Kennedy Odede, founder and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), has been awarded the 2025 Nelson Mandela Prize by the United Nations in recognition of his grassroots development work in Kenya’s informal settlements.

The award was presented during a special ceremony held on Friday, July 18, at the UN General Assembly Hall in New York, marking this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day. Odede becomes the first Kenyan man to receive the prize, which is awarded every five years to one man and one woman whose efforts reflect Mandela’s values of justice, dignity, and community leadership.

Odede shares the 2025 prize with Brenda Reynolds from Canada. In his remarks at the ceremony, UN Secretary-General António Guterres praised Odede’s years of work in transforming lives across Kenya.

“The organisation he founded now reaches 2.4 million people each year with essential services from education to water,” Guterres said. “As the United Nations celebrates 80 years, Nelson Mandela’s legacy of reconciliation and transformation continues to inspire and drive us.”

Born and raised in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest informal settlements, Odede started SHOFCO in 2004 with limited resources while working in a factory.

What began as a youth group has grown into a national movement that delivers clean water, education for girls, healthcare, gender-based violence support, and income-generating programs. SHOFCO now operates in over 90 locations across 35 counties in Kenya.

According to data shared during the UN event, SHOFCO has supported 1.3 million youth leaders, treated 156,000 children for malnutrition, provided clean water to 40,000 households, and issued over $10 million(Sh1.2 billion) in loans to low-income families and small businesses.

In his address to the General Assembly, Odede said the award was a recognition of the potential that exists in places often ignored. He urged development partners to invest in community-led solutions rather than relying on outside-driven approaches.

“In so many communities like Kibera, the gates of opportunity remain narrow. But at SHOFCO, we are not waiting for permission to belong to the future we are building. We are demonstrating that transformative leadership emerges precisely from the places the world overlooks, not just to walk through existing gates, but to widen them for others,” he said.

Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale, also welcomed the recognition, stating: “The award recognises Mr. Odede’s work of promoting Nelson Mandela’s legacy of peace, dignity, social justice and equality through SHOFCO’s work of empowering communities and individuals in Kenya.”

Beyond his work at SHOFCO, Odede has held leadership roles in several global organisations, including the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, the Obama Foundation’s Africa Leadership program, the USAID Advisory Committee, and the UN International Commission on Financing Global Education.

Over the years, Odede has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Echoing Green Fellowship in 2010, Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2014, the Schwab Foundation’s Social Innovator award in 2022, and most recently, inclusion in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2024.

The Nelson Mandela Prize was created by the UN General Assembly in 2014 to honour individuals whose work reflects Mandela’s values and lifelong commitment to service, equality, and community. The 2025 award marks the third time the prize has been issued.