- Odede was recognised as a person with the ability to make a change in Africa and lead themselves and their communities out of poverty.
- In November 2023, Odede was named alongside former Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf as the winner of the Time 100 Impact Award.
Image: KENNEDY ODEDE/X
Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) Founder and CEO Kennedy Odede has been named among the world's 100 most influential people of 2024 by Time Magazine.
Odede was named alongside President William Ruto, Equity CEO James Mwangi and double-world record holder Faith Kipyegon.
The Time named pioneers, leaders, titans, artists, innovators, and icons among the most influential and important people in the world in 2024.
Odede was recognised as a person with the ability to make a change in Africa and lead themselves and their communities out of poverty.
"Kennedy is living proof that individuals can lead themselves and their communities out of poverty," Time said in a statement.
"Kennedy finds ingenious solutions: schools for the most vulnerable girls, training programs for men to combat domestic violence, safe houses for survivors, community libraries, employment programs, innovative clean-water kiosks, a community cooperative bank."
Odede expressed gratitude for his milestone saying his dream has come true.
"I'm honoured to be featured on Time's 100 Most Influential People list. Twenty years ago, I dreamt of bringing change to my community. This recognition reaffirms that together, we are unstoppable," he said.
According to Time Magazine, there is no challenge that Odede shies away from confronting adding that he is an unstoppable force for justice.
"This dream of hope that started more than 20 years ago in his home in Kibera has now reached more than three million Kenyans and is rapidly becoming a blueprint that will one day, hopefully, reach the world—a movement for change led by the people themselves," Time stated.
Odede founded Shofco in 2004 with a soccer ball and Sh20 in Kibera slums in Nairobi and it has now expanded across Kenya, serving over three million people directly.
The organisation addresses community challenges through various courses such as access to health, WASH, community advocacy platforms, education and sustainable livelihoods programmes.
The oldest of eight children, Odede experienced extreme poverty and violence and became a street boy aged 10 and later joined a gang.
Having struggled to access water in Kibera slums where clean and safe piped water was nonexistent, Odede prioritised its provision when he founded Shofco.
"We used to walk several kilometres to get water and most of the time, we would suffer waterborne diseases because the water we got was contaminated due to the underground pipes getting mixed up with raw sewage," he said in a past interview.
To reduce contamination, Shofco, under Odede’s leadership, introduced an aerial water piping system which served over 250,000 residents of Kibera and Mathare slums in Nairobi.
The pipes are connected to 53 water kiosks, allowing residents to access the precious commodity quickly and consistently.
In November 2023, Odede was named alongside former Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf as the winner of the Time 100 Impact Award.
He is also a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, an Obama Foundation Africa Leader, a USAID Advisory Board member and winner of Mohammed Ali Humanitarian Award among other recognitions.
Odede is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, 'Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in African Slum'.
He has received several awards in Kenya including a Head of State Commendation (HSC) for his role in combating COVID-19 in slums in 2020.