History
The late Father Jim Karaffa, for whom the women’s business academy is named, worked with Kibera’s residents. He worked with and ministered to the poor all over the world, including the women of Kibera, until his untimely death in 2002. He had a personal affection for Kibera and its people, in the same way a social worker named Edel Quinn Odongo did then, and still does today. As a college graduate in social work, Ms. Odongo has dedicated her life working with the residents of Kibera, many of whom make less than a dollar a day. Originally staffed as a case worker for one of Kibera’s children centers, she quickly found through her numerous home visits that other issues existed within each family, making her determined to assist them holistically. Around that same time she met Father Jim Karaffa, a man who shared her same vision to empower future leaders, and together they created a plan for a business academy to empower women through education and microlending.
When Fr. Karaffa died, a number of groups including the Office of Student Affairs and the Student International Business Council at the University of Notre Dame stepped in to support the pair's vision for a revolutionary education and microfinance program. And it was the first class of JKBAW women that decided the school should be named in Fr. Karaffa’s honor. Since then, Ms. Odongo and the JKBAW Board of Advisors have worked to fund and grow JKBAW into a three year educational institution, maintaining a strong partnership throughout with four international meetings on both African and North American continents. Generous support from the Knights of Columbus at the University of Notre Dame also made the facilitation of these meetings possible.