A New York based professional photographer since 2003, Jami tells the stories of children and families through images. Photographing the children at the NYCDS orphanage while in Nepal with Andrew Raible in early 2010, they brought these images home and began to use them to bring awareness to the needs of children in Nepal.  6 months later in October 2010, Kids of Kathmandu was founded.  

Jami has a BA in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, and has worked with underserved and underprivileged children since she was a teen. Creating her own entity for the betterment of children was unplanned but not unexpected.

In 2016, Jami launched Oja Moon, a cashmere children’s line handmade at a women’s center in Nepal. Each sale supports the women making the toys, blankets and clothing, and contributes back to Kids of Kathmandu in support of the children of Nepal.

Andrew travelled to Nepal with Jami Saunders for the first time in 2010.  After coming home to Brooklyn, they co-founded Kids of Kathmandu to help marginalized Nepali children receive the  support and education necessary to become independent, productive adults in an ever evolving Nepal.

Andrew transitioned from his previous life as a furniture designer/fabricator to concentrating full-time on Kids of Kathmandu after the massive April 2015 earthquake. His work in developing projects, assessing needs and forging new partnerships for Kids of Kathmandu has more similarities to designing and building furniture than Andrew ever anticipated. He understands that by paring everything down to the essentials, measuring the effectiveness and sturdiness of the project, and relying on the expertise of others, one can achieve results that are not only solid and functional, but also quite beautiful.

Bhushan was the first hire with Kids of Kathmandu and has been on the team since 2012. He is a vital part of their every day operations, beginning with the orphanage, and developing into the school rebuilding. He wears many hats from negotiating rice costs to meeting with heads of the country discussing complicated rules and regulations to accompanying kids to the hospital in the middle of the night.

He is currently doing a joint MBA/ MBS program in Kathmandu.
Originally born in Kathmandu, Bhushan has a passion for business management, as well as traveling, taking pictures and playing cricket.

Baburam Gole joined the team in 2015 as the school rebuilding project began to take shape. He balances many ongoing projects by monitoring the field work of the contractors and coordinating with our partners. His oversight is yet another stop to ensure that our donor dollars are being spent as intended.

Babu, as he is called, is currently doing a Masters in Business study at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. He also teaches math to grade 10 students, a very important year in the Nepali school system.

Eric Zamore joined KoK in 2014 as a founding member of the board of directors, and during his tenure has been instrumental in providing critical guidance in the response to the 2015 Nepal earthquakes.

Eric is an attorney who currently serves a Director with the Credit Suisse Private Fund Group in New York, a business focused on raising capital for private equity fund managers.  In his current role, Eric is responsible for developing a more robust control environment for his global team of 80 banking professionals. Prior to assuming this role, Eric served for approximately 11 years as a senior attorney within the Credit Suisse General Counsel division.  Eric started his legal career in private practice in Salem, MA as a criminal defense and civil litigation attorney.

Eric received his BA from Colgate University in 1989, and his JD in 1993 from the University of Denver.  Eric is a passionate and trained foodie as well as a lifelong volunteer. He was presented by the NY Boy Scouts Exploring Program with their Exploring Leadership Award, and has focused the past 15 years in mentoring high school students, serving as head of the Credit Suisse Law Exploring program, and serving for the past 12 years as a one-on-one high school mentor in NYC.

Kimberly Holden is an architect and Founding Principal of SHoP Architects with more than twenty years of experience leading cultural and academic projects around the world. Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Vermont and a Master of Architecture from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she received several awards for design and research. She has led SHoP teams working with clients such as the Columbia University School of the Arts, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and SITE Santa Fe. Kim also takes a leading role in SHoP’s outreach and pro-bono work, including the creation of prototype school designs for Kids of Kathmandu that are being realized on 50 sites throughout Nepal, replacing structures destroyed in the devastating 2015 earthquake. 

 In addition to her role on specific projects, as Managing Principal, Kim has guided SHoP’s strategic development, shaped its operations and staff, and spearheaded cultural initiatives for the studio as it has grown in recent years to nearly 200 people. SHoP has won numerous awards, including, in 2009, the National Design Award for Architecture given by the Smithsonian-Cooper Hewitt Museum. In 2014, Fast Company added SHoP to its list of “Most Innovative Companies in the World” and most recently, the National Academy granted SHoP the 2016 Distinguished Achievement award.

Beyond the studio, Kim  is a supporting sponsor of The Uni Project in New York and continues her lifelong engagement in the practice of dance and photography.

