Ben Kickert - Community Youth Development
Coordinator
Ben became the newest full-time staff member at
Kaleidoscope when he joined the team in November of
2007 to serve as the Community Youth Development
Coordinator. While Ben is involved in many of the
aspects of programming with the program he
primarily focuses on the core areas of
Voice4Justice
and
Service
Learning.
The bulk of this work involved developing
relationships in the community and addressing
issues of social justice.
Before coming on with Kaleidoscope, Ben worked with
Broadway UMC here in Bowling Green. He left
full-time ministry in the church to take the
position so that he could be more involved in the
community and local issues. He still maintains his
connection with the Methodist church as a local
pastor.
Ben has been married to Beth, a kindergarten
teacher at TC Cherry Elementary, since October of
2004. He loves nature and prefers to spend his time
outdoors doing things like rock climbing, mountain
biking, backpacking and canoeing.
When asked about role models, Ben responded: “I am
motivated by people who let their faith drive their
involvement in issues of social justice. There are
so many people behind the scenes who are getting
things done yet never getting credit.” He went on
to add, “I am blown away by the quality of work our
youth are putting forward and their commitment. I
am humbled every time I meet with one of
Kaleidoscope’s mentoring artists. Without them, we
could not do anything.”
“I am convinced that Kaleidoscope has the
unique ability to not only bring change to our
community, but also motivate ongoing change by
offering people a glimpse of a something better.”
-Ben Kickert
