Kendall Ciesemier Explained

Kendall Ciesemier
Occupation:Writer, producer, reporter
Alma Mater:Georgetown University
Known For:Founding Kids Caring 4 Kids
Website:http://www.kendallciesemier.com/

Kendall Ciesemier is a writer, producer, and reporter, originally from Wheaton, Illinois.[1] [2] She is also the founder of Kids Caring 4 Kids, a non-profit organization she started at age 11.[3]

Early life and education

Kids Caring 4 Kids

After watching a special of The Oprah Winfrey Show about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, Ciesemier founded the volunteer organization Kids Caring 4 Kids in 2005.[4] [5] In May 2007, Ciesemier was named one of America's top ten youth volunteers by Prudential and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.[6] In 2010, she was named one of Glamour Magazine's top ten women of the year for her service work.[7] Ciesemier was also awarded a Daily Point of Light Award for her work doing Kids Caring 4 Kids by Points of Light. The Daily Point of Light Award was created by President George H.W Bush to "honor individuals and groups creating meaningful change in communities across America".[8]

On August 31, 2007, Ciesemier received a surprise visit from US President Bill Clinton at an assembly at Wheaton North High School in recognition of her service. Clinton and Ciesemier then went to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The episode was broadcast on September 4, 2007.[9] On the show, Clinton announced that his friend would be donating half-a-million dollars to Ciesemier's organization.[10]

Education

Ciesemier attended Franklin Middle School in Wheaton, Illinois, where she was a student when she formed Kids Caring 4 Kids. She graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.[11] While at Georgetown, she co-hosted a radio show called "He Said, She Said" with her older brother Connor, which covered pop culture and current events.

Ciesemier later attended the New York Film Academy for a six-week program in documentary production.[12]

Career

Ciesemier worked as a production assistant at CBS This Morning during the 2016 presidential election. She later worked as a producer and reporter for both The New York Times Opinion Section and Mic.[13]

While at Mic, Ciesemier interviewed Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving life without parole for a first-time nonviolent drug offense.[14] The interview inspired Kim Kardashian to advocate for the clemency of Johnson.[15]

Ciesemier currently works for the American Civil Liberties Union as a host of the podcast At Liberty and as a multimedia producer.

Friendship and work with Tonya Ingram

In 2019, at age 27, Tonya Ingram posted on Instagram looking for a living person willing to become her kidney-donor. The organ procurement system (OPS) in the United States, run by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), as of 2019, failed to recover around 28,000 organs a year. Utilizing journalism, Ingram and writer and organ-recipient, Ciesemier, asked the government to hold the organizations involved in OPS accountable, believing this would result in Ingram receiving a kidney.[16] [17] [18]

Ingram told the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy that she would die without the federal government's urgent action. A year and a half later, on Dec. 30, 2022, Ingram died of complications from kidney failure.[17]

In 2022, Ingram was one of 12,000 people on waiting lists who died or became too sick to receive a transplant.[19]

Ingram's friend and fellow journalist, Ciesemier, commented on future potential for intervention in the organ procurement system by the American government:[20]