Currently getting a PhD at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University, Corey is studying the trade-offs made by the poorest families in rural Nepal as they work to improve their livelihoods and how these choices affect the food security of women and children. Corey has been consulting in the global food sector for over ten years, working with International Development Enterprises to connect small farmers to global markets and working with international food companies to develop responsible supply chains for coffee, chocolate, and macaroni and cheese.

Previously at the Clinton Global Initiative, Corey was responsible for project development and evaluation, and he founded and oversaw the Haiti Action Network. He served as a Foreign Language Officer at the State Department and holds degrees from Harvard University and both the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Friedman School at Tufts.

Nina has always found joy in working with children. After leaving the research field she decided to pursue a more hands-on approach in creating effective change in the lives of impoverished children. So began her non profit journey. Working with Kids of Kathmandu has allowed her to discover her new purpose. Putting her organizational skills to the test, Kids of Kathmandu has allowed her to use her resourcefulness and ingenuity to positively affect the children of Nepal.

Sujita has taken on the new position of NYCDS Project Manager as well as Nepal Office Manager. She is involved in coordination of all activities in our orphanage at Bhaktapur, our NYCDS project introduced in the beginning of 2010.

She is pursuing her Bachelors Degree in Development Finance from Kathmandu University. She has a teaching experience as a pre-school and primary level teacher in Prithvi Secondary Boarding School and Diptimaya Awasiya Bidhyalaya, Kathmandu.

Sujita has always been an enthusiast in working for children, so she joined Kids of Kathmandu to work for and help establish a better life for the children where education is the answer to their freedom. Apart from work, she enjoys singing and hiking around the valley.

Sam Pepper joined Kids of Kathmandu in 2016 after three years working at SHoP Architects. He is involved in all phases of the design process and oversees the design execution of Kids of Kathmandu’s projects. Sam believes that providing great architecture to students and teachers directly translates to a higher quality education. Every project is an opportunity to invest and improve the quality of a child’s future.

Originally from London but trained in architecture at the University of Virginia, Sam has worked at Lake Flato, SHoP Architects and currently Alloy. His work has spanned all scales, from prefabricated housing in Texas to skyscrapers in NYC.

Beyond his work, Sam can be found running and cycling in the city. He rarely sits down.

William Vázquez’s professional and artistic career spans over 30 years. He has traveled the world creating advertising campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, magazine features, and photojournalistic documented stories on women’s maternal health issues in the developing world, River Blindness in Africa, Hunger in Africa, and natural disasters for global and local NGOs among others.

Inspired by the world around him in travels to remote areas in Africa, Asia, and the Americas—often on assignment for Fortune 100 companies and NGOs, Vásquez has developed a personal artistic body of work with a distinct and powerful visual style. Capturing the intangible beauty of culture, people and the human spirit to reveal what is best about us, the artist’s striking color photography is a veritable record of the commonalities that bind humanity together. From the miracle of childbirth in a tent in a remote location, the warm smiles of school children in Mumbai, a family of goat herders at work in Ethiopia, orphan adolescents in Kathmandu, passionate street dancers in Cuba, to the impossible domestic spaces of young women in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, and the labor of countryside African girls and women, the artist draws the viewer’s attention to a developing world’s narrative of resilience in adversity while underscoring people’s aspirations, bravery and determination, and the ubiquitous permanence of hope and happiness in universal existence.

Eric searched for ways to get involved after hearing news of the devastation from the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Beyond donating money, he wanted to get involved in a more personal way, meeting people, experiencing the culture, hearing their stories, seeing the recovery efforts, and ultimately donating his hands to help rebuild Nepal. Kids of Kathmandu was a prefect match in sharing his eagerness and creating tangible action and change.

Eric and his friend Matt partnered with Kids of Kathmandu to plan and execute the first on-site volunteer trip in 2016, where they did a homestay in Kavre and built the foundation and floor of the Shree Jana Uddhar school. In 2017, Eric and Matt brought 12 of their colleagues and friends to continue the project, revisiting the school site to build steps, paint buildings, and teach English. His experiences in Nepal are some of the most rewarding and impactful experiences of his life.

Eric and Matt have increased awareness and engagement with the support of their company (Audi/VW), friends, family, and colleagues to help with the rebuilding of Nepal. Through Kids of Kathmandu, they have raise funds to install water filtration systems and furnish multiple schools with furniture.

Eric is a Detroit native currently living in Santa Monica, CA, and works for Audi of America.