Khacki Greene

Kathryn Lee-Ann Greene; born August 13, 1992), best known as Khacki Greene, is an American philanthropist, known for founding the non-profit organization Pack for Success at the young age of 16. She has gained national attention for her many philanthropic efforts, and has been featured on Television for many other efforts, such as winning a high school essay contest, Champions of Courage at the age of 12 in the state of Maryland and was also a host of the PBS Teen Talkshow, Graffiti Street in the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. She is also featured in the top 500 Most Followed People in North Carolina, coming in at number 354.

Early life

Greene was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Charles T. Greene, who at the time was the Vice President of the General Mills Corporation, and Deborah Greene. Khacki Greene is also known for having moved so many times, attending ten different schools over the span of Kindergarten through 12th grade in Maryland, the US Virgin Islands, and North Carolina.

Pack for Success

Greene moved to St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands at the age of 14, where she attended the Antilles Upper School. She auditioned for the PBS Teenage Talkshow Graffiti Street shortly after moving and was surprised to learn that she landed the role. Production meetings were held weekly at the local public high school, Charlotte Amalie High School. Being enrolled at the private school, Antilles, Khacki was not exposed to the needs of the students who attended public school and was not aware that many of them drop out by the eighth grade. Her participation in the talk show, which took her to several public schools, opened her eyes to the reality of attending those schools.

" 'I was shocked,' she says, describing what she saw. At one school, barbed wire surrounded the dilapidated building. One or two textbooks could be seen on a shelf. At another school, a note on the chalkboard left by a teacher summed it all up for Khacki. Pointing at a small piece of chalk resting on the bottom of the board, the note read: 'Please do not use. It's all I have left.'"

When she and her family returned to the United States, she decided to start collecting school supplies and backpacks, and thus, "Pack for Success" was born in September 2008.

Greene has been quoted many times AbOUT the necessity of people around the globe receiving a quality education. She has said, "Education is the key to solving most of the world’s problems. Only through education are we given the opportunity to grow and reach out to our own communities and around the world." One reason that Greene and Pack for Success has received such a large amount of media attention is because of her realization and interest that she can help people across the globe, even at such a young age. Her motto is, "There is no age limit to changing the world."

Career Goals

Greene will be attending George Washington University in the fall of 2010. She has projected to major in Political Science with a minor in Communications. Her interest in politics was born after she filmed a one-hour election special with Graffiti Street and interviewed then-candidate John P. DeJongh who is now the Governor of the US Virgin Islands. After moving back to the States, she meet former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and Congressman Howard Coble. It was then she decided that she was interested in pursuing politics as a career. She has said that she intends to continue Pack for Success throughout college and believes her future political platform will focus heavily on education reform.

Awards

'Outstanding Service Award' from Mayor of Burlington, North Carolina, Ronnie K. Wall 'Public Recognition' from Mayor of Greensboro, North Carolina, Yvonne Johnson 'Letter of Recognition' from North Carolina Governor Beverly Purdue

Publicity

Pack for Success and Khacki Greene have been featured in the following media publications.

  • Times-News Newspaper
  • St. Thomas Source Newspaper
  • St. John Source Newspaper
  • The Virgin Islands Daily News
  • WFMY Channel News 2
  • The Alamance News
  • WPCM Radio