Shaban Varajab.

Shaban Varajab is the Founder and Team Leader of 42 Change Makers, a youth-led nonprofit that serves underprivileged youth in Kenya. He is passionate about social change and has driven countless campaigns on peacebuilding, conflict transformation, youth development, gender equality, education and civic engagement.

Shaban was born in Kakamega, Kenya. He was raised by his late beloved grandmother after losing both parents when he was 11 years old, and grew up in deep poverty. There were nights of hunger, nights without enough clothing, and seasons when paying for school seemed impossible.

Through great sacrifice, prayer and hard work, he finished high school and earned a place at Moi University in Eldoret, where he completed a B.A. in Education (Mathematics and Economics), often working several jobs to pay his way. He never lost hope. Scholarships later took him to study and work in Kenya, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the USA and the Philippines.

In 2016 he earned an M.A. in International Peace Studies (policy analysis) from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. His passion for civic innovation and data for impact earned him a one-year fellowship with enFocus, a nonprofit building better communities through talent, innovation and entrepreneurship in Indiana.

Shaban will tell you that his experiences in Kenya and abroad opened doors he wants every struggling Kenyan young person to find, so they can become resilient community change agents. Today he works as a Project Data and Accounting Manager in the United States while leading 42 Change Makers. He credits God for the people who helped him along the way, for his health, and for a mind that let him overcome the odds.