Claire Adams Williams

Claire had her unlikely start as a non-profit owner at the end of an eight-month trip around the world in 2006. Travel weary, she had settled into the Tumaini Children's Home for the last stop of a 20-country tour, and - on the recommendation of a friend - had planned to use this place solely as a welcoming and comfortable base for climbing Mt. Kenya.

Claire never made it up the mountain.

She stayed behind to learn and investigate. She had never seen a place so committed to community building and welfare. With experience in numerous different non-profit organizations, she knew the real thing when we saw it. Only a few years old, Tumaini Children's Home has created something amazing, and the kids' happiness and humor is a truly addictive testament to the love and care the elders of the community have invested. She has heard from these children's personal stories that many of them have not grown up in ideal circumstances - whether survivors of desperate poverty, abuse, drug addiction, rape or the death of their parents - these children inspired her with their resilience, strength, and humor.

She says it was easy to decide to return to the home, but she was intent on finding a way to contribute something that further strengthened this community, and that supported the commitment to health and well-being that the Tumaini Children's Center had so prioritized. She also wanted to strengthen the ties to developed nations and funding that had kept this orphanage thriving, as it faced a period of financial struggle, while also helping the home to find more lasting means of self-support.

Claire was a runner, training for her second marathon, and she had found it a great source of joy and inspiration over her many years abroad. She began running with the kids, and in her first year, 22 Tumaini marathoners trained for 4 months and then competed in the Mt. Kenya marathon. The entire orphanage also held its first annual Hope Runs 5K and 10K race and fun run with over 150 participants--running seemed to be a great fit.

However, not every kid was willing or able to run throughout the week. She knew the kids had a sense of humor and personal outlook that would inspire people, and became interested in sharing their perspective and voice with the world. As a blogger herself, she knew that this instantaneous and casual forum would be best for engaging the kids in a technological skills program. From that grew an online video series, which became a computer class, which then led to a business program...

Of course she could not stay there forever. Having seen how so many other places have struggled when international attention and funding wane, she was determined to set up lasting projects. So, she returned to the US, formalized her work, and began fundraising in earnest through the non-profit organization, Hope Runs.

Now, there is a vocational school, a business training program, over 100 committed runners, 500 children with new shoes, four more kids in college, and countless lives affected. Claire often hears that her work is impossible, or that it's just too hard to keep up with the insane amounts of need in Africa--she simply doesn't believe it.