A Whiz Kid in Kenya

Tevis Howard, a 2007 Brown University graduate and recent recipient of the Draper Richards Fellowship and the Rainer Arnhold Fellowship, is the 2005 Founder and Executive Director of
KOMAZA, a non-profit community-based
organization in Kenya. KOMAZA’s mission is to “end chronic poverty in
Kenya by promoting health, economic growth, education, and
infrastructure development” through a tree farming social enterprise. Partnering with the Tree Biotechnology Project, KOMAZA plants fast-growning, drought-tolerant Eucalyptus trees as a cash crop for rural, substinance farming communities.

In 2002, then 17-year-old Tevis Howard was recognized by Forbes ASAP magazine (which ceased publication in October 2002) as an ASAP Teenage All Star and won third place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his research developing a novel treatment for multiple sclerosis. Declared to be a “prodigy” and a “whiz kid” early on, Tevis helped publish a report in 2002 on immunology and Malaria in Kenya. In 2006, Tevis won a Rhode Island competition for his KOMAZA business plan.