Meet the Founder of the Toni Rose Foundation Inc Keanna Hinds
Keanna Hinds is a registered nurse, mother, daughter, philanthropist, and founder of The Toni Rose Foundation Inc. With over ten years of nursing experience, Keanna has found joy in caring for individuals in different stages of life and has experienced a great deal of fulfillment in hospice nursing care.
Keanna is also the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Kendi's Korner, LLC, which provides marketing, journalism, and broadcasting services to entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations in New York City. Kendi's Korner, LLC, bridges the gap between patrons and business owners in the community.
In 2018, after the untimely passing of her mother, Keanna started the Toni Rose Foundation in her honor to keep her memory alive and also start a mission that will forever change the route of her life. Keanna has also lent her broadcasting skills to the Toni Rose Foundation, spare-heading the foundation's first passion project called "Life After Death…The Notorious GRIEF". The podcast discusses everything related to grief. Keanna continues to have a strong presence in her community and vows to use her life experiences to fuel her purpose.
Who is Keanna Hinds, BSN, RN, and what was your motivation for starting your brand?
You may not know how it feels to board a flight for a memorable vacation with your family and watch it turn into a nightmare right in front of your eyes, but I do. Death of U.S Citizens abroad is more prevalent than you think. With over 700 reported deaths from unnatural causes in 2018 alone, and no government officials to help victims and families seek closure and get answers for these tragedies, my mission is to help educate the masses on how we can protect ourselves while traveling abroad.
What are some of the main challenges you faced with growing your brand?
Support is one of the main challenges of the brand. It's not every day you hear of a girl from Brooklyn trying to seek justice for her mother, who was murdered on a Caribbean island. These matters are not as popular as gang violence and tend not to have the same type of allocation of media awareness. The Caribbean public is afraid to ask the government the questions that I am asking. That may be a reason why they shy away from supporting the foundation. The American public does not understand the implications of crimes happening outside of America to help. My goal is to bring awareness so that situations like this do not happen again. If it does, I want families to receive the appropriate support and assistance to resolve these cold cases. My mother's memory and legacy will live on through my family and this foundation and will help make a change in the way the government (the U.S and abroad) handles deaths of U.S Citizens outside of America.
What is some advice that you would have for anyone looking to follow in your footsteps?
Do not give up! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Stay steadfast in what you believe in because if you don't, who will? Your beliefs matter, and if you can make a change in the world, then it is worth the effort. Keep going.
What is next for you?
The COVID19 pandemic has put a damper on some upcoming events. I kicked off the foundation last year with our first annual Auction Brunch & Sip fundraiser, which helped form the foundation into a non-profit organization. This year the auction and other fundraising collaborations are postponed. For now, I have started the #ZipThisUp Campaign email list, where I will be sending out a newsletter on tips on travel safety, education, and updates on where we are seeking assistance from the government in this matter. My goal is to get a minimum of 500 signatures of people who want to see a change in the way the government handles the death of U.S citizens abroad. Although the foundation has had correspondence with St. Vincent and the Grenadines government including the honorable Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, the Commissioner of Police, U.S Citizen Services, Consular Section, U.S Embassy in Barbados, investigator and news reporter Mary Murphy from WPIX, Brooklyn Borough President Adams attorney, and Ama Dwimoh, there is no record of my mother's death on the U.S Embassy Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs website. We will continue to seek justice and advocate for those families who have experienced similar tragedies.
Follow Keanna @keep_killinem_ke, @tonirosefoundation, @kendiskorner, and visit her website at tonirosefoundation.org.