Salim Mohamed, co-founder and Executive Director of Carolina for Kibera, knows the difference even one dollar can make. His organization, which helps the people of Kenya’s Kibera—one of the poorest slums in East Africa—was made possible through a $26 donation from a University of North Carolina student back in 2001.

Salim also knows the value of providing hope to young people. As a child, he was abandoned by his mother and spent the first four years of his life on the streets of Nairobi with his grandmother, a vegetable hawker. When Salim turned five, he was sent to an orphanage. At age 16, inspired to help other children like himself, Salim led a youth group with over 2,000 members. After graduating high school, Salim became an HIV/AIDS educator in Kibera, where, today, 20 percent of all residents are HIV positive. In 2001, he helped found Carolina for Kibera (CFK).

Engaging with over 5, 000 youth in Kibera, CFK uses peer education, sports, theatre, dance, environmental service cleanups and income generating projects to promote youth leadership, gender equity, community development, and ethnic and religious cooperation.

Named a Hero of Global Health by Time Magazine, CFK is rooted in the conviction that solutions to problems involving poverty are possible only if those affected by it drive development.