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The Carr Educational Foundation was founded February 14, 2006. The purpose of the Foundation is threefold: First, the Foundation will spend a significant amount of its time and resources on the research and development of successful school programs. The Foundation’s primary function will be the creation of schools with curriculums that focus on the core subjects of mathematics, science, reading/writing, and social science as well as on the environment, technology, and other life skills areas. Daraja Academy is its first project.
Second, the Foundation will develop community education and professional development institutes. Utilizing trained facilitators and teachers, it will deliver specialized training seminars to service workers like teachers, healthcare workers, childcare providers, mothers, and other community workers.
Third, the Foundation will work to further public awareness of the need for quality school programs. Through advertisements, sponsorships, events, and word of mouth, it will advocate for an education that meets the needs of the entire student; an education designed to prepare students to meet the every day challenges they face: poverty, employment, nutrition/hunger, and environmental preparedness. In addition, it will promote the need for community education and professional development of service workers.
Listen to an interview with founder Jason Doherty conducted by the Global Issues Initiative on iTunes or online. He speaks with three high school students about the process of working to found a school in Kenya. Search "Global Issues Initiative" in the iTunes store or else go to the Global Issues Initiative website. The backbone of the Foundation is its board members. They include educators, doctors, and professionals who have an interest in quality education for all. A brief summary of the board members follows: Jenni Doherty
President | Jenni Doherty is a research assistant at WestEd, a non-profit educational research and consulting firm based in San Francisco and has the knowledge and skills necessary to make educational assessments and create action plans to improve education.
| Jason Doherty
Founder Director | Jason Doherty has been a teacher in the public school system for five years and has a dedication to quality education for the disenfranchised. He was named the Teacher of the Year in Solano County, CA for 2007.
| Kanani Cherry
Secretary | With a Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Special Education, Kanani has taught for 5 years as a resource specialist at an under-performing school with a high special needs rate. | Bob Bessin
Director | Bob has been a Physics and Mathematics teacher for over six years in both public and private high schools. He has a BS in Physics from UCLA and an MBA in Finance from Wharton. Previously Bob had a 20 years career as an executive in both large and start-up high technology companies. He lives in Los Altos, CA with his wife Jane and their two children. | Robert Savala
Director | Robert is an anesthesiologist and pain specialist who has been practicing for 14 years. He is a Medical Fellows Lecture. A father of four, Robert lives with his wife Christa and his children in Mill Valley, CA. | Kim Florence
Director | Kim has her BA in political science from Brigham Young University, and currently lives in San Francisco and is a senior consultant at Bearing Point, a management and technology consulting firm. | Mark Lukach
Director | Mark is in his fourth year of teaching in the independent school world. He received his BA from Georgetown University and his MLA from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a filmmaker who makes short documentaries for non-profits, such as the Daraja Academy, the Surfrider Foundation, Journeys Within Our Communities, and others. | Dr. Sangai Mohochi
Director | Professor of Swahili at Stanford University and member of the American African Nuru Foundation. | Gloria Simoneaux, MA, REAT, EXA Director | Ms. Simoneaux is the founder of Harambee Arts : Let’s pull together, a training program for caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1989 she founded Drawbridge: An Arts Program for Homeless Children and has served as the Executive Director until December 2007. In 1981 she designed expressive arts programs for pediatric oncology patients at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and at the University of California’s Moffitt Hospital, also in San Francisco.
Ms. Simoneaux received a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology in 1999 from The California Institute of Integral Studies and an honorary degree in Expressive Arts Therapy from the same school in 2000. In 1998 she became a registered Expressive Arts Therapist. Since 1992 she has taught nationally and internationally about how to work with traumatized children using the expressive arts. She is a mother, an adventurer, a world traveler, a salsa dancer, an artist, and an activist who loves swimming with turtles.
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The Carr Educational Foundation may be a fairly new organization, however we are not new to education or to Africa. Combined, we have over 50 years of educational experience and over 25 years of fundraising and nonprofit experience. The Foundation has focused on Africa, specifically Kenya, because it has seen first hand what the needs of the country are. We have spoken with the Kenyan government officials and discussed the need for secondary education in Kenya. We have also partnered with several social services organizations and NGOs currently working in Kenya and have explored ways in which we can mutually serve the people there.
The mission of the Carr Educational Foundation is to advocate and advance the accessibility and quality of education for all through the creation of sustainable school models. The organization is registered as a California public benefit corporation and is tax exempt under IRS 501(c)(3). “Building bridges one mind at a time.”
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About The Foundation 
