Nelly Cheboi

Nelly Cheboi is the founder of TechLit Africa, an organization that teaches digital skills in rural primary schools, and the winner of the 2022 CNN Hero award.

Early life Cheboi grew up in poverty in the rural village of Mogotio in Kenya. She graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and computer science.

Career Cheboi built a school in Kenya, called Zawadi Yetu, during her junior year of college In 2018, she started to transport donated computers from the United States to Kenya. In 2019, she founded the nonprofit TechLit Africa with another software engineer, Tyler Cinnamon, As of 2022, they have built 10 computer labs in rural Kenya and have plans for 100 more.

Recognition In 2022, Cheboi was named as one of the 30 under 30 on the Forbes list for social impact.