Freedom Alliance is proud to announce Kesuana “Kiki” Patterson as our 2023 Scholarship Ambassador. We met Kiki in 2020 as she entered her first year of college at Columbus State University. Her name (pronounced Kee-shawn-ah) is a blend of her mother and father’s names: Kisha and Esau.
SSG Esau Patterson gave his life fighting for his country on April 29, 2004 along with 8 of his men. He was only 25, and Kiki was only 2. Esau had already earned a bronze star for his service and established himself as a respected and loved leader to his troops.
Kisha Patterson, a veteran of the Navy, bravely gathered her children and moved from where Esau was stationed in Braumholder, Germany, back to the United States to start over. Over the years they have fought and overcome so much adversity together. It has been our honor as an organization to provide college scholarships to Kiki in honor of her father’s service and sacrifice.
Kiki attended her first Freedom Alliance scholarship retreat in 2021, and told us how much it meant to her meeting people who understood what she went through growing up with the loss of her father. It was at retreats that Kiki got to meet our former Scholarship Ambassadors: Julia Morris (2020), Seth Straw (2021), and Abigail Chalfant (2022).
Just a few months ago she got the chance to meet with the highest levels of leadership at US Bank and speak to over 1000 bank employees about her father’s sacrifice, her family’s story, and Freedom Alliance’s impact on their lives. US Bank has been one of Freedom Alliance’s most generous partners, making so much of our work possible.
As our student ambassador, Kiki will be traveling with our team for the next few months, seeing the country, meeting donors, sharing her story, and representing both Freedom Alliance and all our scholarship students. She has already met many Freedom Alliance supporters and has been struck by their down to earth kindness, their wisdom, and their incredible stories of grit and success through adversity.
Kiki is a busy woman this summer. Alongside her work with us, she is taking summer classes at CSU and, as always, taking care of her family. Since she was young Kiki’s heart has been for the well-being of her family, and her desire has been to provide for them so they don’t have to worry or struggle anymore.
She is set to graduate in May of 2024 with a degree in Psychology, and is scheduled to begin Army basic training on June 30, 2024. Kiki can’t imagine not going into the Army. There is a rich history of military service in her family from her father and mother to her brother, cousin, uncle, grandparents, their parents, and beyond.
Kiki hopes to use her degree in psychology to serve her country, whether in the military or with the department of homeland security fighting human sex trafficking. She is adamant about giving back to her country and making her mark on the world — making a positive difference.
“Headstrong and stubborn,” is how Kiki describes herself. She doesn’t back down from life’s challenges. She’s always pushing harder. She spends her free time reading voraciously, training in the gym, swimming and playing with her dog, Ariel, who hates the water.
We are so blessed to have Kiki Patterson working with us this summer in our ongoing mission to heal the wounds of war in as many families as possible.
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