NAIROBI, Kenya – 28 May 2025 – Kennedy Odede, one of Kenya’s most inspiring changemakers and the Founder of SHOFCO (Shining Hope for Communities), has been awarded the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize, one of the world’s highest honors for individuals who have dedicated their lives to service, justice, and community leadership.
Raised in Kibera—one of Africa’s largest informal settlements—Odede founded SHOFCO in 2004 with a vision to build dignity and opportunity from the ground up.
Today, SHOFCO reaches over 2.5 million Kenyans across 75% of Kenya’s counties with clean water, health care, girls’ education, and economic empowerment programs.
It mobilizes hundreds of thousands of Kenyans through the SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN), one of the continent’s largest community-led development platforms.
“This award belongs to the people of Kenya. It belongs to the youth in Kibera who keep dreaming. It belongs to the mothers who rise before dawn to care for their communities,” said Odede. “Mandela showed us that leadership begins with listening. That’s what we do every day at SHOFCO.”
The Nelson Mandela Prize is awarded by the United Nations every five years to two individuals—one male and one female—whose work exemplifies Mandela’s legacy of reconciliation, social justice, and human dignity.
Odede becomes the first Kenyan man to receive the prize.A symbol of African resilience and ingenuity, SHOFCO’s model has been recognized globally, with Odede previously named to the TIME100 list of the world’s most influential people.
Yet, it remains rooted in local action—employing thousands of Kenyans and working hand-in-hand with communities to tackle poverty, gender inequality, and systemic exclusion.
“Kennedy Odede’s selection for the Nelson Mandela Prize is a powerful affirmation that the most transformative leadership often rises from the grassroots. His work through SHOFCO proves what we have long known: that communities are not passive recipients of aid—they are architects of change. At a time when the world must urgently shift power closer to those it seeks to serve, Kennedy stands as a beacon of what’s possible when we trust local vision and invest in dignity.”— Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Founder, Human Capital Africa; former Vice President, World Bank Africa Region.
The award will be presented during an official UN ceremony at headquarters in New York in July 2025 as part of Nelson Mandela International Day.
