Kennedy Odede is a Kenyan social entrepreneur and author. Odede is the co-founder and CEO of

Shining Hope for Communities Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a grassroots movement based in Nairobi, Kenya in urban slums providing services, community advocacy platforms, and education and leadership development for women and girls. SHOFCO serves more than 350,000 ...

(SHOFCO), a movement based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Odede was awarded the 2010 Echoing Green Fellowship and was named Forbes under 30 list of top social entrepreneurs in 2014. He is also a member of the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...

. His work has been featured by

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, Beyonce, and by

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

and his book ''A Path Appears''. Odede’s writing has appeared in the

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

Project Syndicate Project Syndicate is an international media organization that publishes and syndicates commentary and analysis on a variety of global topics. All opinion pieces are published on the ''Project Syndicate'' website, but are also distributed to a wi ...

and

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. Odede is a Young Global Leader (YGL) at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

and an

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

Africa Leader. He is the co-author of the New York Times best-selling book ''Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum'', which he wrote with his wife and business partner, Jessica Posner.

Early life

The oldest of eight children, Odede was born in a small village in Kenya, where he lived until the village was struck by famine when he was two years old. His mother moved the family to the capital city, Nairobi, to seek better living conditions. He became a street child at the age of ten. Encountering a lack of jobs and housing in Nairobi, they ended up in

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the largest urban slum in Africa.http://www.dominionpa ...

. Odede lived in Kibera for 23 years. In 2004, he worked in a factory for $0.10 an hour, enough money to start the organization

(SHOFCO). SHOFCO became the largest grassroots organization in Kibera. Without any formal education, Odede received a full scholarship to

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

in America. Odede graduated in 2012 as the Commencement Speaker with honors in sociology before returning full-time to SHOFCO.

Career

In 2010, Odede was awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship. He was named to the Forbes "30 under 30 list" for top social entrepreneurs and is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. His work has been featured by President Bill Clinton and Nicholas Kristof in ''The New York Times''. Odede served on the United Nations International Commission for Financing of Global Education Opportunities and on the Board of Directors of

. He is a senior fellow with Humanity in Action and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow. He was named a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022. He is a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the

. In 2022, he was appointed by Administrator

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an American journalist, diplomat and government official who is currently serving as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. She previously served as the 28th ...

to the USAID Advisory Committee.

Personal life

Odede is the co-author of an autobiography, ''Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum, that'' is about him and his wife, Jessica Posner, and their collaboration. In August 2018, they had newborn twins: Oscar Garvey and Maridad Esther. In January 2020, their third child, Zayn Nelson, was born.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odede, Kennedy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Kenyan emigrants to the United States Social entrepreneurs Wesleyan University alumni