Kenyan grassroots leader Dr. Kennedy Odede has been awarded the prestigious 2025 United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize, becoming the first Kenyan to receive the global honor that celebrates exceptional community leadership, reconciliation, and service to humanity.
The announcement was made during a special ceremony at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, held to commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day. UN Secretary-General António Guterres presented the award, which is given every five years to two outstanding individuals—one male and one female—whose work exemplifies the values and legacy of Nelson Mandela.
Dr. Odede, the founder and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), shares the 2025 Mandela Prize with Brenda Reynolds of Canada, a community empowerment advocate.
“Odede grew up in the slums of Kenya. He is a long-time community activist,” said Guterres. “The organization he founded now reaches more than two million people each year with essential services from education to water.”
Odede’s journey began in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest informal settlements. Born into poverty and once a street boy, he started his activism in 2004 with nothing more than a soccer ball and 20 Kenyan shillings. His goal was simple: bring hope and opportunity to his community. That dream became SHOFCO, a people-powered movement that now operates in all 47 Kenyan counties.
“SHOFCO, now two decades later, has grown to 90 locations across Kenya, each driven and led by the community themselves,” Odede said in his acceptance speech. “Four million people have been directly impacted.”
SHOFCO’s programs span education, health care, water and sanitation, gender justice, economic empowerment, and community organizing. It is best known for its girls’ schools, community-led health centers, and innovative aerial water piping systems in urban slums.
While the award celebrates SHOFCO’s impressive scale and scope, Odede emphasized that it was a win for grassroots movements and localized development approaches.
“We are not waiting for permission to belong to the future we are building,” he said. “We are demonstrating that transformative leadership can—and does—emerge from the places the world often overlooks.”
Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale, hailed the recognition as a moment of national pride. “This is a moment of pride not just for Kenya, but for grassroots movements that are building change from the ground up,” he stated.
Odede has long criticized top-down aid models, advocating instead for community-led solutions. His work has gained international recognition, earning him positions on several global platforms including the Obama Foundation, the World Economic Forum, and the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid.
In 2024, TIME named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, further cementing his status as a global leader in social justice and urban development.
The UN Nelson Mandela Prize was established in 2015 and is awarded once every five years. It recognizes individuals whose dedication to public service reflects Mandela’s values and impact. Past recipients include Helena Ndume of Namibia and Jorge Fernando Branco Sampaio of Portugal.
This year’s award was presented on July 18, aligning with the annual Nelson Mandela International Day. As Dr. Odede stood before the global community at UN Headquarters, his life’s arc—from a Kibera street boy to an internationally recognized human rights leader—embodied the spirit of the man the prize is named after.
