Editor's Review

CNN veteran journalist Anderson Cooper announced Cheboi as the winner in an event held at the American Museum of Natural History.


A Kenyan philanthropist Nelly Cheboi on Sunday, December 11,  won the CNN Hero of the Year Award.

Cheboi quit her software job to create tech labs for Kenyan schoolkids.

The win saw her pocket Sh74 million cash prize.

Cheboi's win confirms her as the recipient of the Elevate Prize.

The Elevate Prize Foundation includes USD 300,000 (Sh37 million) grant and additional support worth USD200,000 (Sh24.6 million) for her nonprofit organisation.

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Nelly Cheboi and her relative on the red carpet in the US. PHOTO | Nelly Cheboi.

CNN veteran journalist Anderson Cooper announced Cheboi as the winner in an event held at the American Museum of Natural History.

She trounced 10 other nominees to clinch the top award.

Cheboi was in the company of her family members when she received the award.

Apart from the Elevate Prize, she secured Sh1.2 million cash reward and Sh12.3 million grant to expand her work. 

Speaking after receiving the award, Cheboi said:

"Every year, people are graduating into the corporate world without ever using a computer. This forces them to go back to the village with their education," she stated.

"I want to get to 100 schools which translates to 40,000 school-going children. We need to rewrite what it means to grow up in rural Africa because people can work glamorous jobs and still work in your community."

Cheboi is a software engineer who turned out to be a philanthropist.

She has been using her hard-earned income to purchase computers for Kenyan schools.

She runs an organisation dubbed  TechLit Africa. She also sources computers from abroad for use in local schools.