And started teaching at fifteen. Today, Hammed Kayode Alabi is building the future of education across Africa.

Hammed calls himself a product of grace and circumstance. He was born and raised in Makoko, which is known as the largest floating slum in Africa and his childhood was marked by both struggle and spark. He lost his mother young, watched his father search endlessly for work, and this made him decide early that education
would be his lifeline.

By fifteen, Hammed was already in front of a classroom, teaching in a small rural school in Lagos. That was where his mission began. Hammed decided to turn pain into purpose, and circumstance into change.

Driven by that calling, Hammed founded the Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative (KLCI), a nonprofit that has trained over 10,000 students across 14 states in Nigeria and beyond. Through leadership development, career readiness, and 21st-century skills, KLCI gives young people the tools he once wished he had. He
also launched a teachers-in-training fellowship that leverages technology to empower student-teachers with innovative methods. His initiatives prove that education doesn’t have to be limited by geography or privilege.

Hammed’s vision, however, doesn’t stop at classrooms. His influence spans continents. As a Regional Manager and board member for Peace First, he supported youth social innovators in over 150 countries, helping hundreds of thousands of
young people turn ideas into impact. At the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, he addressed ministers of education from across the world, sharing a radical vision for skills-based learning in Africa.

He has authored three books, written over 190 articles, and built projects that bridge education and technology. His latest innovation, Rafiki AI, is Africa’s first Generative AI career advisor for underserved and displaced youth. It is a WhatsApp-based tool that has already reached 7,300 users in 54 countries, answering over 30,000 career queries. Through Rafiki and Skill2Rural.Org, his edtech start-up, Hammed is proving that access to opportunity can travel
anywhere, even on the smallest of screens.

Now based in Scotland, Hammed works as a Transitions Coordinator at the University of Edinburgh with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme, guiding African scholars as they take their next steps into careers and leadership.

His journey has earned him global recognition, from the US Consul General Award to the Africa Talent of the Future honour, the Western Union Foundation Fellowship, and most recently, the 2025 Being Edinburgh Alumni Award from the University of Edinburgh.

In spite of all of these, when Hammed speaks about success, he returns to Makoko, the place that taught him resilience, empathy, and the power of vision. He says education gave him wings, but it was grace that taught him how to fly.

For Hammed Kayode Alabi, impact is not only about where you start but also about who you help rise along the way.