Servant leadership describes the life of Rev. KENNY IRBY.  He dutifully balances his roles as The City of St. Petersburg’s first Community Faith & Community Justice Liaison and the 30th senior pastor of the 130-year-old congregation at Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church where he served for 10 years.  In all that he does, he champions Justice for ALL and intentional equity in his various endeavors. He is driven by a love for GOD and humanity.

He’s the co-creator and president of the Men & Women In the Making initiative, an innovative role-modeling and academic enrichment program for BIPOC youth in need. His community service earned him the Outstanding Community Leadership Award in 2023 from the NCNW @ The 37th Annual Dr. MLK, Jr. Awards Event.

He managed the City of St. Petersburg’s Not My Child (Safe Summer) campaign. He was instrumental in launching the Cohort of Champions during his 8-year tenure as the SPPD’s Director of Community Intervention and Juvenile Outreach. Rev. Irby rendered 13 years of service as an Episcopal Officer, leading The Sons of Allen (SOA) Men’s Ministry, and was the first Media Ministry Director for the state of Florida and Commonwealth of the Bahamas, which earned him The Bishops Award from the West Coast, Annual Conference.

Rev. Irby is an independent visual consultant diversity trainer with a distinguished legacy as a former senior faculty member at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, where he created the once internationally recognized Photojournalism program in 1995 and the nationally recognized Write Field Wraparound Program, in partnership with The Tampa Bay Rays, and a group of local partners in 2011. The American Graduate Project celebrated his effort as one of the Top 10 programs in the nation for redirecting the dropout-to-prison pipeline in 2014. In 2016, after leaving his *20+ year post, Irby was honored by the National Press Photographers Association as the first *John Long Ethics Award* recipient, the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalist (TBABJ) with their *Griot Drum Award *for lifetime achievement and in 2018 he was honored with the *Flame of Distinction: *Igniting Vision Acquisition Award at the 35th Westcoast Center’s Men’s Conference.

Rev. Kenny travels widely heralding the need for the justice ministry, talking across differences and amplifying the voices of marginalized people, and is a frequent teacher, lecturer, and content judge. His expertise and contributions have been recognized with numerous distinctions: *2007 Sprague Award* for lifetime achievement awarded by the NPPA, chair of the jurors’ panel for the coveted Pulitzer Prize* in the photojournalism categories and served as a juror for the Hearst Collegiate Journalism Awards— to name a few.

His current board labor includes: Vice Chair of the Trustee Board for the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Vice Chair for Cross & Anvil Human Services, Inc. board , and board member for The National Press Photographers Foundation.

 Kenny and Karen, his wife of 40 years, have four grown daughters. He graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in Photojournalism, earned a master’s certificate from the University of Missouri, and studied at Dallas Theological Seminary in their cross-cultural ministries program.