Changemakers and bestselling authors Kennedy Odede & Jessica Posner Odede will join Stanford Medicine’s Paul Costello for a conversation about their work providing health care, education and hope to African slum communities.

The conversation will be held from 4:00 – 5:00 pm, with a reception to follow.

Kennedy Odede grew up in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, the largest slum in Africa. Homeless from age 10, Kennedy had no formal education until, through extraordinary acts of persistence and sheer will power – and the advocacy of his now-wife Jessica Posner Odede – Kennedy was admitted to Wesleyan University, graduated in four years, gave the graduation speech, and is now on Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.  Together, Kennedy and Jessica founded and lead Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), a grass-roots organization that provides a growing range of services and opportunities to slum dwellers in Kibera and throughout Africa. They operate a K-8 school for girls, a community water system, public toilets, a savings co-op program, women’s empowerment programs and a growing series of health clinics.

In addition to leading SHOFCO, Kennedy and Jessica are New York Times best selling authors of the story of their lives, Find Me Unafraid; Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slums. Kennedy has been honored as a Forbes 2014 “30 under 30” Social Entrepreneur, an Aspen Institute New Voice Fellow, and a Clinton Global Initiative Fellow, among many other honors. Jessica was selected as “America’s Top World Changer 25 and Under” by VH1, has been featured in numerous columns by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and is the youngest alumnae in the history of Wesleyan University to be recognized with its Distinguished Alumni Award. Both Kennedy and Jessica have received the prestigious Echoing Green Fellow designation.

The conversation is part of the Conversations in Global Health quarterly seminar series from Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health.

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