Our Board

Adopt One Village founder, Emmanuel Anim-Sackey, was born and raised in the village of Yaw Tenkorang. He graduated from the village school and later went on to attend Akim Swedru Secondary school and Oda Secondary school, where he earned his O’Level and A’Level certificates, respectively. After emigrating to the United States in 1996, Emmanuel attended the New York Leadership Center. He later began working for the U.S. Postal service as a mail carrier.

In 2006, Emmanuel began collecting donations of toiletries, shoes and gently-used clothes from people who lived along his mail route. He would ship the goods back to Ghana to benefit the people who still lived in the impoverished community, from which he came. Word of his efforts spread throughout his town of West Orange and a few years later Adopt One Village was born.

Due to his tireless and sacrificial efforts around his cause, Emmanuel has been been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2008 West Orange Citizen of the Year, the 2009 US Postal Service Humanitarian of the Year award, the 2011 West Orange African Heritage Organization Leadership Award and the 2014 Marlane Edelman Leadership Award.

Emmanuel lives in West Orange, NJ with his family.

In her career as a corporate attorney, Anne Carrasco has served litigator at an AmLaw 100 firm and later a large regional firm in New Jersey. She now serves as the Compliance Manager for AECOM’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System.  Anne has been on the AOV Board of Directors for over 5 years. She is currently responsible for leading service trips, fundraising efforts and events, oversight of legal decision-making and processes, and liaising with the Volunteer Leader for Education. She is a cum laude graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned both her an undergraduate B.A. in Political Science and her law degree.

Anne’s other interests include writing, travel, adventure, fitness, and food.

Russ Hammonds

Russ has been involved with Adopt One Village since 2010 and served on its board since 2012. He has travelled to Yaw Tenkorang on three AOV mission trips.

Russ has spent more than a decade as a television producer, working on cable and network shows such as The Breaks, Marco Polo, The Slap, Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie, and Bored to Death. Russ began his career in the entertainment industry as the assistant to the President of One Entertainment, where he later worked as a talent manager. Russ is a board member of Adopt One Village and The Life Christian Church. He holds a B.A. in Physics from Brown University. He lives in Harlem with his wife and two daughters.

Kristy Gray is a children’s book author and a mother of two boys, the younger of whom lives with autism. Kristy has dedicated her life to raising her family, and as her son’s biggest advocate, is committed to spreading awareness about autism.

A recent addition to the board, Kristy has been involved with Adopt One Village for the past five years. She has played an important role in many of the organization’s fundraising efforts, including the planning of our most-recent gala event, which was the most successful in the organization’s history.

Kristy’s other interests include travel, baking, reading and writing.

Bob Kirby

Bob has been involved with Adopt One Village since 2010 and joined its board in 2015. As a board member he coordinates the financial and tax matters for AOV is involved with strategy and the implementation of the three AOV pillar programs: infrastructure, education and medical care.

He brings over 25 years of financial and operational management experience to the board from his roles at various investment management firms in New York City. He holds an MBA from Cornell University along with a BS in Accounting from Rutgers University.