Kennedy Odede recipients of the 2025 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize. Photo BY SHOFCO
The United Nations has named Kenyan social entrepreneur Kennedy Odede as one of two recipients of the 2025 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize.
The award recognizes individuals who have dedicated their lives to serving humanity, particularly in the areas of social justice, human rights, and community development.
Odede, 41, is the founder and chief executive of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), a Kenyan grassroots movement working to address systemic poverty, gender inequality, and urban exclusion in informal settlements.
He becomes the first Kenyan to receive the prestigious global honor since the prize was established in 2014.
The award is considered one of the UN’s highest civilian distinctions, granted every five years to one man and one woman whose work exemplifies the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
Odede’s leadership in building inclusive, community-led systems of social support and organizing one of Africa’s most expansive urban empowerment networks is what made him receive the recognition.
From Informal Settlement to Global Recognition
Odede grew up in Kibera, Nairobi—one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. In 2004, with no formal funding or institutional support, he founded SHOFCO as a local youth initiative.
The early activities, which centered on sports, theatre, and neighborhood advocacy, eventually evolved into a structured grassroots organization delivering social services and training local leaders.
SHOFCO’s approach has always centered on communities taking the lead in their development.
Rather than rely on outside actors to design solutions, the organization invests directly in residents to address their challenges, from healthcare and water access to gender-based violence and youth unemployment.
Over the past two decades, SHOFCO has become one of the most prominent locally driven movements in Africa’s urban development space.
A Nationwide Footprint
SHOFCO now operates in 35 of Kenya’s 47 counties and is planning to expand nationally.
Its programs have reached more than 4 million people since inception, with direct interventions in health, education, clean water access, job creation, microfinance, and grassroots organizing.
The organization employs 2,000 staff members, most of whom are recruited directly from the communities they serve.
This embedded approach has been key to building local trust, improving accountability, and ensuring program relevance.
SHOFCO is also in advanced conversations to scale its model to other African countries, with pilot initiatives under discussion in South Africa and Nigeria.
Impact by the Numbers
SHOFCO’s work has grown significantly in scope and ambition. As of mid-2025, the organization reports the following results:
- 10,000+ girls supported in school, through tuition, uniforms, and mentorship
- 1.5 million youth trained in civic leadership, life skills, and digital literacy
- 180,000 jobs facilitated for youth through vocational programs, referrals, and entrepreneurship
- $10 million in microloans disbursed through SHOFCO SACCO, supporting small-scale businesses
- 70,000+ gender-based violence (GBV) cases addressed through legal aid, counseling, and survivor support
- SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN) was established as the largest community-led network in Kenya’s informal settlements
- Largest provider of clean water in Kenya’s slums, with aerial piping systems and kiosk networks across major urban hubs
SHOFCO also partners with national and county governments to deliver healthcare services and clean water infrastructure, as well as to support youth entry into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.
Education and Empowerment as Cornerstones
One of SHOFCO’s foundational pillars has been girls’ education. The Kibera School for Girls, founded in 2009, remains a flagship initiative.
It offers free, high-quality education to students from some of Nairobi’s most vulnerable households.
The school consistently posts strong academic outcomes, with a 100% transition rate to secondary school and above-average national performance.
The education model extends beyond academics to include health screenings, meals, and family counseling. The program has expanded to additional settlements, supporting over 10,000 girls as of 2025.
In parallel, SHOFCO has prioritized youth development, particularly through civic training programs and TVET support.
The organization reports having facilitated leadership training for 1.5 million youth, with many graduates going on to organize local initiatives or gain formal employment.
Addressing Urban Inequality at Scale
Odede’s leadership has positioned SHOFCO not only as a service provider but as a leading advocate for informal settlement inclusion in Kenya’s broader development agenda.
Through the SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN), slum residents self-organize into clusters that handle disaster response, peacebuilding, sanitation, local elections, and budget advocacy.
With more than 2 million active members, SUN is the largest organized slum federation in the country.
The network plays a pivotal role in connecting community voices to county governments, ensuring that public resources and planning processes consider the needs of low-income urban neighborhoods.
In many locations, SUN groups have also taken the lead in crisis response—coordinating food distribution, medical referrals, and GBV services during times of displacement, flooding, or disease outbreaks.
A Model for Community-Led Development
SHOFCO’s integrated and locally anchored approach has received wide recognition.
It was awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 2018 and named a Schwab Foundation Social Enterprise of the Year in 2022.
Kennedy Odede himself has received several international leadership accolades and was featured on TIME100’s 2024 list of the world’s most influential people.
What sets SHOFCO apart is its commitment to embedding service delivery within organizing.
Rather than treating communities as passive recipients, the organization promotes them as agents of change, training leaders, equipping networks, and co-developing solutions.
Its microfinance wing, SHOFCO SACCO, is a further example of this ethos.
More than $10 million has been disbursed in small loans, mostly to women entrepreneurs, informal traders, and youth-led businesses.
Repayment rates remain high, and many of the borrowers are also involved in SHOFCO’s other community initiatives.
Significance of the UN Mandela Prize
The 2025 UN Mandela Prize underscores the global relevance of locally driven solutions to complex development challenges.
As urban populations swell and inequality deepens, organizations like SHOFCO provide replicable models for community resilience, dignity-based service delivery, and youth empowerment.
Odede’s recognition not only brings visibility to Kenya’s slum communities but also affirms the growing role of grassroots actors in international development.
His selection signals a broader shift in thinking: that leadership born from lived experience is central to driving sustainable, equitable change.
