NYC's 30 Under 30: Meet Gotham's Game-Changers
The Humanitarian: Kyleigh Kuhn
Kyleigh Khun has done her fair share of traveling as a model, but none of the places she's been have proven more memorable than Mir Bocha Kot Kabul, where she helped build a school after visiting Afghanistan for the first time in 2005. Now named the Kyleigh Kuhn Roots of Peace School, it's helped transform the lives of all its students who greet Kyleigh as she visits the site years later. She's beautiful, yes, but more than that she's worldly, thoughtful, and a deep thinker. Kuhn tells us, "While I enjoy modeling, it can feel a bit indulgent for me. I grappled with this element of modeling in the beginning, as I felt awkward shifting gears from my humanitarian work into such a glamorous industry. But now I view it as a platform to help raise awareness for the work that needs to be done in Afghanistan — and I find both worlds can be mutually beneficial." Talk about grounded! In just a few years Kyleigh has made more impressions abroad than she has in glossy mags, though bright-eyed and wide-smiled, she wouldn't be hard up for work. Instead, Kyleigh works as a humanitarian and activist, most recently launching a project called Twenty Four Suns, "connecting designers with skilled Afghan artisans to create carpets and jewelry," where she is currently in the sample-making process for upcoming collaborations. As the creator of a new branch of fashion and artistry that gives back as much as it creates, and a professional poser as travelled for charity as she is for shoots, Kyleigh Khun is certainly nothing short of a role model.
Hair by Sera Sloane Bishop, makeup by Erin Green and Tiffany Patton.
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