Kennedy Odede

Founder

Shining Hope for Communities

Kennedy Odede is an internationally recognized social entrepreneur, a New York Times best selling author and the founder of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). SHOFCO combats extreme poverty and gender inequality by linking free schools for girls to a set of high-value, holistic community services for all. A former street child who lived most of his life in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums, he founded SHOFCO with savings from his $1 per day factory job.  SHOFCO’s programs collectively served over 137,000 individuals in 2016. The organization is scaling across Kenya’s slums with a model that links free schools for girls to holistic community services for all, currently focused on the Kibera and Mathare slums. He and his wife recently released their New York Times best-selling memoir, titled Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in An African Slum.  

Recent contributions

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