Michelle Kowalczyk
Founder, Managing Director

Michelle is a Nurse Practitioner in Hospital Medicine at Mayo Clinic. She is a Board Certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with a Masters in Nursing degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She also received her BSN at UNMC. Michelle originally went to Tanzania in March 2007 to volunteer in a medical capacity, something she had always wanted to do. After arriving, she realized that her life was going to take a drastic turn as she found a new passion and meaning to her life. She does not know what is in store with her nursing career or how it will fit into her foundation work, but she feels so lucky to have found passion and purpose at such a young age and feels privileged to have co-founded and to have the opportunity to work for Knock Foundation.

Michelle@KnockFoundation.org

Kim Krowne
Founder, Managing Director

Kim was born and raised in Southern California. Having studied a pre-med curriculum with a focus on health in Africa, she first traveled to Tanzania in November 2006 to work in a maternal and child health clinic in furtherance of a medical career. During that trip, Kim also volunteered at a center for orphans and vulnerable children; from that experience emerged a passion for development and a complete overhaul of her longtime plan to pursue medicine. For the following six years, she traveled back and forth between Tanzania and California, building and managing Knock’s programs, collaborating closely with local communities, working on organizational administration and strategy as well as fundraising efforts. Kim has also worked in Timor-Leste, Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Kim holds a Master of Public Administration degree in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kim@KnockFoundation.org

Barry Krowne
Founder, Director, Financial Advisor

Barry has been a practicing CPA for almost forty years, advising businesses and individuals alike, always looking to work with people who have solid life values and recognize that hard work and patience are essential to the achievement of success. He has traveled to Tanzania several times to see firsthand the needs and opportunities for the children and communities we serve and to provide assistance and oversight for our programs. He is committed to making a difference in the lives of the children we help to educate and feed. This is consistent with his life's work of being involved in causes and organizations to help "repair the world.” The resources of Barry’s office are being used to perform much of the Foundation's administrative and compliance work. In 2009 Barry climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and returned in 2011 to climb Little Mt. Meru. Both climbs were very successful fund raising events and were part of his ongoing efforts as a major fund raiser for the Foundation.

Barry@KnockFoundation.org

David Grossman
Founder, Director

David is the Owner and Creative Director of Grossman Design Associates (GrossmanDesign.com). David has 20 years experience designing, developing and implementing marketing programs for a wide range of clients, including Coca-Cola, 3M, Lee Jeans, Genmar Boats, General Mills, Deloitte & Touche, Footlocker and Target. David has a Bachelor of Arts and a MBA.

As a young adult, David parlayed $2,500 into a year-long, around the world adventure, getting a firsthand look at the devastating effects of world poverty and hunger. With a keen interest in third world development, David spent a few years working with The Howie Stillman Foundation in building schools, a library, a kitchen and providing clean drinking water for the village of Enelerai, Kenya. Through Knock, David hopes to further these efforts and continually work towards improving the lives of those in the developing world.

David@KnockFoundation.org

F. Bruce Cohen
Founder, Director, Chief Executive Officer

F. Bruce Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel of United Shockwave Therapies, LLC, a Chicago based company which provides healthcare services throughout the United States. Prior to joining United, Bruce was a lawyer in Chicago focusing his practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities related issues. Bruce has traveled the world extensively and has made a number of trips to Africa. In 2007, at the suggestion of a friend and working through a non-profit foundation, Bruce raised money, traveled to and built a school in Kenya in his parents’ memory. His prior charitable involvement in Africa and elsewhere caused him to form, with others, Knock Foundation, Inc. Through Knock, Bruce hopes to continue his charitable activities on a more sustained and regular basis. Bruce received a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School, a Masters of Public Administration and Policy degree with an emphasis on economic development from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Political Science and Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Bruce@KnockFoundation.org