Jesse Hawkes
Rwanda Program Director

Jesse is an accomplished social activist, professional actor and youth development worker currently living and working in Kigali, Rwanda. In addition to serving as GYC’s Program Director for Rwanda, Jesse works as program director for RAPSIDA, an HIV/AIDS prevention program of Rwandans and Americans in Partnership, since 2003 (www.rapsida.blogspot.com). His work at RAPSIDA has included developing and managing a creative, engaging HIV prevention program for six Rwandan high schools utilizing a combination of innovative theatre methods, peer education, and outreach activities. He has also written episodes of Ishuti Solange for Population Services International (PSI-Rwanda), a popular radio drama series on HIV/AIDS and other public health concerns. In collaboration with the Rwandan Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport, Jesse performed at the 10th memorial service of the 1994 genocide at Amahoro Stadium, Kigali. As a founding member, assistant program director and chair of the Board of Directors for Centers for Social Responsibility, Jesse led outreach campaigns to schools for the Rwanda By Invitation program, chaired the Sister Schools program where he led secondary school students on a tip to Rwanda, and designed and delivered presentations on Rwandan history and culture to local high schools in Vermont. He also served as a visiting artist at the Community Arts Project in Cape Town, South Africa where he directed, wrote and facilitated a community development theatre project in collaboration with the South African government, township youth and South African artists. As an educational consultant for Parents, Teachers and Students for Social Responsibility, an organization implementing educational programs and projects designed to empower young people with the knowledge and attitudes needed to become proactive citizens for social justice, he led a group of high school youth from the US on a visit to Haiti. Jesse graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history.