Biography:Jessica Posner

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Short description: Social entrepreneur

Jessica Posner is a social entrepreneur and activist. She is the co-founder of the non-profit organization Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) and CEO of Girl Effect.

Life and education

Posner was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in a Jewish family. She studied political theater work abroad at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. In 2007, she met Kenny Odede and they worked together on Shining Hope for Communities,[1][2] an organization that aims to improve gender equality and reduce poverty by providing education programs, community forums, health clinics, working toilets, and sources of clean water.[3][4][5]

She returned to Denver at the end of the school semester in 2007 and helped Kenny escape the political violence in Kibera. He attended Wesleyan University on a full scholarship until it was safe for them to return to Kenya.[6]

In 2009, Posner was acting co-founder and CEO of SHOFCO and the Kibera School for Girls was opened.[7]

In 2015, Posner and Odede published the autobiography "Find Me Unafraid" about their life together in the slums.[8][9][6] The book was runner up for that Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2016 for the category nonfiction.[10]

Posner became CEO of Girl Effect in 2019, a non-governmental organization that aims to improve girls' health, education, and livelihoods by connecting them to information and resources across Africa and Asia.[11][12]

On October 10, 2019, she launched Chhaa Jaa (Go Forth and Shine), a youth program for girls in India, with the goal of empowering young girls through digital media.[13]

Awards and honors

Posner received the "VH1 2010 Do Something Grand Award" for Top world-changer 25 and Under for her work in opening Kibera's first free school for girls.[7][14]

Personal life

Posner married Kenny Odede in 2012.[6] They have 3 children.[15][16]

Publications

  • Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Kristof, Nicholas (2011-09-29). "Opinion | Just Look at What You Did!" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/opinion/kristof-just-look-at-what-you-did.html. 
  2. ↑ Silver, Marc (2018-08-29). "Whatever Happened To ... The Street Kid Whose Life Was Saved By Kindness" (in en). NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/08/29/642679340/whatever-happened-to-the-street-kid-whose-life-was-saved-by-kindness. 
  3. ↑ "Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum by Kennedy Odede, Jessica Posner". https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780062292858. 
  4. ↑ "On finding love and building hope in a Kenyan slum - The Boston Globe" (in en-US). https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/11/21/story-behind-book-love-and-hope-kenyan-slum/ExC0k3aQw1Gber2bKtNtxJ/story.html. 
  5. ↑ Wesangula, Daniel (2016-10-06). "Can Africa's first aerial water network beat the cartels' sky high prices?" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/06/aerial-water-cartel-slum-kenya. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "How a Jewish Woman and a Kenyan Man Are Trying To Save the World Together" (in en). 2015-10-31. https://forward.com/culture/323469/how-a-jewish-woman-and-a-kenyan-man-are-trying-to-save-the-world/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "From Denver to Kibera: How one woman helped rewrite the future for girls" (in en). 2025-12-26. https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/from-denver-to-kibera-how-one-woman-helped-rewrite-the-future-for-girls-5308694. 
  8. ↑ "Soulful Reads: The Book Excerpt You Need to Read Today" (in en-us). Oprah.com. https://www.oprah.com/inspiration/find-me-unafraid. 
  9. ↑ (in en-us) FIND ME UNAFRAID | Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kennedy-odede/find-me-unafraid/. 
  10. ↑ "Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, October 12, 2016". https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2857. 
  11. ↑ "Bowled over by Jessica Posner Odede" (in en). https://www.theweek.in/opinion/columns/Shobhaa-De/2023/12/15/bowled-over-by-jessica-posner-odede.html. 
  12. ↑ "'Teenage girls will be the next wave online —this is a huge untapped opportunity for growth'". The Times of India. 2020-02-15. ISSN 0971-8257. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/teenage-girls-will-be-the-next-wave-online-this-is-huge-untapped-opportunity-for-growth/articleshow/74141191.cms. 
  13. ↑ "Girl Effect's new initiative Chaa Jaa aims to empower adolescent girls through digital media: Jessica Posner Odede". The Times of India. 2019-10-10. ISSN 0971-8257. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/girl-effects-new-initiative-chaa-jaa-aims-to-empower-adolescent-girls-through-digital-media-jessica-posner-odede/articleshow/71524709.cms. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Odede, Kennedy; Posner, Jessica (2016-07-26) (in en). Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-229286-5. https://books.google.de/books/about/Find_Me_Unafraid.html?id=l9jvjgEACAAJ&source=kp_author_description&redir_esc=y. 
  15. ↑ "PROFILE: Kennedy Odede became a street kid at age 10, now he's fighting poverty in the slums" (in en-KE). 2021-07-27. https://citizen.digital/article/profile-kennedy-odede-became-a-street-kid-at-age-10-now-hes-fighting-poverty-in-the-slums-12891547. 
  16. ↑ Holder, Bill. "Light by Which to Dream | Middlebury" (in en). https://www.middlebury.edu/projects-peace/light-which-dream. 



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