About Our Leadership:
Dr. Kathleen L. D’Ovidio, our Founder and President, is an educator and scientist by training, having earned three degrees from the University of Maryland, including a Ph.D. specializing in food safety and mycotoxicology. Her professional life has included years of teaching, research, public service, and work supporting food safety initiatives at the federal level. She brings to this mission a disciplined, thoughtful, and stewardship-minded approach shaped by both faith and experience.
In 2012, Dr. D’Ovidio returned to the practice of the Catholic faith after more than four decades away. Through this return, her Christian faith was deeply renewed, and with it came a growing awareness of the suffering endured by Christians in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Moved by prayer and a clear sense of God’s calling, she founded this charity in May of 2015 in response to the persecution of believers living under constant threat for their faith in Christ.
Dr. D’Ovidio serves quietly behind the scenes, intentionally keeping the focus where it belongs—on Christ, the mission, and those being served. She does not seek recognition, public visibility, or personal accolades, believing instead that the work itself, and the lives touched through it, should speak for themselves.
Her leadership reflects the words of Scripture: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matthew 6:3)
Rooted in Christian compassion and pastoral care, this mission exists not to elevate any individual, but to serve persecuted Christians with faith, dignity, and hope—so they are seen, strengthened, and never forgotten.