History and Founders

History and Our Founders

Our Program is based on a vision. Peter Ndungu grew up in the poor villages of Nairobi. He was orphaned at 11 but was befriended by a Lutheran pastor who arranged funding for his education. Through hard work and determination Peter graduated from primary and secondary school. Later he recieved a Certificate of Divinity in Kenya and received a Masters of Arts at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Peter had long nurtured a dream of helping children living in poverty to prosper through education. In 2006 he met Paula Meyer while Paula and her family were on vacation in Kenya. He told Paula of his dream and she decided to help make it a reality.

Peter Ndungu

Peter Ndungu is the Executive Director of Ngong Road Children Association. He leads the Kenya-based operations supervising our staff of 11.

Peter graduated from seminary in Kenya and was a pastor for several years in Nairobi. In 2003 Peter was selected by Bishop Kahuthu of Nairobi to attend graduate school in the US. In 2005 he completed a Masters of Arts at Luther Seminary and returned to Kenya to become pastor at Nairobi Lutheran International Church. After the founding of Friends of Ngong Road and Ngong Road Children Association Peter began to shift from congregational ministry to focus on his work with the children of Nairobi who have been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The organization is now supporting over 300 children in the Dagoretti villages.

A full, downloadable biography is available by clicking this link: Peter Ndungu, Executive Director

Paula Meyer

Paula Meyer left a successful career as President of the mutual fund business at Ameriprise (formerly American Express) in 2006 and has since focused on building Friends of Ngong Road. She has dedicated her efforts to building the organization from an idea to a metric-based, results-oriented organization delivering improved health and education for over 300 children in Nairobi.

Meyer received her B.A. from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in 1982. After many years as a corporate executive she believes that the skills she and the organization's board of directors have learned in business can be applied successfully to deliver results in a different context.

A full, downloadable biography is available by clicking this link: Paula Meyer, President