New Kenyan Ambassador to Visit New England

BOSTON, Mass., SEPTEMBER 6, 2010_The newly appointed Kenyan Ambassador to the USA, H.E Elkanah Odembo, will be visiting Boston next week when he delivers a lecture on Kenya's new constitution,titled, The Birth of the Second Republic, at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government on Tuesday, September 14, 2010.

  The public lecture, sponsored by the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project department at the renowned Harvard University, will  start promptly at 6:30pm,   ending at 8:30pm.

 It will be held in Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA, 02138.
 
Prior to being appointed to head the Kenyan mission at Washington DC, replacing the previous Ambassador , H.E Peter Ogego, who finished his term earlier this year, H.E Elkanah Odembo had been serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to France, appointed to the post in January 2009.

He is the founding director of Ufadhili Trust (Centre for Philanthropy and Social Responsibility), a Kenyan institution that seeks to promote the spirit of giving, philanthropy and the use of local resources to improve people's lives through corporate social responsibility, cross-sector partnership, technical assistance and policy research.

Before joining Ufadhili, Odembo served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation's Coordinator of Africa Philanthropy Initiative; the East Africa Representative for World Neighbors; and as Research Officer for the African Medical Research Foundation. He was also Chairman of the Kenya Community Development Foundation, lead facilitator for the Kenya Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Consultation Process and a member of the selection committee for the UNDP Africa 2000 Project.

H.E Elkanah Odembo, Kenyan Ambassador to the USA

He was also a founding member of the NGO Coalition for East Africa, a member of the National Advisory Committee for Health Research, a member of the NGO Co-ordination Board of Kenya, Chairperson of the Kenya National Council of Non-Governmental Organizations and member of the National Committee for Social Dimensions of Development.

Odembo is a Senior Fellow at the Synergos Institute, a non-profit organization based in New York with a mission of reducing global poverty through partnerships that bring together government, business, civil society and local communities. He is also a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative, a program of the Aspen Institute's Global Leadership Network.

Recently , in June of 2010, Odembo received The Common Good Award , an award given by Bodwoin College in Boston, for his tireless efforts and dedication to improving the lives of others through his work, bringing development to the rural and underprivileged in society.

Odembo was a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1980.

“We urge as many Kenyans in the area of New England to turn up and meet the new Ambassador and get a chance to hear his views on the new constitution”, said Professor Calestous Juma, in an email to Ajabu Africa News.

Juma, who teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, will be hosting the public lecture.

He said that it is always a good thing for Kenyans to get to meet their leaders, and has actually been at the forefront of organizing many other such opportunities in the past.

Professor Calestous Juma

In September last year, Professor Juma hosted the Kenyan prime minister, H.E Raila Odinga, for another public lecture at the same Harvard School of Government.

In the past, many Kenyans attending these events at Harvard usually carpool to save on space, while others take the red line train to the Harvard station, a stone throw away from the venue of the lecture.

However, either way, Kenyans in the region are encouraged to come out and be part of the audience as they meet their new Ambassador.

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