Kennedy Odede started Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) in 2004 with passion, 20 cents and a soccer ball. Growing up in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa, he experienced extreme poverty, violence, lack of opportunity, and deep gender inequality.

[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”2″]I[/su_dropcap]n 2007, Kennedy met Jessica Posner, a bright and driven American student studying abroad. Together they devised the model that SHOFCO utilizes today. SHOFCO’s innovation is to link girls’ education to deeply-needed community-wide services. This increases the value of girls and women, invites both genders to participate in the solution, and allows girls’ schools to be portals for large-scale social change.

Kennedy and Jessica’s partnership is a unique, pioneering collaboration in the field of international development. Bolstered by grassroots knowledge, they have dedicated their lives to bringing hope to urban communities.

Find Me Unafraid Campaign

[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”2″]F[/su_dropcap]ind Me Unafraid is the uncommon love story of two uncommon people-SHOFCO founders Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner-whose collaboration sparked a successful movement to transform the lives of vulnerable girls and the urban poor. Ultimately, Jessica and Kennedy’s memoir is a tale about a fight against poverty and hopelessness, the transformation made possible by a true love, and the power of young people to have a deep impact on the world.

Find Me Unafraid is available in stores now! To learn more, visit findmeunafraid.com or order straight from Amazon.

 

The Fight Against Urban Poverty Begins With a Girl

[su_button url=”http://www.shofco.org/find-me-unafraid-campaign” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#428ab0″ color=”#ffffff” size=”10″ center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: female” icon_color=”#ffffff” text_shadow=”0px 0px 0px #cccccc”]EMPOWER OUR GIRLS[/su_button]