In January 2022, Kenya Gradnigo joined the Board of Directors of Project Sleep, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of sleep health and sleep conditions. She is a native of Opelousas, LA, and currently resides in Lafayette, LA.
Kenya Gradnigo was diagnosed with type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy at age 9. In 2015, Kenya was awarded a Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship as she began her college education. She completed her Bachelor’s in Psychology at Northwestern State University of Louisiana and is now earning her Master’s in Social Work at Louisiana Christian University.
Receiving the scholarship marked the beginning of Kenya’s journey with Project Sleep. Since then, she has been an active member of the Project Sleep community. In 2020, Kenya was featured in Project Sleep’s “Health Care Providers with Narcolepsy” video series. In 2021, she shared her experience navigating school with narcolepsy as a guest on a “Narcolepsy Nerd Alert” broadcast. She has been a guest speaker for various other webinars focusing on sleep disorders, including a recent education program alongside Dr. Emmanuel Mignot.
