Nairobi — President William Ruto paid glowing tribute to Nelly Cheboi after she was named the CNN Hero of The Year for her work in creating computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren.
The Head of State briefly diverted from his written speech to congratulate the 29-year-old and urged her to continue connecting and inspiring thousands of Kenyan children.
Cheboi is the founder of TechLit Africa, a nonprofit organization that gives thousands of students in rural Kenya access to refurbished computers and the opportunity for a better future.
She resigned from a well-paying position as a software engineer in 2019 in Chicago in order to build computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren.
The TechLit Africa founder accepted the honor alongside her mother, who she credited with putting in a lot of effort to educate her family.
Cheboi will receive $100,000 (KES 12.3 million) as the CNN Hero of the Year to further her work.
