About us
Activities | History | Founder | Partnerships | Boards of Directors | Staff
About HopeCore
PROGRAMS
HEALTH
Delivering holistic school and community-based interventions that meaningfully address chronic family and community health challenges faced by rural Kenyans.
WASH
Empowering school children with water, hygiene, and sanitation education, ensuring school children have access to clean drinking water, soap for hand washing, and providing menstrual hygiene management products to girls.
YOUTH
Ensuring youth have access to quality health information, youth-friendly health and financial services, sexual and reproductive health resources, and safe meeting spaces.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Filling the chronic gaps in financial access and financial literacy that are endemic to rural Kenya through loans, business training, and capacity building for farmers and entrepreneurs.
HISTORY
Twenty four years ago, in the year 2000, Founder and CEO, KK Mugambi, the current Medical Director, Dr. Phil Rasori, 12 women, and $5,000 USD launched what we now know as Village HopeCore International. Since then, we have expanded and evolved our programs to support the health and livelihoods of community members in Tharaka Nithi, with a special focus on children and their mothers.
For 24 years, HopeCore has developed relationships and grown deep roots within the community. HopeCore’s approach is sustainable and replicable. All programming works within existing institutions to ensure the longevity of programming. We partner with the Department of Health Services and sanitation, Ministry of Education, schools, and many others to ensure all activities are working hand in hand with other area interventions and that we do not duplicate efforts.
Founder
Kajira “K.K.” Mugambi, Esq., HopeCore’s Founder, was born in a small village near Chogoria. He personally experienced hardships and the effects of poverty and disease as he saw children in his community, including his own family, die of clearly preventable diseases, such as malaria, diarrhea, and typhoid. KK almost did not survive birth as his mother’s labor stalled and she had to be carried on a wooden stretcher to a nearby hospital.
When he was a child, KK dropped out of elementary school because he could not afford the $8.00 annual school fee. He overcame these challenges and was able to travel to the United States for high school. In the United States, he worked as a flower gardener, grass mower, janitor, and nursing assistant in California. He overcame financial challenges and earned a Doctorate in law from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was privileged to become a member of the California State Bar Association and an Assistant Dean at the University of Los Angeles California.
By founding HopeCore, KK realized his dream of making a difference in the community of his birth. Eventually, he transitioned from practicing law in California to full-time management of HopeCore and moved back to Chogoria in 2005. He moved with a firm determination to successfully eradicate poverty and improve health in Kenya’s rural communities.
Boards of Directors
Kenyan Board of Directors
Shown from left to right: Virginia Gitonga (Board Member), Wilfred Joshua (Chairman), Dr. Peter Nthigah (Vice Chairman), Kenneth Micheni (Board Member), Eunice Githinji (Board Member), Dr. Phil Rasori (US Board), Dr. Kajira Mugambi (Founder/CEO/Secretary), and Mercy Nyagah (Board Member). Not shown: Stephen Mwema (Treasurer), Prof. Mugendi K. M’Rithaa (Board Member), George Nabea (Board Member), and Jan Zachry (Board Member)
US Board of Directors
Kajira K. Mugambi (Founder & Board Member), Dr. Phil Rasori (Medical Director), Daryl Petrick (Chairman), Philip Michael Rasori, (Board Member, IGP Director), Steve Beck (Board Member), Alan Preston (Board Member), Susan Preston (Board Secretary), Tina Rasori (Board Member), and Jan Zachry (Board Member)
