Kennedy Odede, founder of the nonprofit Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), collaborates with… (+) SHOFCO community members.
A bright hope for communities
Every year, philanthropists send More than $50 billion in aid to AfricaBut very little of it reaches local communities in need directly. Organizations and funders use a top-down approach, imposing a predefined agenda on communities, rather than asking local communities what they need and investing in community-driven solutions. Kennedy Odede wanted to change that when she founded A bright hope for communities (Professional training center).
Odede’s success is nothing short of transformative: SHOFCO impacts 2.4 million people each year and wins dozens of awards for the impact of its work. Odede himself was honored as one of the The most influential people according to TIME100 of 2024.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Odede and learn how he has transformed philanthropy into an activity that generates better results. A key theme? SHOFCO’s work is based on collaboration with local leaders and community organizations to generate sustainable change.
A community approach to philanthropy
Kennedy Odede grew up as a street child in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum, where he witnessed extreme poverty firsthand. Odede observed that “most international organisations have the right intentions when it comes to development, but their approach often fails to have the expected impact. One reason is that funders and external organisations often use a single entry point, such as education or nutrition. The reality is that all of these challenges intersect and require a holistic approach to truly succeed.”
Odede’s idea?
Create a collaborative, community-based organization that works on the ground, at the grassroots level, and truly understands the interconnectedness of issues.
He explains why SHOFCO has been so successful, stating: “Sustainable change comes from empowering people and investing in collaborative, community-driven solutions. When change is driven from the local level, it is truly in tune with the needs of a community, leading to lasting change.”
Transforming power to generate impact
One of the reasons SHOFCO has been so successful is that Odede has been adamant about rethinking how success is measured in philanthropy. “Metrics of success are often defined by scale and replication of the model. The problem is that this doesn’t take into account where the greatest need is and the type of programs each community needs,” Odede explains.
Odede believes funders need to work with local leaders and organizations to define success together in a way that aligns with what will have the greatest impact for the community. When funders trust local leaders, they are more likely to treat them as equal partners – this is where the power begins to shift.
Local organizations are significantly more cost-effective and can have a greater impact due to the nature of their deep and trusted networks in the communities they serve.
By providing international funding to community-based organizations, funders would recognize the impact of these organizations and allocate funds to expand their work. Community-based organizations can design and implement initiatives that they know will work when they are given more power and agency.
Expanding critical work through partnerships
Odede believes a second factor of success is SHOFCO’s approach to building collaborative partnerships with community organizations. “Our collaboration is key to allowing us to reach the most vulnerable populations and amplify the critical work already being done by trusted and capable local organizations,” Odede shares.
An example is its association with Gifted handsSHOFCO is an informal school operating in Kibera that serves children whose families cannot afford to pay school fees. Most children from Kenya’s slums attend these informal schools and SHOFCO is working with them to adapt their school curriculum to better meet the needs of the tens of thousands of extremely poor students they serve.
SHOFCO’s holistic approach addresses the whole student by providing clean water, WASH clubs that deliver a Ministry of Health-approved curriculum on hygiene, and a menstrual hygiene curriculum.
Breaking survival mode to build a better future
SHOFCO’s collaborative and holistic approach has received international recognition. Kennedy was appointed to the position by Administrator Samantha Power. USAID Advisory Committee and is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. While personal recognition is nice, Odede says the real success is SHOFCO’s positive impact in reaching 2.4 million people each year.
Odede points to Joan Adhiambo as an example of what can happen when you approach philanthropy with a collaborative, bottom-up approach. When Adhiambo enrolled her daughter in SHOFCO’s School for Girls, she did odd jobs like washing clothes. Most days, she earned enough money to provide her family with a meal.
Joan Adhiambo sews as part of the Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) Women’s Empowerment Program. The program… (+) provides business training, financial support and employment opportunities to women living in Africa’s poorest slums.
A bright hope for communities
Adhiambo joined SHOFCO’s Women Empowerment Programme (SWEP), which provides entrepreneurial training, financial support and job opportunities to women living in the country’s slums. Through the SWEP programme, Adhiambo learned tailoring, detergent making and bead making. The training and support helped her and a friend from the programme start a small business.
Adhiambo went from living in extreme poverty to providing his family with three meals a day and money to pay his children’s school fees. He also bought a plot of land to build a house with his savings and obtained a loan from SHOFCO’s economic empowerment programme.
Among the benefits of the program is the return of favors received. Adhiambo’s daughter graduated from SHOFCO’s School for Girls, a significant achievement in a country where less than 20 percent of teenage girls complete high school, and is now attending college in the United States.
The bottom line
The conclusion should be that philanthropists around the world should try to learn from Kennedy Odede. While good things happen, the result is a more sustainable impact and the gradual, positive transformation of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
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