelley Hennig (Teen Wolf), Summer of 8 was named one of the top 10 films of 2016. Under his production company, Trustfall Films, Schwartz is currently producing three feature length documentaries, a biopic based on the largest black orphanage in US history, and writing/developing several projects to direct. Schwartz received his MFA in film from USC and currently teaches directing at The New York Film Academy (LA Campus).

DescriptionJessica Charles is a global health professional with over 20 years of experience as a technical writer, communications specialist, project manager, and teacher trainer. She lived in China and Botswana for three years managing health and education projects and has supported field teams in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries implementing USAID, UNICEF, CDC, PEPFAR and privately-funded projects. Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Writing.

As Kupenda’s Communications and Development Director, Jessica is responsible for developing and updating all of the organization’s marketing and training materials as well as its website and blog. She also led the organization’s Child Case Management mobile application development and is now supporting its testing and rollout in Kenya. Jessica is also responsible for increasing Kupenda’s operational efficiency, program monitoring and evaluation, engaging new donors, developing and implementing strategic fundraising plans, and expanding the organization’s capacity. goes here

Mauricio Yazigi has been working as a composer for over two decades. Born in Chile and based in Los Angeles, Mauricio has worked on over a dozen record productions and written scores for several films, plays, digital scenography pieces, commercials, and museum exhibits across the US and abroad.

Some of his latest credits include the feature film "The Commando" starring Mickey Rourke, “Mine 9” (Cinequest: Best Film 2019), the feature documentary “Maxima” (HotDocs: Audience Award 2019), and music for the video installation “Voces Vivas” at LAPCA museum in Los Angeles.

Julia received her Bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Sport & Wellness and Studio Art from Gordon College. She has worked for the Boston-based non-profit, Waypoint Adventure since 2013, designing and facilitating customized adventure-education programs like rock climbing, hiking, and kayaking for youth and adults with disabilities. Previously she worked as a Recreational Therapist at a skilled nursing facility in Cambridge, MA and a senior day center in Lynn, MA. Julia has been a Kupenda volunteer since 2007, and in 2011, she illustrated our first sign-language handbook which has enabled hundreds of Kenyan parents to be able to communicate with their children. In 2016, she co-led Kupenda’s disability advocacy hike up Mount Kilimanjaro alongside Kenyan children with disabilities. Her 2018 TEDx talk entitled, “High Expectations – 3 Teens with Disabilities Take on Kilimanjaro” is about how having high expectations for one another can create communities where people feel valued.

Growing up, no one believed Mercy would ever walk or attend school. Her mother was even told Mercy should be killed because of her cerebral palsy. Not only is she able to walk, she also competes in athletic competitions and helps other students with their schoolwork in the mainstream school she attends.

As a deaf child, he was told he would never be able to communicate or go to school because of his hearing loss. Hassan now represents his high school in running races and teaches his family and community sign language.

The oldest of the three students who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Fumo’s life was transformed by the experience. He grew up with his community believing he had no potential and equating his cognitive delays to being “stupid”. He has shown the community his abilities in multiple ways including excelling as an international gold medal-winning runner and starting his own business.