Who We Are
HOPE Academy is a school in Kenya to give girls in Hardware, Operating Systems, and Programming Educations and a chance to rise up from poverty.
Simon H. Okoth, Ph.D., U.S.-Kenya Liaison and H.O.P.E Director
Dr. Okoth, also an LGGS founding member, serves as a director and liaison for the computer
literacy project at H.O.P.E. An academic and administrator by background, Dr. Okoth is a
political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who previously served as Small
Enterprise Development and IT program director with U.S. Peace Corps Kenya office, exchange
program specialist with the American Embassy Nairobi, coordinator of executive master’s in
public administration at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, and director of graduate
studies in the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth
University. Okoth is also a founding member of Kenya-based Disaster-Free Communities
Network that focuses on community climate change mitigation activities and management of a
regional disaster occurrence and loss database.
HOPE Academy and College is funded by Liza’s Girls Geek Squad, a nonprofit 501(c)3 registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States.