Board of Directors

Ruth T. Young, Ed.D, Founder and Executive Director

Ruth Young was born and raised in Williamsville, New York, and spent much of her youth traveling between the USA and Canada where her family owned a farm on Cape Breton Island.

She has a BS from Baldwin-Wallace University, an M.S. Ed. from Duquesne University, and a doctorate in Education and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont.  Prior to being named the Executive Director of Everyone’s Child, she worked for many years as an interpreter for hearing impaired children in several public schools throughout the USA.

In 1997, Ruth visited Kenya with a missionary team, the first of many trips that deeply affected her and ultimately determined what she would do during the next phase of her life.

There were many moments that stuck with her from her time in Kenya, but one of the most poignant was when she shared a bottle of water with a small child in an arid region of eastern Kenya whose name literally translates to “Camp of Fire”. “I’ll never forget what happened,” she said. “The child took the bottle from me so gingerly, looked at it, then handed it to her older sister.” Ruth watched as the two of them walked off, sharing the water bottle and never looking back to ask for more. She had fully expected the child to drain the bottle and come back for more, but what she saw instead was an act of human kindness and mutual dependency, the smaller child entrusting her older sibling with the gift that had been given to her.

After receiving her doctorate from UVM, Ruth was asked by members of the current EC Board of Directors about becoming the Executive Director of a non-profit organization whose purpose would be to serve underprivileged children in developing nations.  She was chosen specifically for this task because of her research and interest in Kenya.  The organization took the name of “Everyone’s Child” from her dissertation.

In 2016, Ruth and her husband Steve and their teenage son moved from Vermont to western Pennsylvania to live in their restored farmhouse. She enjoys traveling, playing guitar, going for walks with her husband and their dog, and finding ways to help children smile.