Posted on October 9, 2020 at 9:00 AM by Denise Cartina
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Kim Henderson was born and raised in Oakland, California and found Naperville while she and her husband (Lee) searched for a place to raise their children when they lived in London for 4 years. They searched for houses virtually since they did not know anyone from Naperville but heard it is a good place to raise children. Since 2010, Kim has donated her leadership skills and time in supporting her daughters- Kaylee (senior) and Layla (sophomore) and the community. She has been active with Home and School and had several roles at Mill Street School through Naperville North. Some of her roles include Home and School President, Magazine Drive co-chair, Nomination chair and Senior Celebration co-chair at Naperville North. She led the Girls Scouts as well. She is currently on her third year as a Trustee, current Vice-Chair with the Naperville Education Foundation. She is active with Jack and Jill of America, “an organization of mothers with children ages 2-19 dedicated to nurturing future African-American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.” Kim has worked as Co-chair for conferences, Hospitality and Recognition chair. Kim is involved with S.U.C.C.E.S.S which “is a volunteer parent organization devoted to inspiring and empowering minority students to achieve higher levels of academic performance” at Jefferson and Naperville North.
Kim was influenced by her parents who gave back to their community. Her mom is a retired educator who encouraged her to be actively involved with her children. Kim said that by being involved with her children’s lives that they can become productive adults and can make contributions to the world as well. Kim has generously devoted countless hours and great leadership skills in influencing her children’s lives and benefitting the Naperville community. Kim’s advice to the youth- “The world today is so stressful and competitive for teenagers. I always tell my daughters that the only person they should be worrying about competing against is the person they see in the mirror. Everyone else should be not seen as competition but motivation.” "
Nominated by Lourdes Chew