The name Kenni York doesn't merely emphasis a person; it denotes a living, walking, thriving BRAND. As an author, serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Kenni operates under her personal mantra of 'making a difference and not just a dollar'.
In 2008, Kenni published her first book, Ask No Questions, under PublishAmerica sparking a career that would soon open doors to other opportunities dear to her heart. After releasing three more titles under this same company, she was inspired by a literary mentor to tackle self-publishing. In 2012, she released her most popular book to date, The Girls, which later (after several more self-published works) was picked up by the mainstream publishing company, Urban Books. Later in 2012, Kenni founded Kenni Enterprises, a literary firm that specializes in ghostwriting, editing, freelance magazine articles, new author consultations, creative writing courses and more. It was her goal to help other aspiring authors to get their stories in print. To date, Kenni has ghostwritten and edited over forty titles for authors ranging in genre from poetry to urban fiction to Christian fiction. Her literary accolades include 2013 AAMBC Female Author of the Year Award Nominee, 2013 National Association of Professional Women Inductee, 2013 Continental Who’s Who Award Recipient, 2014 and 2015 Who’s Who in Black Atlanta Entrepreneurial Award, 2015 Literary Jewels Author of the Year Award, 2018 ACHI Magazine Author of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Community Leader of the Year Nominee, and The Secret Place Book Club's 2018 Author of the Year.
In 2013, Kenni decided to create a community service component to her rapidly growing literary firm, Kenni Enterprises. As a sexual abuse survivor, Kenni felt obligated to create an opportunity to not only educate her community about the growing epidemic, but to also help victims or survivors find their voices and step out of the darkness. Hence the creation of Let Your Voice Be Heard, an annual benefit event that raises funds for organizations providing services and resources to survivors as well as providing talented individuals with a platform to share their artistry for the sake of raising awareness. Since its origins in 2013, Let Your Voice Be Heard has raised nearly $8,000 towards the funding of resources and operating expenses of nonprofit organizations such as Day League, Voice Today, and The Still Standing Foundation. Most importantly, survivors are provided with a new outlet in which to seek the assistance and compassion that they need. With these accomplishments, Kenni’s grassroots initiative is continually building upon its success in increasing community awareness.
With a clear mission and full of determination, Kenni places herself in various and considerably unexpected platforms in order to reach those who may need to hear her testimony of survivorship and message of making the most out of your trials and tribulations. She has been featured on national and local broadcasts such as TBN’s In Our Town, WATC TV’s Atlanta Live, PEOPLE TV’s The Nikhol Jackson Show, as well as periodicals such as Glamour Magazine, Urban Image Magazine, Luxe Factor Magazine, and the international magazine Emerge. Her spiels of empowerment, overcoming, and creating a legacy while walking in your destiny have been heard over airwaves via shows like Let’s Talk America with Shana Thornton, Conversations Live with Cyrus Webb, IBNX’s Live Life in the Purple with MLuv, Empowering You Now Radio, Fire 91.8’s Indastreets with Tina B, and a plethora of other syndicated, live streaming, and Blogtalk radio programs. Kenni has given formal and informal addresses for various organizations including Distinctive Reflections, Dream Out Loud 2000, Create Your Dreams Youth Organization, and the Warren Street Boys and Girls Club just to name a few. She’s been called upon to speak at conferences and events designed to empower and inspire youth and women while emphasizing the importance of being and loving YOU despite the obstacles and hardships you may endure. Such engagements include the Teen Queen Atlanta Conference, Purple Tie Monologues, The Still Standing Foundation’s Purple Affair, Bold and Standing Tall Domestic Abuse Teleconference, The Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the Beverly Johnson Interfaith Symposium among others.
For her community work, Kenni has been honored with a plethora of certificates and awards including, but not limited to, the 2015 Who’s Who in Black Atlanta Community Service Award and the 2016 Strut Award.
In 2015 Kenni decided to strut a little more while walking in her purpose. She felt the need to take her advocacy to another level, focusing more on helping survivors to find
their voices and their confidence. She established Teal Stilettos Inc, a shoe company whose purpose is to donate a percentage of each shoe sale to the Let Your Voice Be Heard movement therefore financing the efforts of organizations in Atlanta that cater to sexual abuse victims. And what better way to give survivors back their own sense of strut other than presenting them with beautiful stilettos to help boost their confidence because let's face it, what woman doesn't feel phenomenal in her heels and when she's looking and feeling her best? As a tribute to those who inspired this new venture—survivors—Kenni named the first eight pair of Teal Stiletto heels after various survivors from across the nation, honoring them at the 2016 Let Your Voice Be Heard Benefit Event.
In 2017, Kenni took Let Your Voice be Heard to a new level by officially incorporating the initiative into a full-fledged nonprofit organization, The Let Your Voice Be Heard Foundation, Inc., putting in place additional community initiatives to help take back our communities, protect and encourage our children, as well as directly provide resources to sexual abuse survivors. LYVBH's programming includes the operation of a 24 hour hotline EXCLUSIVELY for sexual abuse victims, providing materials to various organizations in education of sexual abuse, promoting our TALK BACK program in which facilitators go into various settings to speak to our youth straight-up, on their level(s) about sexual abuse, providing training for organizations about sexual abuse, how to identify it, and how to assist victims, as well as facilitating workshops and counseling sessions for survivors. In 2017 Kenni created and produced a documentary entitled Teal Voices on behalf of the foundation. It is now a resource used by various organizations in the Atlanta area for training purposes. The goal and primary focus of The Let Your Voice Be Heard Foundation, Inc. is education, prevention, and providing valuable resources. In keeping with this goal, Kenni is refocusing her literary talents and lending them to the purpose of speaking out about sexual abuse. Her novel, Noah’s Rights, is an epic tale of child sexual abuse and its lingering effects. The book’s purpose is to provoke consideration of the epidemic, spark conversation, and ultimately initiate change.
In 2018 Kenni York celebrates ten years of literary success. This decade of acheivements includes main stream publication and distribution of several of her titles, a book-to-film project entitled At Least I Didn't Kill him which debuted in 2017 and is now available nationwide on DVD, a host of awards and accolades, as well as a library, The Kenni York Reading Corner, created in 2017 which is funded and maintained by Kenni. The purpose of the Kenni York Reading Corner, located in Atlanta, is to provide reading materials to children within a low-income environment. With over twenty titles in print ranging from self-help, urban fiction, murder mystery and more, titles resting on shelves across America, a successful literary firm, an advocacy that she lives and breathes, and the shoe line, Kenni York is determined to make the name, the BRAND, Kenni York synonymous with strength, courage, and confidence.
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