Emerging Leader in Health Award and Presidential Recognition highlight a decade of youth-led public health advocacy, lived experience and innovation
Stowelink Foundation is proud to celebrate the recognition of its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ogweno Stephen, at the International Congress on Obesity 2026 in Mexico City, where he was recognised with the Emerging Leaders in Health Award and received a Presidential Recognition Award.
The recognition marks an important moment not only for Ogweno personally, but for Stowelink Foundation and the wider community of young African public health advocates working to change how obesity and non-communicable diseases are understood and addressed.
The Emerging Leaders in Health Award recognises outstanding youth advocacy in obesity and celebrates young leaders who have demonstrated impactful action and innovative approaches to addressing overweight and obesity. Ogweno was the 2026 recipient listed by the International Congress on Obesity.
A Recognition Rooted in Lived Experience
Ogweno’s journey in public health has always been deeply personal.
His work was shaped by his own experience with childhood obesity and the stigma, misconceptions and challenges that can accompany it. That experience eventually became a motivation to build solutions that help communities understand health differently.
Through Stowelink Foundation, he has spent more than a decade developing programmes focused on non-communicable disease prevention, health education, digital health, youth leadership, research and policy advocacy.
Today, his work sits at the intersection of lived experience and public health leadership, bringing together personal understanding of health challenges with professional experience in research, advocacy, technology and health systems.
The International Congress on Obesity describes him as a global health advocate, social entrepreneur and lived-experience expert who combines his experience with obesity and professional expertise to advance youth-led and technology-driven health solutions across Africa.
From a Kenyan Youth Initiative to Global Health Platforms
For Stowelink, this recognition represents how far the organization and its leadership have travelled.
What began as a youth-led initiative in Kenya has developed into a broader public health organization working across Africa. Stowelink focuses particularly on non-communicable diseases and works at the intersection of health education, technology, advocacy and research.
Ogweno has led programmes implemented across more than eight African countries and has developed innovations aimed at improving health literacy and access to care for chronic diseases. He also serves on global health platforms, including the World Obesity Federation and the World Health Organization’s NCD Labs under the thematic area of NCDs and the next generation.
His leadership has also included representing young people and lived experience in international policy conversations, helping ensure that African perspectives are part of decisions shaping the future of health.
Recognition for Youth Leadership in Obesity
The Emerging Leaders in Health Award is particularly meaningful because it recognizes the importance of youth leadership in addressing obesity.
Obesity is increasingly recognized as a complex chronic disease requiring action across prevention, treatment, health systems, food environments, policy and public understanding.
Yet young people are often discussed as a population affected by obesity without being sufficiently included as leaders in developing solutions.
Ogweno’s recognition challenges that model.
It demonstrates that young Africans can contribute meaningfully to global obesity research, advocacy and policy conversations, while bringing perspectives shaped by the realities of communities that are often underrepresented in global health decision-making.
Beyond the Scale
The recognition comes as Stowelink is developing its Beyond the Scale Africa initiative, a youth-led obesity advocacy movement designed to change how obesity is understood across African communities.
Beyond the Scale brings together community education, storytelling, treatment literacy, lived-experience leadership, advocacy and digital engagement.
At its heart is a simple belief: people are more than a number on a scale.
The initiative seeks to challenge weight stigma and misinformation while creating greater understanding of obesity as a health issue and advocating for environments and health systems that support prevention and equitable care.
The work builds directly on the philosophy that has shaped Ogweno’s own advocacy: lived experience should not simply be something that informs a person’s story. It can be a powerful source of leadership, evidence and systems change.
A Decade of Building Health Solutions
Ogweno’s recognition at ICO also reflects a broader body of work beyond obesity.
Through Stowelink, he has helped develop and lead digital health and community health initiatives including NCDs 365, which has supported health education and NCD prevention across multiple African countries, and Lifesten Health, a digital health platform focused on healthier lifestyle adoption and chronic disease prevention.
His advocacy has also extended to tobacco control, nutrition, cardiovascular health, mental health and health systems.
Stowelink’s wider portfolio includes the Tobacco Industry Interference Digital Watch Initiative, youth advocacy programmes, community screening initiatives, food policy advocacy and research.
This combination of community implementation, digital innovation and policy advocacy has become a defining feature of the organization’s approach to public health.
A Recognition for the Wider Stowelink Community
While the awards were presented to Ogweno, Stowelink Foundation sees them as a reflection of a much larger community.
They represent the volunteers who have delivered health education in communities, the young advocates who have raised their voices on public health issues, the researchers who have generated evidence, the partners who have supported Stowelink’s work and the communities that have trusted the organization to work alongside them.
The recognition is therefore not an endpoint.
It is an encouragement to continue building.
From Recognition to Responsibility
For Stowelink Foundation, recognition at one of the world’s leading obesity congresses carries an important responsibility.
It creates an opportunity to use the platform to amplify issues that matter to African communities, particularly equitable access to obesity prevention and care, youth leadership, lived experience and stronger health systems.
As Ogweno continues his work across global health platforms, Stowelink will continue translating those conversations into practical action through its programmes in Africa.
The organization believes that the future of public health must be evidence-driven, community-rooted and inclusive of the people whose lives are most affected by the decisions being made.
The Emerging Leaders in Health Award and Presidential Recognition at ICO 2026 are therefore more than personal accolades.
They are a reminder of what can happen when lived experience becomes leadership, when young people are given space to shape global health conversations, and when African solutions are given a seat at the table.
Stowelink Foundation congratulates Ogweno Stephen on this important recognition and remains committed to building a healthier, more equitable Africa through youth leadership, innovation, research and advocacy.