Volunteers

Emily Verellen
Program Officer-Binti Pamoja Founder

Emily graduated in May 2002 from American University in Washington, DC with a degree in International Development, Anthropology and Communications. While in DC, Emily was involved in various youth development programs and worked at Human Rights Watch Africa Division and the International Center for Journalists.

Emily was a student of the School for International Training’s “Kenya-Culture and Development” semester in the spring of 2001, where she conducted an independent research project with street children in Nairobi. In the summer of 2002, she returned to Kenya to implement and facilitate Phase One of the Binti Pamoja Center.

After a year spent fundraising for their program, Emily and Binti Pamoja co-founder Karen Austrian returned to Kibera to further develop Binti Pamoja. The project is now an integral part of CFK in Kenya, and Karen and Emily returned to the States in late 2004. Emily speaks proficient Swahili.

In 2006, Emily produced and published a book, LightBox, about the Binti Pamoja Center.  In 2007, Emily graduated from the London School of Economics with an MSc in Population and Development.  She is now the Deputy Director
of Ubuntu Education Fund.