HerShe Group Foundation, Inc.
Kenadie Cobbin Richardson, Founder/Executive Director
Kenadie Cobbin Richardson, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, is the founder & Executive Director of the HerShe Group. She graduated fourth in her class from The Rayen School and received her bachelor’s degree from the prestigious DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
After graduating, she began teaching for the next seven years, first in Japan and then in urban cities across America teaching English, Spanish, Drama and Psychology. Then, having the desire to expand her territory, she took a position with the #1 pharmaceutical company in the world, Pfizer, Inc., and began to partner with Los Angeles doctors to educate the public about heart disease, hypertension, cholesterol and other abnormalities that disproportionately plague the black community, especially women. There, she won back to back national awards for her service, including the #1 Pharmaceutical representative in the Western region and the #4 representative in the United States.
However, Kenadie, is best-known in Los Angeles as a producer demonstrating a keen ability to find originality within tried and true formulas. She is best known to produce projects with a purpose of empowering women. She has been the executive producer of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, directed by Penny Marshall starring Mo’Nique, Marla Gibbs, Tracee Ellis Ross, Teri Hatcher, Wendy Raquel Robinson and others. In 2006, Penny Johnson Jerald directed the piece, starring Vanessa Williams, Ananda Lewis, Meredith Baxter, Victoria Rowell, and other noted stars. She has also produced such works as Medal of Honor Rag, starring Heavy D, directed by Delroy Lindo, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, Dreamgirls, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and the Miss & Ms. Black California USA Competition. Her writing credits include The Arsenio Hall Show, the All New Dating Game and Newlywed Game and various shows on Black Entertainment Television (BET).
Kenadie was first introduced to the harsh realities of the foster care system when she was a freshman at DePauw University. Her college roommate was an emancipated foster youth who had already beat the odds by being accepted into college – especially a competitive academic institution like DePauw. Her roommate did not have any system of support since being emancipated from foster care. Although, she was living with a loving foster family for three years before emancipation, they, too, could not be considered family after she turned 18. This experience inspired Kenadie to create empowerment programs for youth since 1994. Ultimately, in 2004, she established the HerShe Group Foundation, Inc. with the missionto support the successful transition of girls emancipating from foster care into adulthoodby helping them to realize their full potential and by exposing them to extraordinary experiences through the arts, mentorship, adventure, and education.
We consider the mission of the HerShe Group to be critical because . . .
· 7 out of 10 foster youth will be homeless within one year of emancipation.
· 6 out of 10 foster youth will be incarcerated within one year of emancipation
· 1 out of 10 foster youth go to college; of those only 1 out of 100 will graduate
· I out of 2 girls in foster care have been physically and/or sexually abused.
· Foster youth in the system for 4 years or more have lived in 47 different homes
The good news is that these youth have an opportunity to overcome their past with the help of positive youth development and mentoring organizations like the HerShe Group. To find out more about HerShe, please visit www.hershegroup.org and get involved!
