Alumni Profile: Kofi Gwira '99

Kofi Gwira ’99 says attending Church Farm School was an experience that has positively influenced and defined his life up until today. Hailing from Willingboro, New Jersey, he arrived here as a 7th grader in 1993. He appreciated in particular the small class sizes and individualized attention, and, even though it was his first time attending a boarding school, Kofi says he never really felt homesick because other students quickly became like family. “You had to adjust to this new environment and fit in so bonding with other students really mattered; ‘til this day two of my best friends are from CFS.” Kofi currently resides in Washington, DC, where he is a is a Foreign Service Officer (diplomat) who has been stationed in Thailand and most recently, Brazil.

He is currently working as a Desk Officer managing the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. government and the Kenyan Embassy in DC. Kofi says he prefers being overseas, an interest that was first spurred while attending Church Farm School where he was exposed to students from different backgrounds. “My family also moved back to Ghana while I was at CFS, and as a result I spent several summers there. This was my first real exposure to living in a different culture.” This interest continued while he was at Rider University, where he attended the American Business School in Paris during both his junior and senior year fall semesters. “It was an amazing experience to be all by myself, learning a new language and culture at an international school surrounded by students from so many different nationalities,” he recalls.

Diversity is something he came to first truly appreciate at Church Farm School. He says in addition to meeting students from varied backgrounds, the mix of suburban and inner city boys was “refreshing.” Kofi confesses he wasn’t a great athlete, but enjoyed singing in the choir, participating in Pageant, serving on the newspaper staff and taking classes with Mr. Jack Kistler Sr. and photography with Mr. Bill Wentzel. “Being in that darkroom really spurred my lifelong love of photography.

Kofi’s favorite memory, however, was organizing the senior dance with Villa Maria Academy. “The dance was the first time I had ever seen so many girls on the campus so of course it was memorable!” Kofi says academics at Church Farm School were rigorous, in particular Mr. Art Smith’s classes, but that they prepared him well for college. “By the time I got into my first year at Rider, I found the classes really easy. In fact, my GPA was so high that I applied for and received a Gates Millennium Scholarship that paid for my entire college education and studies abroad. That was due in large part to Church Farm School. It was a real blessing.” Kofi majored in management and leadership as well as international business while at Rider. While there, he also completed prestigious internships at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Verizon, Lockheed Martin and Johnson & Johnson. In his free time, he served as a student ambassador and was active with the Midnight Run program that feeds New York City’s homeless.

After Rider, Kofi worked for four years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in both Delaware and New York City, starting out in a leadership development program as an analyst rotating through different areas of the bank (investment banking, private banking, credit cards) while also participating in the Big Brother/Little Brother Program, Meals on Wheels and the Urban League Young Professionals Program. He left JPMorgan to pursue a master’s degree in international relations at American University before joining the U.S. State Department. Kofi tries to get out to do motivational speaking at DC-area high schools when his schedule permits, as he enjoys mentoring and believes “giving back to your community is what matters most.”

Hear from Kofi in person when he participates in our Alumni Weekend Career Panel on Friday, April 28!