Inspired to improve his local communities, Kadafi El-Kardah, ’15, utilized the educational foundation he built at La Salle University, to grow a career in environmentalism, most recently with the Germantown-based Drain Buddies initiative.
El-Kardah has served on several boards and advisory committees, including SEPTA’s Citizen Advisory Committee and the Philly Tree Coalition. His civic leadership has earned him recognition and fellowship opportunities from several organizations, including the Environmental Leadership Program, which named him a Senior Fellow in 2021.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Kadafi El-Kardah, ’15, always felt connected to the city and in tune with the environment around him. When it came time for college, he was looking for a place that would enhance that connection.
“Being from Philadelphia, staying connected to the city was important to me,” he said. “La Salle gave me the opportunity to study environmental science while being close to the communities and places that shaped me.”
Although El-Kardah started his Explorer journey as a biology major, he switched to the Environmental Science Program as a sophomore after deciding he wanted a more interdisciplinary education. As someone who had always been interested in the relationships between people and their environments, the program was a perfect fit.
The city remained a common theme throughout El-Kardah’s studies at La Salle. He described his experience as an Explorer as more than a textbook education; it was an opportunity for hands-on, experiential learning. Field trips to places such as the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm and Wissahickon Valley Park, where he and his classmates participated in water quality testing, allowed him to see environmental science in action. Combined with a variety of laboratory experiences, these trips helped him understand how environmental systems work, explore potential career paths, and develop a well-rounded foundation in the field.
“I also became aware of Philadelphia as a living laboratory. The city has environmental challenges everywhere you look: water, flooding, vacant land, trees, transportation, pollution, housing, and access to green space. Those issues aren’t abstract when you’re living here; they’re affecting people’s neighborhoods and everyday lives,” El-Kardah said. “I could learn something in a classroom and then see the real-world version outside. That connection between education and community has stayed with me.”
He also credits the University and its Environmental Science Program with giving him the tools to understand the relationship between people and places more broadly.
“La Salle taught me the importance of asking questions and thinking critically. Environmental issues aren’t just scientific problems; they are also social, economic, political, and community issues,” he said, adding that his coursework was a blend of natural and social sciences. “You can have the best scientific solution in the world, but if you don’t bring the community along, it may never work. That realization became a major part of my career.”
After graduating, El-Kardah took the foundation he built at 20th and Olney, and the appreciation and inclusion of local communities, and entered the workforce. He’s held various environmental- and community-focused roles in and around Philadelphia, including supporting the Philadelphia Water Department through a role at the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and working as the associate director of community engagement at the Philadelphia Outward Bound School, a nonprofit educational organization.
Today, El-Kardah works at the Philadelphia Housing Authority coordinating various parts of the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program that invests in redeveloping government-funded housing, resident outcomes, and neighborhood infrastructure improvements. Additionally, he supports the housing authority in predevelopment work for new construction, redevelopment, and housing acquisitions, ensuring that all the proper environmental approvals are received.
He has also served on several boards and advisory committees, including SEPTA’s Citizen Advisory Committee and the Philly Tree Coalition. His civic leadership has earned him recognition and fellowship opportunities from several organizations, including the Environmental Leadership Program, which named him a Senior Fellow in 2021.
Throughout his various roles and commitments, there has always been one thing at the heart of El-Kardah’s work.
“I’ve always been interested and driven by one question,” he said. “How do we make our communities better, and how do we make sure residents have a voice in that process?”
Drain Buddies, El-Kardah’s newest venture, is one way of answering that question.
Based in Germantown, Drain Buddies is a stormwater initiative that engages members of the local community to monitor and maintain the storm drains in the neighborhood. They also collect environmental data, reduce litter and pollution, and help to identify concerns, creating a scenario where the residents can protect the waterways in their neighborhood.
Over 30 drains have been adopted since the program launched in July 2026. El-Kardah encourages participants to name their drain after something they value about Germantown and provides a kit that contains everything necessary for care and maintenance.
But the program goes beyond just improving the visuals of the neighborhood, El-Kardah noted; it also offers a sustainable solution to some of the environmental problems the neighborhood is facing while uplifting the community.
“Drain Buddies is about more than a cleanup effort. It’s about creating a relationship between people and the place they call home,” El-Kardah noted. “I’m building a coalition of residents who care, residents who want to make a difference, residents who see themselves as part of the solution.”
Although the program launched this year, El-Kardah has been working on it much longer. He started noticing several storm drains around the city were not working effectively when it rained, and that people walk past them every day without a second thought.
“The biggest thing I’d want people to understand is that you don’t necessarily have to wait for someone else to solve a problem,” he said. “That’s what Drain Buddies represents to me. It started with observing storm drains, but the bigger idea is about helping people see that they have a role in shaping the places they call home.”
In 2025, he submitted a grant application to the Knight Emerging City Champions fellowship program to support Drain Buddies. El-Kardah was selected as one of 20 recipients nationally, and one of only two in Philadelphia, an opportunity that he described as “incredibly meaningful” as it allowed him to implement Drain Buddies on a much larger scale.
As well as being beneficial to his neighborhood, Drain Buddies also has personal meaning to El-Kardah. It’s an opportunity to combine many of the things he’s cared deeply about throughout his life.
“I studied environmental science at La Salle, I worked on environmental issues, I worked with communities, I became involved in city planning and civic engagement,” he said. “Drain Buddies allows me to bring all of those things together around a problem that people can actually see on their own block. That’s what makes it exciting to me.”
And as Drain Buddies continues to thrive and grow, El-Kardah, who has been named Citizen of the Week by the Philadelphia Citizen, often reflects on the parallels between his new program and his time at 20th and Olney. “I think one of the most valuable things La Salle gave me is not just an education, but a sense that what I learn should ultimately be used for something beyond myself,” he said. “Drain Buddies feels very Lasallian to me. It brings together knowledge, service, community, and a commitment to the common good.”
-Naomi Thomas
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