Nelly Cheboi, who in 2019 quit a lucrative software engineering job in Chicago to set up computer labs for Kenyan students, is CNN’s 2022 Hero of the Year.
Online voters chose her as one of CNN’s top 10 heroes of the year.
Cheboi’s nonprofit, TechLit Africa, has provided thousands of students across rural Kenya with access to donated, upgraded computers — and the chance for a brighter future.
Cheboi accepted the award with her mother, who she said “worked very hard to educate us”. At the beginning of her acceptance speech, Cheboi and her mother sang a song on stage that she explained had special meaning when she was growing up.
As CNN’s Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the other 10 CNN Heroes honored at Sunday’s gala all receive a $10,000 cash prize and, for the first time, additional grants, organizational training and support from The Elevate Prize Foundation through a new partnership with CNN Heroes. Nelly will also be named the winner of the Elevate Prize, which comes with a $300,000 grant and an additional $200,000 worth of support for her non-profit organization.
Cheboi grew up in poverty in Mogotio, a rural township in Kenya. “I know the pain of poverty,” said Cheboi, 29. “I never forgot how my stomach churned from hunger at night.”
A hard-working student, Cheboi received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois in 2012. She started her studies there with almost no experience with computers, manuscript papers and struggling to transcribe them into a laptop.
That all changed in her junior year, however, when Cheboi took a programming course required for her math major.
“When I discovered computer science, I just fell in love with it. I knew this is something I wanted to do as a career, and also bring it to my community,” he told CNN.
However, many basic computer skills were still a steep learning curve. Cheboi remembers having to practice touch typing for six months before she could pass a coding interview. Touch typing is a skill that is now a core part of the TechLit curriculum.
“I feel so accomplished seeing 7-year-olds touch typing, knowing that I just learned how to touch type less than five years ago,” she said.
Once he started working in the software industry, Cheboi soon realized the extent to which computers were thrown as companies upgraded their technology infrastructure.
“We have kids here (in Kenya) – including me, back in the day – who don’t even know what a computer is,” he said.
So in 2018, she began transporting donated computers back to Kenya — in her personal luggage, handling customs and taxes herself.
“At one point, I was bringing 44 computers and paid more for luggage than I did for the plane ticket,” he said.
A year later, she co-founded TechLit Africa with a fellow software engineer after they both quit their jobs. The non-profit organization accepts computer donations from companies, universities and individuals.
The material is cleaned and refurbished before being shipped to Kenya. There, it is distributed to partner schools in rural communities, where students ages 4 to 12 receive daily lessons and frequent opportunities to learn from professionals, gaining skills that will help improve their education and better prepare them for future jobs.
“We have people who have a specific skill that come in and just inspire kids (with) music production, video production, coding, personal branding,” Cheboi said. “They can go through a distance learning course with NASA on music production training.”
The organization currently serves 10 schools. within the next year, Cheboi hopes to work with 100 more.
“I hope that when the first TechLit kids graduate from high school, they’ll be able to get a job on the Internet because they’ll know how to code, they’ll know how to do graphic design, they’ll know how to do marketing,” Cheboi said. “The world is your oyster when you are educated. By bringing in the resources, by bringing in those skills, we’re opening up the world to them.”
Watch the moment CNN’s Hero of the Year is named
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Kelly Ripa co-hosted the 16th annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” featuring more than a dozen celebrities.
“We are so honored to be here,” said actress and singer Sofia Carson, who performed a song with award-winning songwriter Diane Warren at the event. “Diane wrote this incredible anthem ‘Applause’ for those who lead, survive and fight and tonight we dedicate this song and performance to our heroes.”
Actor Aubrey Plaza introduced CNN hero Aidan Reilly, who started his nonprofit while home from college during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“From his couch during the pandemic, Aidan and his friends co-founded the Farmlink Project,” Plaza said. The nonprofit connects surplus food from farms across the United States — food that would otherwise go to waste — with those who need it. “In just two years, it has moved over £70 million,” Plaza added.
Debra Vines – whose non-profit The Answer Inc. supports families affected by autism in underserved communities throughout Chicago – was honored by actress Holly Robinson Peete, a “fellow mom with autism.”
Vines says her team has provided programming and guidance to more than 4,000 families. “Join me and be a servant of change today,” Vines said upon receiving her award.
And Emmy-winning actor Justin Theroux brought rescue dog Kuma onstage to honor Carie Broecker and her nonprofit, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue.
Two teenagers who made a difference in their communities were also honored as 2022 Young Wonders:
Ruby Chitsey, a 15-year-old from Harrison, Arkansas, started “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents,” which donates personal items to nursing home residents who couldn’t afford them.
Sri Nihal Tammana, a 13-year-old from Edison, New Jersey, started “Recycle My Battery,” which keeps used batteries out of the ecosystem through a network of collection bins.
The show also honored two Georgia poll workers, Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, whose lives were turned upside down after false allegations of voter fraud spread on social media.
CNN has partnered with GoFundMe to enable donations to this year’s top 10 honorees. GoFundMe is the world’s largest fundraising platform that enables people and charities to give and receive help. Supporters can make online donations to CNN’s Top 10 Heroes nonprofits directly from CNNHeroes.com. Subaru is matching all donations up to $50,000 for each of this year’s honorees through January 3, 2023.
Do you know someone in your community doing amazing things to make the world a better place? Watch CNN.com/heroes and consider nominating this person as a CNN Hero in 2023. You can also read more about many of the 350 past CNN Heroes who have helped more than 55 million people in all 50 US states and in more than 110 countries around the world.
