He was an undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill in 2000 when he won a grant to study ethnic violence in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. In 2001, he co-founded a nonprofit called Carolina for Kibera. Twenty-five years later, what’s now CFK Africa provides health care, education and other programs to 200,000 Kenyans a year.
Barcott continued to run the organization while serving in 2006 as a Marine captain in Iraq. For that, ABC News named him one of its “Persons of the Year.”
In 2017, the Charlotte resident co-founded With Honor, a “cross-partisan” group designed to put more veterans of military and public service into elected office. The late David Gergen, adviser to four presidents and Barcott’s mentor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, was a cofounder. Its advisory panel included J.D. Vance.
Now Barcott, 47, has written “Courage Can Save US, Ten Extraordinary Americans and the Fight for Our Future.” Timed for America’s 250th birthday, the book profiles five Democrats and five Republicans, including Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Don Bacon of Nebraska.”
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