Debra Kahn is an associate director and program director at a nonprofit organization. She specializes in inspiring youth to become agents of change through service learning programs. She helped found the nonprofit Amman Imman: Water is Life, which brings water to remote regions of Niger, Africa. Through the Wells of Love program, Kahn engaged over 135 schools worldwide and thousands of students in fundraising efforts to support water projects in Niger. These students have helped build water wells and form connections with children in Niger. Kahn utilizes her experience in education, communications, and grassroots organizing to manage programs and mobilize global citizens to address issues like climate change and water scarcity.

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Biography of Debra Kahn
Associate Director and Program Director
Debra Kahn is an organization and youth development leader. She
specializes in inspiring youth to reach for their potential as global
change-makers through service learning. Her personal thirst for meaning
led to career shifts from computer programmer to Montessori teacher,
and then from school director to nonprofit leader. Debra found her
purpose in engaging youth as socially conscious leaders and making a
difference for people deeply affected by climate change, water scarcity
and poverty.
Her journey began at a Montessori school in Chevy Chase, Maryland
where she uncovered her natural talent to empower students with honest
and real experiences. Then, a new world opened for Debbie when she
discovered Africa, specifically the country of Niger and the stark reality of
children dying of thirst in the Azawak valley. Debbie joined the founding
team of the nonprofit Amman Imman: Water is Life. She started the education program Wells of Love,
a grassroots movement of schools and students helping bring water to this abandoned region. Debbie
envisioned that linking students to their counterparts a world away would serve to ignite their
compassion, inspire them towards action, and start them on their own path of meaning as global
citizens.
Wells of Love students took part in building Amman Imman’s first boreholes in the Azawak. The
program started with an initial group of 40 Montessori schools. Debbie traveled to the remote region
with the Amman Imman team in February 2009, conducting a “Friendship Exchange” that connected
over 200 children in America with their African brothers and sisters. Debbie has shared her passion
with audiences of all ages. Subsequently, over 135 schools worldwide, and thousands of students,
have joined this grassroots movement to advocate for Amman Imman’s communities in Africa. They
have participated in annual Walks for Water, fitness philanthropy fundraisers, and many creative
individual and group projects to bring attention and raise money for the Azawak. These school
children have witnessed the life of their African friends blossom with hope and a promising future.
Debbie contributes many years of administrative and organizational development experience. A
skilled educator, communicator and very comfortable with technology, Debbie brings expertise in
program management, social media, curriculum development, and fundraising. Debbie is also a
writer, poet and big picture thinker. As a humanitarian and visionary leader, Debbie embraces
possibility and implements practical action through grassroots activism that changes lives.
Debbie received her Montessori teaching certification in 1992, after working as a computer
programmer in the biotech and banking industries for 14 years. In 2007, she earned her B.A. in
Education from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. Her thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of
using a blog to mobilize schools and students in grassroots action. Debbie enjoys hiking, spending
time in nature and adventuring with kids near her home in Silver Spring, Maryland.
In Niger in 2009