News / SHOFCO

SHOFCO is proud to announce that its CEO and founder, Kennedy Odede, has been named one of the world’s most influential people in 2024 by TIME100. This honor coincides with a significant milestone as SHOFCO marks its 20th anniversary of empowering local communities to shape their own futures with voice, access, and knowledge.

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a grassroots movement that catalyzes large-scale transformation in urban African slums by providing critical services for all, community advocacy platforms, and education and leadership development for women and girls. In addition to supplying 2.5 million liters of water, 6 health clinics in Kiberia and Mathare, and 954 youth job placements, SHOFCO has recently launched a Manyatta Community Resource Center in Kisumu County. The facility features a community-based library and amenities for the SHOFCO Women Empowerment Program.

Life in Nairobi, Kenya is arduous. Nearly one third of the residents of this metropolis live in one of several slums which receive limited electricity, have no running water and other restrained services. Existence within one of these slums is even direr; disease is rampant and malnutrition is normal. For girls growing up in the Kibera slum, day to day life borders on hopeless because only about 8% of them ever get the chance to attend school.