Meet The Staff

𝐃𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬-𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫/𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫

  A native Washingtonian who grew up in Southeast Washington, D.C. Dyanna began her career in community involvement at a𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲, Dyanna would accompany her 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫  at Hunter Pines to help distribute groceries to residents.  Her mother founded the Hunter Pines Community Center when she was a young adolescent. Being a youth ambassador, Dyanna inevitably picked up a lot of extremely practical skills.

 Dyanna 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 her cosmetology license from Bennett Career Institute in 2012. In addition to attending Career Technical Institute for Medical Assistance/Billing and Coding she also graduated from UDC in 2015 as an EKG technician. Obtaining employment while an extern for Dr. Levine, the former orthopedic surgeon of the Washington Redskins. Afterwards, she attended Prince George's Community College to study Criminal Justice and Catholic University to study her Associates of Arts in Paralegal studies

   𝐓𝐡anks to an article on KillMoe News, she gained knowledge about the Building Blocks mini grant. 𝐋eading her to write her first grant, and being selected as one of 20 recipients out of 85 DC applicants. She founded The Girl Power Project, an all girls program aimed at preventing violence using creative methods. Launching the first Retreat in February 2022, things started to excel quickly after that. Subsequently, Team Rychkid initiated monthly 𝐜ommunity 𝐠ivebacks to provide DMV residents with essential resources. 𝐒he was given the 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 to collaborate and form partnerships with WAWA, Wholefoods, Papa Johns, and Chick-fil-A, and most recent & Pizza.

𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢 (𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐉𝐚𝐞)-𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭

  Janai is the Vice President of The Rychkid Foundation and is better known by her professional name, Chef Jae W. Also a native Washingtonian, she grew up with a deep sense of loyalty to the area. Before Janai fully saw the positive effects of change on other people, she was introduced to the idea of giving back to the community. Growing up in ward 8 and assisting her mother, a registered nurse and licensed pharmacist. Her grandmother would serve residents hot food, cold drinks, and spare change and dollars. She provided assistance to clients who she knew faced difficulties in life and were unable to pay for basic needs, like pampers. Janai was greatly influenced and developed a genuine enthusiasm for the nonprofit sector. 

   Janai received her diploma in Culinary Arts and Nursing as two distinct curricula at M.M. Washington Vocational High School. Attaining a job in the medical billing and records and phlebotomy departments of DC General Hospital. She received her CPR and AED certification from the American Heart Association in 2015 and graduated first in her class with a 4.0 GPA in phlebotomy, laboratory procedures, assisted surgery, medical office procedures, billing, and insurance. 
She studied culinary arts at the Auguste Escoffier School. Graduating from Boulder, Colorado. 𝐈𝐧 order to enhance her expertise, she also obtained her SafeServe Certification. Janai and her business partner Dyanna, who are best friends, resumed their artistic pursuits and culinary skills throughout the pandemic.

 Janai,  motivated to return to her origins and quickly achieved a number of organizational 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬. 𝐋𝐚unching their successful weekly feeding 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 The 𝐏𝐨𝐩 & 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 Market across the DMV. Janai, in particular, is a mentor and big sister to the young ladies in The Girl Power Project, an all-female initiative that prevents violence. Something she enjoys wholeheartedly supporting and engaging in.

𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲-𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭/ 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡

  𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐬 7𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬," 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲. 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 1999, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡- 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝐃.𝐂., 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

  𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡" 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫.

  𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 6𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨. 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 9-0 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞. 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩,𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭.