Father Daniel Kiriti

Fr Daniel Kiriti, parish priest of the Catholic parish in Naivasha, Kenya, will celebrate his 21th anniversary of ordination in August 2009. He was trained at St Augustine seminary for philosophy in Bungoma, Kenya and St. Thomas Aquinas seminary in Nairobi for Theology.  In 1996 he received a master's degree in pastoral ministry from Santa Clara University in California.  The focus of his work has been children and young people.  He has visited this area to speak about his work and to help us understand the need for education, particularly for girls, in Africa. Read more.

Margo McAuliffe

Margo McAuliffe is a retired high school math teacher, mother of 2 and grandmother of 4. She was born in Portland, Oregon, where she lived until she attended Mills College in Oakland, CA, earning a B.A. in mathematics in 1958. She taught math in several high schools in Oregon and Utah, ending her career at Menlo Atherton High School in Menlo Park, CA. Currently she tutors math student in her home and travels to Naivasha, Kenya each summer for 2 months of volunteering in the high schools. Read more

Craig Noke

Craig and his wife now live on the Monterey Bay in Pacific Grove, CA but still have close ties to the “other” bay area where their two children, their spouses and 5 grandchildren live.  After serving as an officer in the US Marines, Craig embarked on a 30+ year career in sales and marketing in high tech, including IBM and Intel; it was a job at Intel that brought him to Silicon Valley. His first foray into volunteering began at St. Anthony Padua Dining Room where he not only help to prepare and serve hot meals but was a member of the board for 6 years. After retiring, he served on the board of Martha’s Kitchen and volunteered as a gleaner and job coach at Sacred Heart Community Service, both in San Jose. In addition to local Habitat for Humanity projects, he’s also traveled to Mexico and Tanzania with HfH Global Village. Craig was the first member of St. Thomas Aquinas to visit Fr. Kiriti after he returned to Kenya and has visited twice since with his wife Mary. He has a passion for trying to help those who have not been as fortunate.

Henry Organ

Henry Organ is a resident of Menlo Park, Ca. Now retired, he was a Development Officer for a quarter century at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Henry is active in The Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto, CA (where he is a board member), the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center of Palo Alto, Girls to Women of East Palo Alto, the Community Development Institute of East Palo Alto, and the East Palo Alto Media Center. He has an abiding interested in the abolition of the death penalty, working particularly through the Catholic Church.

Kay Williams

Kay Carmody Williams has been employed for 25 years in educational travel, currently at the Stanford Alumni Association Travel/Study program.  She has been an active community volunteer all her life, serving on several non-profit boards and committees, including La Leche League International, PTA, United Menlo-Atherton, the Mid-Peninsula Task Force for Integrated Education, the Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto, and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Palo Alto, CA.  She and her husband live in Palo Alto and are the parents of four and grandparents of three.

Scholastica Mwangi

Scholastica Kinuthia Mwangi, earned her MBA in accounting and human resources from California State University-Hayward and received a BA in political science from the University of Nairobi. Currently she works for Public Health Law and Policy a nonprofit organization in Oakland, CA. Prior to joining them; she worked for a number of organizations in Finance & Accounting functions. Scholastica is from Kenya where she had previously worked as a researcher for the University of Nairobi's Center for Development Studies and Urban Housing.

Anita Dippery

Anita Dippery is a teacher, fabric artist, child advocate for the San Mateo County courts.  She lives in Menlo Park with her husband, Dan. They have 3 children and 6 grandsons. Anita has been in the field of education for 50 years. She enjoys hiking, reading and quilting in her spare time. For 12 years Anita was a leader in the Creative Initiative Foundation of Palo Alto, CA. Anita was one of the founders of the Beyond War Movement which she spent ten years developing and expanding.  She was Director of the Added Dimensions program at the University of Notre Dame De Namur in Belmont, Ca. for four years. Her life-long interests have focused on education as a vehicle for social change.

Doss Welsh
Doss Welsh is a retired U.S. History teacher living in Menlo Park with his wife Annette. He has two sons who live in Brooklyn and Santa Cruz. A native of Oakland he attended Cal State Hayward for a BA and teaching credential and Santa Clara University for a Masters. For 37 years he taught at Logan High School in Union City, Newark Memorial High School in Newark and, most recently, at Menlo Atherton High School in Atherton.
Bringing history to his students through extensive use of guest speakers he won the Golden Bell Award in 1982 for the best U.S. History program in the state. In the past few years he facilitated activities for students to raise funds for Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea) after Greg visited M-A. One class was able to raise over $20,000 in three weeks to help build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The following year the students were able to send money to Kenya Help as well.

Judy Murphy

Judy Murphy is a retired social worker, who has lived her whole life in and around Portland, Oregon.  She spent most of her working life with an agency that served the frail elderly, and the poorest of the poor.  She and Margo met in high school and have been close friends for almost 60 years.  Judy has gone to Kenya 3 times, sharing her heart and expertise with Jecinta Gakahu, social worker in the Catholic parish.  They serve orphans, people who are HIV positive, poor people and victims of the tribal clashes of 2008.  Judy has 5 children and 10 grandchildren.