We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kate Kennedy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kate below.

Hi Kate , thanks for joining us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I will never forget the day I was driving down Courtland Street in Atlanta, GA and saw a young mother sitting on the curb on the side of the road with 4 school-aged children running around beside her. One boy was barefoot, and another was without a shirt. The woman looked tired and sad. As the mother of 4 children. I cannot imagine the stress of living on the street with children—not knowing where you might sleep or eat that night or how you might find shoes and clothes for your growing children. I began to talk with mothers I encountered in homeless serving agencies across the city, and a disturbing trend emerged. Many of these children were not enrolled in school. Without a permanent address or easy access to paperwork, it is difficult to know which school to attend. As well, transcience, trauma, low language exposure, and food/sleep insecurity impede a child’s ability to be successful in a mainstream school setting.
It was a scene and an issue that I could not let go. I was not qualified to build a school. I was not an educator, but it was clear that God was calling me to action, so, I simply began taking steps—baby steps, at first, but then big, bold steps (including missteps and re-steps). In 2018, I opened a tuition-free, private school for children experiencing homelessness in Atlanta. The program began with just a pre-kindergarten class of 11 young scholars. Today, the school serves over 100 scholars in grades K-5.
Starting a school and writing a book about my journey were bold leaps of faith. It has been an amazing adventure but not without endless hours of work. I believe that passion and need are the keys to success. If I was not so passionate about the mission and vision, I would not have had the drive to do the endless work required to develop these projects. Passion, however, does not ensure success. If the community does not see a project as filling an existing need, support does not come. I have seen many passionate people who try to create a need or an audience to fit a program or idea. This is true for both creative pursuits and organizations. The need must come first. Then, those with the passion can work fervently to find the best way to fill the gap.
I spent countless hours talking to people in the community from all walks of life. I collaborated with those who knew more than me, and when I hit a roadblock, I took a pause and reset. Sometimes that meant scrapping what I had done and starting over. Other times, it simply meant making a few tweaks in my plan. You cannot create change in a bubble. It take a community, and it takes the courage to take the first step and keep on walking into all that the world is calling you to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began my professional career as a Writer/Producer for Turner Network Television before transitioning into a career in service and ministry. I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree from Wake Forest University and a Master of Religion and Public Life degree from Emory University. I am currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminar with a particular focus in Creative Writing and Public Theology.
In 2024, I published my first book—Once Upon a School: A Story of Dreaming Big, Falling Hard, and Bouncing Back. The book not only recounts my journey to build a ground-breaking program for our most vulnerable children, but it also addresses race, privilege, womanhood, purpose, call, and connection.
I continue to write at the intersection of these topics and God’s work in the world. We are all part of one another’s stories and our lives connect and intertwine in miraculous ways. I want to create connection that will offer life-giving community to others so that we can all write our own stories of success beyond our circumstances.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I did not start the journey to build a school for our community’s most vulnerable children because I was an educator. I had no degree or track record that would point to my ability to successfully undertake such a wild and grand experiment. As I said earlier, I did it because I just couldn’t NOT do it. But it was going to take our entire community being willing to risk doing something that seemed impossible. The educators, administrators, funders, city officials—really everyone—would need to believe in something unheard of to make this dream a reality. It was going to be labor intensive and expensive. The first city officials and funders I approached did not buy-in. They thought I was in over my head and was naïve. In the book, I share several stories of sitting at huge conference tables having high-powered people tell me that I was way out of my depth. For 20 years, I had been a community volunteer and stay-at-home mom. I stayed home with my children because I had the privilege of making that choice. I realize that not everyone has that opportunity and that not every parent is called to make that choice, but for our family in our situation, it was our choice. Sadly, our world does not really respect the vocation of stay-at-home parents in the same way they respect professionals. I have actually had people ask me why I went to college if I knew I was going to stay home with my kids. I started the process of building the school with a voice in my head telling me that I was not professional enough to succeed. And so many validated my doubt, but I kept on going. I believed we owed this to our children—so I kept going until someone said “yes.” I had to learn to trust myself. I write in the book about my journey to giving myself a title. I needed something besides “Mom who cares” to put on my communications, but every title made me feel like an impostor. When I finally began calling myself “Founder” it was amazing how many doors opened…before I had even really founded anything substantial.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2021, I walked away from the school I built and poured my heart and soul into. It was my decision, but it was not my decision. It was a complicated, heart-breaking event, but I could not find any other way. The second half of my book is about how I walked through my grief, loneliness, and deep sense of failure. I will always have a hole in my heart without the school, but I have learned so much about myself and the world. Ironically, I am much more confident in my abilities and gifts. I have learned to honor myself and to believe in myself. I write in the book that I never started this journey to run a school. I started this program to create a movement of change to create a path to success for the children of our community. Now, instead of spending my day-to-day focused on the never-ending operations of a privately funded school, I am able to connect with others all over the country through my writing and speaking to ignite bigger, bolder visions and dreams in our communities. Whether you want to start an organization to make change in your community or you want to find your purpose and call in transitions, I would love to be part of your journey. The only thing that stands between strong women and the ability to create change is the courage to take the first step.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katekennedywrites.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kate_kennedy_writes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kate.o.kennedy.5
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-k-006758141/
• Other: https://katek.substack.com/https://linktr.ee/katekennedywrites