Our Team
At Moja Tu we try to ensure that most of our donor contributions go directly to the kids and not to administrative costs. To ensure that we take a working board approach to our Board of Directors. That means that each of our Board members serves not only an advisory and oversight role but also volunteers their time toward the operation of Moja Tu.
For our team in Kenya, who are responsible for the day-to-day operations in country, we have found that the best employees are our former students. If a graduating University student has a skill set that lines up with an operational need, we’d rather provide them with the opportunity than hire somebody from the outside.
The Moja Tu board is composed of a dedicated and passionate team of volunteers and day-to-day operation in Kenya is staffed by mostly former students.
board members
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Kathy Kempff
Kathy has over 25+ years of nonprofit experience in both software and digital agencies. She’s the CEO and Founder of Nuclavis – Nuclavis.com, a peer-to-peer fundraising and mobile technology company offering tailor-made digital strategies and cutting-edge mobile technology to nonprofits. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems as well as her MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Christine Kempff
Christine is a graduate of the University of Southern California. She went on to get her MBA in International Business and Masters of Arts in Governance and Development in Europe. Christine has been a realtor in Central Texas for over 15 years and currently works at Floyd Real Estate, where she specializes in residential real estate and property investment and management. In her spare time, Christine serves on the board of Moja Tu and is a student sponsor. She is the past-president of the Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, past Assistant Governor for Rotary district 5870, and past 5870 District Rotary Foundation Chair.
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Michael Bailey
Since 2010 Michael has worked at Apple, where he’s currently a Solutions Architect. Since earning his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, Michael has spent over 20 years in the technology industry, including 9 years at SAP as a Platinum Consultant.
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Carlos Kempff
Carlos has worked at Apple for the past 14 years. Currently, he works in the Frauds department, and also oversees company operations in China. He has sat on the Moja Tu board since our inception. He and his wife sponsor 5 students in the program.
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James Anderson
James moved to Austin in 1971 from the northeast and spent the last 29 years in various roles at Apple, Inc. Today, as a Senior Manager, his team of investigators protects Apple’s brand using intelligence collection and sophisticated analytics. A trip in 2016 to Africa with his wife Audrey opened their eyes. Feeling the need to get more involved, James joined the Moja Tu Board in 2016, and they currently sponsor three students.
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Erika Kempff
Erika moved to Austin in 2000 from Bolivia, where she saw first-hand how a lack of education can negatively impact people and the society they’re a part of. As one of Moja Tu’s first supporters, she currently sponsors two children who are extended siblings to her three children in Austin. She has 20+ years of experience in strategic marketing and management consulting.
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Cassie Godfrey
Cassie is a New England native who now lives in Austin, TX with her husband, step-son and two dogs. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, Cassie has spent the last 8 years at Apple and currently leads the AppleCare Planning, Portfolio and Change team. Cassie and her family sponsor two boys in the program, and hope to empower many more through the power of education.
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Cynthia Occelli
Cynthia is an author, radio host, and coach to high-impact women. A former 9th-grade dropout and welfare mom, Cynthia turned her life around, graduated from law school, built an investment portfolio, and raised two conscientious children. Hailed by President Bill Clinton as an American success story at the 2016 DNC, Cynthia is passionate about helping women cultivate self-worth and release self-doubt so they can thrive. She currently sponsors two Moja Tu students.
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Audrey Page
Audrey moved to Austin in 2003 to continue her career growth toward becoming a Goldwell Master colorist and a two-time Austin Monthly Best Of winner in hair styling. She now dedicates her focus to community impact by joining Moja Tu's board and sponsoring three college students with her husband, James Anderson. Audrey volunteers as a reading buddy and a Benefit planning committee member for Communities In Schools of Central Texas. She hopes to use her experiences to help both charities succeed in helping their students.
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Kendra Porter
Kendra is originally from Georgetown, Texas, just outside of Austin. She has over 15 years of experience in business operations roles, including healthcare management, project management, and Lean Six Sigma. Kendra currently works for Nuclavis as their Director of Operations on the mobile and client-side in the non-profit space. Kendra and her husband, Richard, have a son, Jaxson, and a house full of 5 dogs. Kendra learned about Moja Tu in 2023 and knew instantly that she wanted to sponsor 2 children. Since then, Kendra has become involved in many Moja Tu activities, including joining the board in 2023.
our employees
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Esther Kitheka
Esther holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance. She is an alumna of the Moja Tu program. Esther is in charge of the program’s finances. Growing up, Esther desired to be an accountant and she is happy to be living her dreams and what’s more, giving back to the organization that saw her through university. Previously, Esther worked as an accountant with Kenya’s Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning. She is also a certified public accountant.
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Maria Manu
Maria is a beneficiary of the Moja Tu educational sponsorship. She joined Moja Tu in 2018 and graduated with a bachelor’s in communication and media studies. As a student, Maria was part of the marketing team and helped write blogs, create multimedia content, and manage the TikTok account. She was also a student leader and assisted with administrative work. Maria dreams of becoming a marketing communications specialist. She is excited to kick-start her career in Moja Tu and give back to the program that has seen her through university.
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Lily Ronoh
Lily has been working with Moja Tu on the sidelines for the past few years and has been instrumental with writing and editing of blogs, one-pagers, and other important content. She formally joined the organization in 2020 to head the marketing communications team in Kenya. She helps with generating ideas for blog, video and social media content, overseeing the marketing team, and editing and publishing marketing content. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s in Linguistics from Egerton University. Lily is currently the Editor and Head of Sales and Marketing of Parents Magazine, based in Nairobi.