Kenyans Abroad: Sheila Van de Graaph and YouthRoots

Africa Agen­da

Sheila Van de Graaph, exec­u­tive direc­tor of Youth­Roots, deliv­ers remarks at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver Kor­bel School of Inter­na­tion­al Stud­ies. Wednes­day, Novem­ber 13th, 2024

Youth­Roots is a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion you prob­a­bly have nev­er heard of. Head­quar­tered in Den­ver, Col­orado, it taps into the pow­er of young peo­ple to make deci­sions that affect their lives.

We dis­cov­ered Youth­Roots and their work on Novem­ber 13th when we attend­ed a gath­er­ing at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver’s Kor­bel School of Inter­na­tion­al Stud­ies titled “Con­nect­ed­ness in a Dis­con­nect­ed World.”

Africa Agenda commends Sheila Van de Graaph

Speak­ing to the audi­ence of stu­dents, pro­fes­sors, non-prof­it and com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers, exec­u­tive direc­tor Sheila Van de Graaph said, “The main goal of this event is for us to come togeth­er, embrace one anoth­er, build each oth­er, sup­port one anoth­er, learn from one anoth­er, and see the amaz­ing stuff that Youth­Roots, espe­cial­ly our young peo­ple, are doing.” 

Van de Graaph said the orga­ni­za­tion has raised over $500,000 in over 14 years to sup­port its pro­grams through its youth fel­low­ship, youth sports, youth devel­op­ment, lead­er­ship, and grant-mak­ing programs. 

Orig­i­nal­ly from Kenya, Van de Graaph is a Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver Kor­bel School of Inter­na­tion­al Stud­ies graduate.