About us
A family promise, kept at scale
The Ojemba & Sam Foundation began where most lasting things begin — at home, with two families deciding that what their fathers stood for would not end with them.
Two names, one purpose
Ojemba was the father of Chief Kennedy Okonkwo. Sam was the father of Dr Nkeiru Okonkwo. Both men were known in their communities for the same instinct — to give what they had, and to believe that a child’s education was worth any sacrifice.
When they passed, Chief Kennedy and Dr Nkeiru Okonkwo did what felt most natural. They carried the work forward, and they gave it both their fathers’ names.
It is no accident that both founders built their working lives around caring for people others overlook. Dr Nkeiru practices as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner and holds a licence to direct assisted living care. Chief Kennedy directs five assisted living homes. Between them, the daily work of looking after the elderly and the vulnerable is not a cause they discovered — it is the profession they chose, and the foundation is that same conviction carried across the Atlantic.
In 2018 that promise became a registered nonprofit. Since then the foundation has grown from a family commitment into an organization reaching communities across Nigeria — with school fees, food, medical care, and support for widows raising families alone.
The foundation is based in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and works directly with the Nigerian communities it serves. The distance is real; the connection is not abstract. It is family.
The founders
A husband and wife who built their working lives around caring for people others overlook — and named their foundation for both their fathers.
Chief Kennedy Okonkwo
Chief
Co-founder
Chief Kennedy Okonkwo is a businessman whose work spans two continents. He is director of five assisted living homes, a licensed realtor, and the head of an automotive trading business operating between the United States and Nigeria. Honoured with a chieftaincy title in recognition of his standing and service, he has spent his career building enterprises that employ people and opening doors for those coming behind him. The foundation carries his father Ojemba’s name — and, in every family it reaches, his father’s example.
Dr Nkeiru Okonkwo
DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC
Co-founder
Dr Nkeiru Okonkwo is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. A registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Licensed Assisted Living Director, she has built her career caring for people at their most vulnerable — and brings that same clinical judgment to the foundation’s medical and widow assistance programs. The foundation carries her father Sam’s name.
In their memory
Ojemba and Sam
Two fathers, from two families, known in their communities for the same instinct — to give what they had, and to believe that a child’s education was worth any sacrifice.
Ojemba
Father of Chief Kennedy Okonkwo
Sam
Father of Dr Nkeiru Okonkwo
When they passed, their children carried the work forward — and gave it both their fathers’ names.
What we stand for
Education first
Both men the foundation is named for believed schooling was worth any sacrifice. School fees remain our largest commitment.
Dignity, not charity
Families are met as neighbours with a temporary need, never as cases to be processed.
Direct delivery
Support reaches the communities we serve without passing through layers that thin it out along the way.
The overlooked
Widows and orphans are the first to be forgotten when help arrives. They are the first we look for.
Legal status
Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit
State of Minnesota
Founded
2018
Headquarters
10550 Major Ave N
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
Be part of the legacy
Two men gave what they had. Their children turned it into a foundation. What comes next depends on people who never met either of them.
DonateOjemba & Sam Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Minnesota. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
