Joe McConnell
CNN
—
Nelly Cheboi, who left a lucrative computer engineering job in Chicago in 2019 to build 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 this year.
Cheboi’s nonprofit organization, TechLit Africa, has provided thousands of students in rural Kenya with access to donated and recycled computers and the chance for a better future.
Cheboi accepted the award alongside her mother, who she said “worked hard to raise us.” At the start of her acceptance speech, Cheboi and her mother sang a song on stage that she explained had a special meaning when she was a child.
As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the other top 10 CNN Heroes honored at Sunday’s gala will each receive a $10,000 cash award 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 includes a $300,000 grant and $200,000 in additional support for her nonprofit organization.
Cheboi grew up in poverty in Mogotio, a rural town in Kenya. “I know the pain of poverty,” said Cheboi, 29. “I have never forgotten what it was like to have your stomach turn with hunger at night.”
A hardworking student, Cheboi received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois in 2012. She began her studies there with little to no experience with computers, handwriting documents, and the difficulty of transcribing them on a laptop.
However, everything changed during his junior year, when Cheboi took a required programming course for his mathematics major.
“When I discovered computer science, I just fell in love with it. I knew it was something I wanted to do as a career and also bring it to my community,” she told CNN.
However, many basic computer skills still required a steep learning curve. Cheboi recalls having to practice touch typing for six months before he could get through a programming interview. Touch typing is a skill that is now a core part of the TechLit curriculum.
“I feel so fulfilled seeing 7-year-olds typing on computers, knowing that I learned how to do it less than five years ago,” she said.
After starting out in the software industry, Cheboi quickly realized the scale of computers being wasted as companies upgraded their technology infrastructure.
“We have children here (in Kenya) – including me, at one time – who don’t even know what a computer is,” she said.
So, in 2018, he began transporting donated computers to Kenya in his personal luggage, personally handling the taxes and customs fees.
“At one point, I was carrying 44 computers and I paid more for the luggage than I did for the plane ticket,” he said.
A year later, he co-founded TechLit Africa with a fellow software engineer after they both quit their jobs. The nonprofit accepts computer donations from companies, universities, and individuals.
The hardware is wiped 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 them advance their education and better prepare them for future jobs.
“We have people who have a specific skill set who come in and are just inspiring kids (with) music production, video production, coding, personal branding,” Cheboi said. “They can go from a remote class with NASA on education to music production.”
The organization currently serves 10 schools; within the next year, Cheboi hopes to partner with 100 more schools.
“My hope is that when the first kids from TechLit graduate, they’ll be able to get a job online 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’re educated. By bringing the resources, by bringing these skills, we’re opening up the world for them.”
Watch the moment CNN Hero of the Year is announced
An inspiring night of heroism and defense
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Kelly Ripa co-hosted the 16th annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which featured more than a dozen all-star hosts.
“We are deeply honored to be here,” said actress and singer Sofia Carson, who performed a song with award-winning singer-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 this performance to our heroes.”
Actor Aubrey Plaza introduced CNN hero Aidan Reilly, who launched his nonprofit while home from college during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“From his pandemic couch, Aidan and his friends co-founded Farmlink Project,” Plaza said. The nonprofit connects excess food from U.S. farms that would otherwise go to waste to those in need. “In just two years, it has moved more than 70 million pounds,” Plaza added.
Debra Vines, whose nonprofit organization The Answer Inc. supports families affected by autism in underserved communities in Chicago, was honored by actress Holly Robinson Peete, a “fellow autistic mom.”
Vines says his group has provided programming and guidance to more than 4,000 families. “Join me and become a servant of change today,” Vines said when accepting his award.
And Emmy-winning actor Justin Theroux brought his rescue dog, Kuma, on stage to honor Carie Broecker and her nonprofit, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue.
Two teens making a difference in their communities were also honored as 2022 Young Wonders:
Ruby Chitsey, a 15-year-old from Harrison, Arkansas, founded the initiative “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents,” which donates personal items to nursing home residents who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
Sri Nihal Tammana, a 13-year-old from Edison, New Jersey, started “Recycle My Battery,” an initiative that prevents used batteries from entering the ecosystem through a network of collection bins.
The show also paid tribute to two Georgia poll workers, Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, whose lives were turned upside down after false allegations of involvement in 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 allows people and charities to give and receive help. Supporters can donate online to the Top 10 CNN 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 who is doing extraordinary things to make the world a better place? Keep an eye on CNN.com/heroes and consider nominating that 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 U.S. states and more than 110 countries around the world.
