E.P.I.C. FOUNDERS
TENNILLE AMOR
Tennille Amor is a singer/songwriter, equality advocate, and internationally recognized Peace Ambassador, having been on the frontline of peaceful protests for racial and gender equality, as well as speaking out against all forms of injustice at the United Nations, and on stages around the world. Originally from Trinidad, Tennille has lived in Egypt, Scotland, England, Singapore and the United States, and has visited close to 50 countries. It was during her childhood in Egypt where she first recognized the immense imbalance in the world, making a promise at a young age to one day help alleviate some of the world's unnecessary anguish. Tennille is dedicated to using her platform to highlight the unacceptable injustices taking place all over the world today, and through E.P.I.C., she is able to lend support in ways that bring about tangible and sustainable change.
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ALEXI PANOS
A leader in the Emergent Wisdom movement, Alexi Panos was named as one of Forbes Top 11 Women Entrepreneurs, INC's magazines Top 10 Entrepreneurs Changing the World, one of Origin Magazines Top 100 Creatives Changing the World, and is a featured expert in the films 'The Abundance Factor,' 'RiseUp' and 'Age of the Entrepreneur.' Alexi is a leadership and embodiment trainer in The Bridge Method workshops and The Elementum Coaching Institute (which she co founded and developed with her husband Preston Smiles), host of the Top 10 Self Improvement Podcast UNLEASHED, business strategist, artist and humanitarian (through her organizations E.P.I.C. and The Sisters Society); and as a bestseller, Alexi has authored the books 50 Ways To Yay! and Now or Never, both by Simon & Schuster.
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TEAM LEADERS
KISINDA MKINI
Kisinda Mkini is "a passionate community servant with the ability to motivate and inspire communities in identifying their true potential." With this ongoing quest to give, Kisinda has promoted significant, positive change in communities and individuals through advocacy, empowered by compassion. Kisinda is the E.P.I.C. Team Leader in Tanzania, and has a background of extensive experience, having previously worked with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), widowers, HIV/AIDS patients, and as a volunteer with the Tuwafikie Tanzania Organization, encouraging young people to achieve an education that will inspire creativity and independence. Kisinda now shares his expertise with E.P.I.C. by leading the charge with all of our sustainable projects, from the drilling of water wells, to Hygiene and Sanitation Education, and The E.P.I.C. Leadership Program. He is familiar with a striving through strife mindset, based on a strong foundation, built on educational and social skills and values. Those significant attributes have naturally inspired Kisinda to provide a voice to marginalized communities, and a beacon of hope to those who are struggling to find it.
CONNOR PASCHALL
Connor Paschall was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. He has always loved to travel and has an innate curiousity about the world. Through his career as a conceptual artist and designer, Connor was introduced to Tennille in early 2014. He became a member of the Fellowship Program in 2015 where he found his permanent home and family inside of E.P.I.C. Since then, Connor has become an E.P.I.C. Team Leader, alongside Kisinda Mkini, facilitating on-the-ground projects in Tanzania multiple times a year. For the past few years, Connor has been documenting E.P.I.C.'s work in Tanzania by capturing video footage that can better tell the Success Stories of the communities that E.P.I.C. is seeking to empower.
JULIANA (BIBI) MKINI
Juliana Mkini (who we affectionately refer to as "Bibi," which means "Grandmother" in Swahili), is the heart and soul of E.P.I.C. When Tennille and Alexi first went to Tanzania in 2006, they stayed in Bibi's home, and since then, she has been a second mother to them. One of the first conversations at her dinner table is the reason why E.P.I.C. still exists to this day. Bibi is the Tanzanian E.P.I.C. Founder, joining us in our community building projects, and sharing her love for our E.P.I.C. family by creating the most delicious home cooked meals for us every day. A few of us have tried to recreate her famous, "Bibi's Beans," but they never quite taste the same! An accomplished and respected woman in her community, Bibi held a position as a court clerk, and always encouraged her children, grandchildren, and adopted children (especially the girls), to seek out higher education. She is the backbone of the Mkini family, and a true inspiration in all of the work that we do.
IRENE MKINI
Irene Mkini is a Gender and Development expert with more than ten years of experience in leading and implementing a broad range of empowerment programs targeting women, youth, and adolescent girls. She is focused on raising awareness around the cultural norms and practices which are the root causes of gender-based violence against adolescent girls, children and women. She is also dedicated to empowering women and girls socially and economically. Irene is passionate about making a difference in the world. She has been building employability capacities and skills for adolescent girls and young women who dropped out from school due to pregnancy, early marriage and other challenges faced, and has helped facilitate more than 200 girls to enter into formal employment. Further, Irene is a highly experienced researcher as as well as report writer. She holds a Master’s Degree of Arts in Development Studies where she majored in Women, Gender, and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague in the Netherlands. She also holds a PhD degree from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands whereby her research was focused on growth aspirations of female entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in Tanzania. Irene’s home has been a host to E.P.I.C. Fellows for the past decade, and she continues to provide valuable advice concerning the education of the women in each village for E.P.I.C.'s Community Development Programs.
E.P.I.C. FELLOWS
What started as a vision shared by the Co-Founders of E.P.I.C., has now become a global movement. Each of the E.P.I.C. Fellows have been to Tanzania with E.P.I.C. (some coming back year after year). By developing their own personal relationships with the communities that we serve, they have continued the mission of E.P.I.C. by fundraising to support our clean water initiatives, as well as to further community growth and development in each of the villages where we drill water wells. E.P.I.C. Fellows lend their skills to teach Hygiene and Sanitation Education, Leadership Programs, garden and crop growth, and music and sports participation. Each of the Fellows have become an integral part of the E.P.I.C. family, and we could not do what we do without them. If you would like to join us, please visit: Come to Tanzania.
PARTNERSHIP AND SUPPORT
We have received invaluable generosity in support of our work, including financial contributions, in-kind donations, services, promotion and visibility, thought leadership and issue-area expertise. From individuals to corporations and other organizations, our partners know that an investment in E.P.I.C. is an investment in clean water provision, health and hygiene, women's empowerment, sustainability, improved education, local employment, economic freedom and prosperity, security, access to better food provision, reduced inequalities, and overall community growth, development, and societal advancement. Please contact us if you would like to join our growing movement.
