(CNN) Growing up in poverty in rural Kenya, Nelly Cheboi watched her single mother, who had only completed fifth grade, work tirelessly so Cheboi and her three sisters could attend school. "Looking at the poverty in the household, looking at the community and suffering, it just became so clear that I needed to do something." Cheboi attended college on scholarship in the United States, worked odd jobs to support her family, and discovered her passion for computer science. Today, she's giving 4,000 kids the chance for a brighter future through her nonprofit, TechLit Africa. The organization, whose name is short for Technologically Literate Africa, uses recycled computers to create technology labs in schools in rural Kenya.

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