Nairobi slum based community services organization SHOFCO (Shining Hope for Communities) has received a major funding option from the Hilton foundation.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced that the SHOFCO is this year’s recipient of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize after a distinguished panel of independent international jurors selected it, which catalyzes large-scale transformation in urban slums by providing critical services for all, community advocacy platforms, and education and leadership development for women and girls.
SHOFCO will receive $2 million in unrestricted funding, joining the list of 22 previous organizations that have received the Hilton Humanitarian Prize over the last two decades. SHOFCO will be honored at this year’s Hilton Humanitarian Symposium and Prize Ceremony, which will take place at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles this October. The theme of this year’s symposium is The Future of Humanitarian Action: Resetting Our Moral Compass.
Based in Kibera—one of the largest slums in Africa—SHOFCO was founded by Kennedy Odede as a teenager in 2004 with 20 cents and a soccer ball. In 2007, Kennedy met Jessica Posner, a bright and driven American student studying abroad. Together they devised the model that SHOFCO utilizes today. Kennedy and Jessica’s partnership is a unique, pioneering collaboration in the field of international development.
While growing up in Kibera, Kennedy Odede saw firsthand the devastating consequences of living in urban informal settlements, known locally as slums. However, instead of thinking about how to escape his environment, Kennedy saw the potential to transform his community by working side-by-side with his neighbors within the slum.
SHOFCO’s programs, which include health care, education and economic empowerment for women and girls, and sustainable delivery of clean water through a cutting-edge aerial piping system, are always demand-driven and community led.
In providing communities with the opportunity to realize their full potential, SHOFCO creates sustainable, systemic change within urban slums. What began as a grassroots movement in Kibera by Kennedy in 2004 has ignited transformation and hope in six Kenyan slums, reaching more than 220,000 people.
“The jury’s selection of SHOFCO to receive the 2018 Hilton Humanitarian Prize really speaks to the power of local actors, and signals a nod to the next generation of humanitarian and development leaders,” said Hilton Foundation President and CEO Peter Laugharn.
“SHOFCO is a remarkable example of citizen-led change, created by people living in very challenging conditions. As Africa and the world urbanize and more informal settlements are created, SHOFCO provides an inspiring example of local creativity and solutions.”
“We are thrilled and honored to receive the 2018 Hilton Humanitarian Prize,” said Kennedy Odede, founder and CEO of SHOFCO. “We will use this tremendous opportunity to start an endowment to ensure the long-term financial health and sustainable growth of our work. This will allow SHOFCO to remain driven by community needs and leadership, not donor demands, now and in the future. The endowment will strengthen our work in partnership with community leaders and help us expand our investments to transform urban slums.”
