Kevin C. Hershock

Kevin Hershock is a founder-led social entrepreneur with over 15 years of cross-cultural development experience focused on post-conflict community recovery in East Africa.

He founded Be A Number in 2010 while at Hillsdale College as a social enterprise modeled on product-linked impact, generating national media attention and multi-city deployment of community programs across the United States and internationally.

Kevin's early field work included service in Detroit homeless shelters, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the Dominican Republic, Eastern Europe, and extended residence in Uganda shortly after the civil war, where he established long-term community relationships and local leadership partnerships.

In Uganda, he launched and operated a women-led bakery employing formerly exploited women, sustained over five years, and designed multiple economic empowerment models for women and families including entrepreneurship training and micro-finance initiatives.

He later pivoted from individual interventions to a community-systems model, partnering directly with Acholi leadership on Acholi land in Northern Uganda. Through a co-founding partnership with Youth Development Organization (YDO), he secured six acres for integrated community development and directed the construction of core infrastructure including:

• Medical center (completed, operational)
• Nursery & primary school (95% complete, 380-student capacity)
• Vocational training facilities
• 3-bedroom international lodge and 3 dormitories
• Local workforce of 30 community members

Under Kevin's leadership, Be A Number delivered the following 2025 impact:

• 60 women completed vocational training
• 8 men completed construction training
• 700+ individuals served medically
• 60+ youth engaged in sports & wellness programs
• 15 children supported through education sponsorship

Kevin established international university partnerships, hosting senior administrators from Worcester University (UK) and scheduling four UK student cohorts for 2026.

In 2025, the organization raised and deployed $79,623 with 96.7% program efficiency while transitioning from pilot to scalable platform.