KAF Culture

KAF’s Culture: Embodying our Ethos

Written by Shereen Abdel-Nabi

I first joined the Kuwait-America Foundation (KAF) as a Do the Write Thing (DtWT) summer intern. It was the summer of 2002, I had just graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Foreign Affairs and Middle East Studies, and was looking for a fulfilling internship to bookend a gap year I was taking to prepare for graduate school and to spend quality time with my family. Two DtWT summer internships, a Masters in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and 15 years later, I can, without hesitation, say that that summer changed the trajectory of my life. What began as a casual summer internship with a group of strangers has turned in to a second home with an extended family.

While my first experience with the foundation was working on the DtWT program, my current role includes any and all programs or projects established or supported by KAF, including social impact initiatives and community partnerships. As a smaller foundation, my position as KAF Program Director affords me the very large opportunity to build and sustain relationships between people and organizations committed to investing in people and strengthening communities across the globe. The chance to be part of a group of people committed to supporting anyone in need anywhere has been one of the greatest privileges I’ve been afforded. 

Since joining KAF as a full-time team member in 2005, I have experienced first-hand not only the growth of the organization, but more importantly, the values it espouses and embraces wholeheartedly. As a foundation, our mission to empower individuals and communities, building ties that cross continents, is not only reflected in the work we do around the world, but in our organizational ethos as well. Anyone who has ever worked with, or for KAF, knows that what we aim to do outside of our four walls, is exactly what guides how we work together and treat each other within them. Ours is a beautifully unique environment built upon respect and support, and my KAF family is one that has sustained me for over a decade and one that continues to play a vital role in my life.