Kente Circle alumni challenge 2006-2007

My name is Krissy Leehane. I was a Marriage and Family Therapy intern at Kente Circle from July 2006 to August 2007, while working on my Masters degree in Professional Community Counseling at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I accepted the Kente Circle alumni challenge of donating $1000 per cohort to this fundraiser. Can you help us reach our goal?

The 13 months I spent training at Kente, so long ago, are foundational to how I perceive my community and the world around me. Kente Circle provided a unique environment where this worldview could be cultivated, and this is an experience that only a select few have had (well, over 100 of us). Every Kente Circle intern, regardless of their current career path, is and always will be part of the Kente Circle family. This is represented within the Kente Circle name: the colorful kente cloth shows how we are inextricably connected to each other and our communities, and the circle represents that no matter where we start, we will end up where we are supposed to be. This resonates with me on so many levels, when I think about the paths my life has taken, the struggles we've all witnessed in our communities over recent years, and the therapeutic beauty created at Kente Circle by the combination of our cultures and our skills. 

The vision for the future of Kente Circle and KCTI is exciting to me. Read more about it here: https://www.givemn.org/team/Kcti-Retreat

We've been blessed by the guidance that Larry and Phil have provided over the past 20 years, but it's really up to the Kente Circle family - those of us who were trained at Kente -  to continue weaving the cloth into the future. By contributing to Kente's future, I see this as an opportunity to strengthen the kente cloth threads that bind us to each other, add more colors to our cloth, and ensure that it covers a larger part of our community.

If you would like to join me in the alumni challenge, please choose 2006-2007 under the Cohort Year (for interns) section when making your donation. 

You are always welcome to share this fundraising page with your network. Matching donations from your organization are also welcome.

Thank you!

Krissy Leehane