Personal life

Ciesemier was born with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia and has undergone two liver transplants at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 2010, she was part of the design team for its replacement, the Lurie Children's Hospital.[21] She has stated that her own personal struggles are part of what inspired her to help others.[22] [23]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hendley . Elizabeth . 2014-11-28 . Perfect in weakness: Kids Caring 4 Kids touches thousands of lives . 2022-05-24 . World Vision . en-US.
  2. Web site: Kendall Ciesemier . 2022-05-24 . American Civil Liberties Union . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2011-09-26 . AIDS Charity Begun by Georgetown Freshman in 6th Grade . 2022-05-24 . Georgetown University . en-US.
  4. Web site: Porterfield . Harry . Wheaton eighth grader making worldwide impact . Abclocal.go.com . May 24, 2007 . August 16, 2012.
  5. Web site: Kids Caring 4 Kids . 2022-05-24 . GuideStar . Candid.
  6. Web site: Illinois' Kendall Ciesemier of Wheaton Named One of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers . Findarticles.com . August 16, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110810014333/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2007_May_7/ai_n19054616/ . August 10, 2011 .
  7. Web site: Tomb . Devin . Illinois' 2010 Readers' Choice Award Winner: Kendall Ciesemier . Glamour.com . November 1, 2010 . August 16, 2012.
  8. Web site: 5 April 2005 . Daily Point of Light Kendall Ciesemier . 23 May 2022 . Points of Light .
  9. Fuller, James. "Clinton, Oprah, cash", Daily Herald, September 1, 2007.
  10. Web site: Caputo . Corinne . WWTDG: Kendall Ciesmier . Online Article . Hello Giggles . 13 October 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131017180801/http://hellogiggles.com/wwtdg-kendall-ciesemier . 17 October 2013 .
  11. Web site: Kendall Ciesemier . LinkedIn.
  12. Web site: Kendall Ciesemier . 2022-05-24 . New York Film Academy Alumni . en-US.
  13. Web site: Kendall Ciesemier . 2022-05-24 . Mic . 10 October 2018 . en.
  14. Web site: Ciesemier . Kendall . 23 October 2017 . This grandmother is serving a life sentence for a nonviolent offense . 2022-05-24 . Mic . en.
  15. Web site: Ciesemier . Kendall . Horowitz . Jake . 2 May 2018 . Meet Alice Marie Johnson, the woman Kim Kardashian West wants Trump to pardon . 2022-05-24 . Mic . en.
  16. Web site: Ingram . Tonya . Organ donations get wasted every year. That's killing people like me. . 25 May 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510043425/https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/organ-donations-get-wasted-every-year-s-killing-people-me-ncna1213401 . 2023-05-10 . 2023-01-22 . NBC News . en.
  17. News: Ciesemier . Kendall . 2023-01-28 . Opinion Tonya Ingram Feared the Organ Donation System Would Kill Her. It Did. . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510051823/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/opinion/organ-donation-reform-delays.html . 2023-05-10 . 0362-4331.
  18. Web site: Rep. Porter goes live with Tonya Ingram and Jennifer Erickson to discuss new measures to hold organ procurement organizations (OPOs) accountable . 2023-02-07 . Facebook. en.
  19. News: Karp . Seth . 2023-02-03 . Opinion A 'Preventable Tragedy': Dying for Lack of an Organ Donor . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510052321/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/opinion/organ-donation.html . 2023-05-10 . 0362-4331.
  20. News: 2021-03-24 . Trump's Organ-Donation Policy Fix Would Save Lives . en . Bloomberg . 2023-02-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510052621/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-24/biden-should-implement-trump-s-organ-donation-policy-fix?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner . 2023-05-10.
  21. Web site: Breu . Giovanna . June 4, 2010 . Hospital's Design Is Guided by Experiences of Youth . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120613061030/http://www.chicagonewscoop.org/hospital%E2%80%99s-design-is-guided-by-experiences-of-youth-3/ . June 13, 2012 . August 16, 2012 . Chicago News Cooperative .
  22. Web site: 20 July 2012 . Kids Caring 4 Kids: Kendall Ciesemier Promotes Advocacy By Kids, For Kids . https://web.archive.org/web/20130625062842/http://www.teenvoices.com/2012/07/20/kids-caring-4-kids-kendall-ciesemier-promotes-advocacy-by-kids-for-kids/ . 25 June 2013 . Teen Voices . Teen Voices/Women Express, Inc. .
  23. Web site: Johnson . Rachel . WM Spotlight: Kendall Ciesemier . Online . wonderfullymadeblog.org . 13 October 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020032428/http://www.wonderfullymadeblog.org/2011/12/wm-spotlight-kendall-ciesemier.html . 20 October 2013 .