Hammed Kayode Alabi is a nonprofit leader, author and social entrepreneur known throughout Africa for his advocacy for education and Sustainable Development Goals. Describing himself as “a product of grace and circumstance,” Hammed describes his childhood in the slums of Lagos, where he lost his mother at age 7 and watched his father struggle to find employment, as his motivation for empowering other young leaders. After working as a teacher, Hammed launched his own nonprofit, the Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative. With over 60 volunteer trainers, KLCI has provided sustained skill, leadership development, and career readiness training to over 3,057 young people across Nigeria. In 2018, Hammed used a grant from Peace First to create Skill2Rural Bootcamp, a program of KLCI that provided a 2-day intensive upskilling training to 90 youth in rural Nigeria.

Outside of his leadership at KLCI, Hammed is the Fellow-in-Residence and Regional Manager for Peace First, a global non-profit in the United States. He currently leads its core programs in Sub-Saharan Africa by supporting youth social innovation projects in more than 30 countries through mentorship and mini grant distribution.

Hammed co-founded Teaching Edge, Nigeria’s first learning management system for teachers, organizes conferences on gender equity, and serves as a mentor with the Diana Award. He has been recognized with the US Consul General’s Award, Talent of the Future Award, SDGs Nigerian Star, Keenista African Youth Essay Competition Award winner (Top 2-7 out of 513 entries) and as an African Monitor Youth Champion, for his leadership on social issues. He’s excited to build a movement.

Ultimately, Hammed is the founder of www.kayfactorinspires.com, an inspirational blog that uses storytelling to connect people to issues that affect them. He self-published a Pan-African Book "The Africa I Dream to See" on Amazon.