AGHF is delighted to welcome two new members to its Board of Trustees. Great champions of African girls’ education, who have been by our side and attending our Galas since 2023, we are honored to have you join the AGHF family — thank you!

Meet

Kristen Axton

Her commitment to serving others was shaped long before she opened her business. Kristen grew up inspired by her grandfather, Fredrick Lewis, founder of the Fresh Air Fund camps in the Northeast — an initiative that provided transformative summer experiences for underprivileged children. Watching his life of service left a lasting imprint. From a young age, Kristen knew she, too, wanted to have a meaningful impact on those who lacked access to opportunity. That early exposure to service planted something lasting. Kristen came to understand that opportunity is not evenly distributed — and that access can alter the trajectory of a child’s entire life. The idea that a single investment in a young girl could ripple outward for generations deeply resonates with her.

🌳 Deeply rooted in service and personal connection

Kristen brings more than two decades of experience in skin care, wellness, and therapeutic bodywork — but more importantly, she brings a heart deeply rooted in compassion, service, and personal connection.

As the Founder and Owner of Kristen’s Skin Care in Roswell, Georgia, Kristen has built her career around a simple yet powerful belief: when people feel confident and cared for, they step more boldly into their purpose. Through customized facial treatments, microdermabrasion, and clinical massage therapy, she has created a sanctuary where science meets soothing care and where each client is treated with warmth, dignity, and intention.

🤝🏽 Business experience

Kristen earned her Bachelor’s degree from Radford University before pursuing her esthetician license at the International School of Skin and Nail Care. Prior to launching her own business, she gained invaluable clinical experience working alongside dermatologists and plastic surgeons, where she developed a strong foundation in advanced skin health, treatment protocols, and results-driven care. Kristen received her formal training at the ASHA School of Massage in Norcross, Georgia. That combination of medical insight and holistic wellness philosophy continues to shape her approach today.

💟 Education, encouragement, and belief shape a young girl’s confidence

As a mother of daughters and a small business owner, Kristen sees firsthand how education, encouragement, and belief shape a young girl’s confidence and sense of possibility. She is passionate about helping ensure that girls everywhere — regardless of geography — are given the tools, dignity, and support to pursue their full potential.

Kristen joins the Board with a sincere desire to serve — not only through leadership, but through compassion, advocacy, and action. Her professional expertise, community heart, and lifelong commitment to empowering others make her a natural fit for the mission of African Girls Hope Foundation.

Meet Joshua Axton

Joshua joins AGHF with a deeply held belief that education is the most powerful catalyst for generational transformation. While the challenges facing many African nations are complex and long-standing, he believes lasting change begins with access — access to opportunity, to mentorship, to knowledge, and to hope. At the center of that access is education.

📚 Empowering girls at the local level

He is particularly aligned with AGHF’s bottom-up approach to impact. Empowering girls at the local level does more than change individual lives — it strengthens families, stabilizes communities, and cultivates future leaders who will shape the trajectory of their nations. Joshua believes that when you educate a girl, you do more than improve her circumstances; you unlock the potential for her to elevate others. The ripple effect extends far beyond the classroom.

🤝🏽 Leadership

As an entrepreneur for more than two decades, Joshua has built and scaled multiple technology-driven companies headquartered in Atlanta. He founded his first company while still in college, growing it into a national software development firm before its successful transition. That early venture established a pattern that has defined his career — building systems from the ground up and scaling them with discipline, creativity, and long-term vision.

Today, Joshua serves as a partner and executive leader across several established enterprises operating at scale. At Car Solutions, he helps guide one of the nation’s leading providers of automotive protection products, serving hundreds of credit unions across the United States. At Encore Protection, he plays a key leadership role in one of the largest roadside assistance platforms in North America, delivering service coverage throughout the U.S. and Canada. Through Eventricate, a premier Atlanta-based entertainment and event production company, Joshua has supported corporations and nonprofit organizations in producing high-impact events that strengthen community engagement and fundraising outcomes.

Across all his ventures, Joshua specializes in strategic architecture — designing operational systems, integrating advanced technology, building high-performance teams, and ensuring disciplined financial stewardship. He believes that meaningful impact, whether in business or philanthropy, requires strong foundations and intentional design. Sustainable growth does not happen by accident; it is built thoughtfully, measured carefully, and stewarded responsibly. He brings to AGHF deep experience in scaling organizations with integrity, managing growth with intention, and aligning mission with measurable, generational impact.

🌅 Beyond business…

Beyond business, Joshua’s commitment to AGHF is deeply personal. Raised between California and Georgia, he learned early in life the value of resilience, adaptability, and family. Today, he and his wife Kristen — a licensed esthetician and massage therapist who owns Kristen’s Skin Care in Roswell, Georgia — are raising two daughters with a strong emphasis on education, cultural awareness, faith, and service. As a father of daughters, Joshua feels a profound responsibility to support organizations that create opportunity for girls who may otherwise be denied it.

He believes talent and potential are universal — but opportunity is not. Through education, mentorship, and sustained investment in girls, he sees AGHF not only changing individual lives, but cultivating future leaders who will transform their communities for generations to come.

Joshua is honored to serve alongside the Foundation’s leadership and supporters in advancing its mission to provide education and empower African girls to create lasting change.

🤍 Please join us in welcoming our newest trustees — we are grateful for their commitment and excited for the future we will build together.

Welcome - Kristen & Joshua Axton!