KID Museum is delighted to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors: Dr. Shanika Hope and Mr. Sam Alemayehu. Leaders in their fields, Shanika and Sam will bring their vast experience in innovation and education to KID Museum at a critical time.
Dr. Shanika Hope
Shanika brings her experience as a former elementary school teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and high school turnaround specialist to her current role as Principal of Amazon’s flagship program, Amazon Future Engineer. This education “moonshot” initiative seeks to increase access to computer science education for children and young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities. Before joining the Board, Shanika served on KID Museum’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee. She also gave the keynote address at KID’s 2019 Invent the Future Challenge Summit, where she told a rapt audience of 800 middle school students, parents, and educators, “If you are the next generation of inventors, I’m feeling hopeful about the future.”
Samuel Z. Alemayehu
Sam is a successful entrepreneur and investor dedicated to finding new solutions for sustainable growth. He chairs the Board of Directors of Cambridge Industries Energy, a leading developer of sustainable city parks that incorporate waste management, renewable energy, insect farming, food production, water recycling, metal recycling, and light manufacturing within a circular economy. Prior to joining Cambridge, Sam was the founder of 4AFRI Media, a venture-backed mobile software start-up focused on the African Continent. Sam started creating companies while still an undergraduate at Stanford University, and became founder of three successful tech companies before the age of 23. Sam and his three children enjoyed regularly visiting KID Museum on the weekends pre-pandemic.
