Extending Love and Hope Across the Borders
— A young mother at St. Rita Evergreen Girls School, Nyahururu, Kenya · 2025
About GDP
Global Development Project (GDP) is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit with operational leadership in Nairobi, Kenya, and headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. We are not a relief agency that parachutes in — we live alongside Kenya’s most vulnerable communities, building institutions designed to outlast us.
Our leadership team has worked together for more than 35 years, a rare continuity that builds deep cultural understanding, long-term local trust, and the kind of institutional knowledge that transforms short-term aid into permanent change.
EIN: 93-1730164 ·
“We create lasting social impact by addressing the immediate and long-term needs of disadvantaged women, children, and communities across Kenya and East Africa — through holistic care, education, trauma-informed recovery, clean water, economic empowerment, and community resources — rooted in love, hope, and compassion.”
From a 1991 Calling in Kenya to a U.S. Nonprofit in 2023
People sometimes ask us a fair question: “Is Global Development Project Kenya a new organization, or has it really been around since 1991?”
The honest answer is both. And we think the full story is worth telling.
Where It Began: Mombasa, 1991
Michael Wright and his wife Patricia (“Pat”) arrived in Kenya in 1991 as missionaries, with just a calling. They began the work of establishing a leadership center in Mombasa, working directly with youth and emerging community leaders.
That first center became a foundation. Over the following decade, Michael and Pat established leadership centers across Kenya, one community at a time, sustained not by a formal nonprofit structure but by the support of donors and friends who believed in the work and the people doing it.
Why We Formally Incorporated in 2023
For over 35 years, the work grew organically — center by center, relationship by relationship. But as the initiatives expanded and the need for larger partnerships and grant funding grew, it became clear that the work needed a formal structure to match its scale.
In 2023, Global Development Project Kenya, Inc. was registered as a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 93-1730164) — giving this three-decades-old work the accountability, transparency, and infrastructure to keep growing responsibly: audited financials, formal governance, and the kind of reporting that lets donors give with full confidence.
It’s the same work that began in 1991. What changed in 2023 was the paperwork and formal structure — not the mission, and not the people carrying it out.
One Organization, Two Registrations
You may also see us referred to as Global Hearts Without Borders Network (GHWBN). This isn’t a separate organization — when we registered as an NGO in Kenya, the name “GDP Kenya” was already in use there, so we registered locally under GHWBN instead. In the United States, we operate as Global Development Project Kenya, Inc., dba Global Hearts Without Borders Network. One organization, one mission, operating under the name available to us in each country.
What Hasn’t Changed
What began on that patch of ground in Mombasa in 1991 is still what drives us today. The GDP Multiplex Center that grew from it, along with the leadership centers established across Kenya in those early years, continue to serve youth, women, and families now alongside newer programs like the St. Rita campus and our clean water initiatives.
Verify Our Work for Yourself
We believe transparency builds trust. You can review our:
1991 to Today, in Four Chapters
A Calling in Mombasa
Michael and Pat Wright arrive in Kenya with just a calling, establishing GDP’s first leadership center on the Kenyan coast.
Organic, Community-by-Community Growth
Leadership centers take root across Kenya, one relationship at a time — sustained by donors and friends who believed in the work before there was a formal structure behind it.
Formal U.S. Incorporation
Global Development Project Kenya, Inc. is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 93-1730164) — bringing audited financials, formal governance, and full donor transparency to three decades of work already underway.
Same Ground, Same Mission
The GDP Multiplex Center stands on that original 1991 site in Mombasa, now joined by St. Rita Evergreen Girls School, clean water initiatives, and programs reaching communities across Kenya.
Six Interlocking Programs
Children’s Homes & Special Care
Three partner homes and a specialized therapy center — providing food, healthcare, education, and trained caregiving for approximately 590 children.
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St. Rita Evergreen Girls School
East Africa’s first trauma-informed campus for girls fleeing gender-based violence — opened March 2025. Over 2,000 girls remain on the waiting list.
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Clean Water
Drilling wells, installing solar-powered pumps, and maintaining infrastructure in drought-affected regions — giving 2,000+ people safe daily access to clean water.
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Women’s Empowerment
5,500+ women annually through trauma recovery, financial literacy, entrepreneurship training, and round-the-clock crisis support.
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GDP Scholarships
The Evelyn S. Weatherspoon Scholarship Fund — supporting Kenyan students from communities like Nairobi’s Mathare into secondary school, vocational training, and university.
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Humanitarian Aid & Youth
Crisis response for widows and families in Nairobi’s informal settlements, plus 12 youth leadership centers across Kenya developing the next generation of community leaders.
Learn More →“From feeding programs that doubled attendance at rural schools, to scholarships that sent Mercy from Mathare into medical training — our work is measured in transformed lives. These stories are why we continue to show up, season after season.”— Michael Wright, Co-founder & Director, Global Development Project · 35 years of service
The People Behind the Programs
Many of Our Leaders Have Served Together for More Than 35 Years
That continuity — rare in the nonprofit world — is our greatest operational asset.
Michael Wright
Patricia Wright
Yira Hoffmann
Greg Hoffmann
Eric Wright
Edith Jebet
Jocelyne Wright-McLemore
Dr. Erin Anthony
Measured in Transformed Lives
A borehole that changed everything for one Kenyan village
Before GDP drilled the well, women walked 4 miles each way for water that made their children sick. Today, 340 families have safe water at their doorstep.
Mercy, from Mathare — now in medical training
The Evelyn S. Weatherspoon Scholarship Fund gave Mercy from one of Nairobi’s most challenging communities the chance no one else offered her.
“The first place where I felt both wanted”
A young mother arrived at St. Rita in 2025 with her infant, fleeing violence. Today, both she and her child receive trauma-informed care, education, and hope.
Transparency Is a Practice, Not a Policy
Annual Financial Reports
GDP publishes annual financial reports on this website — open to any donor, partner, or member of the public. We also undergo voluntary third-party audits.
View reports →Monthly Donor Impact Reports
Every donor who provides an email address receives a monthly impact update — with photos, project progress, and specific outcomes tied to their giving period.
Built-in Sustainability
Every GDP project includes vocational training, income-generating activities, and local partnerships so communities maintain services after initial implementation.
Make an Incredible Difference
Your generosity makes a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. Please consider making a donation today to help us continue our vital work.