Derreck Kayongo

Derreck Kayongo (Born January 25, 1970) was born in Kampala, Uganda just before General Idi Amin Dada seized power in a military coup. The new regime became known for its brutality, and today Idi Amin is one of history's most notorious dictators. As violence spread through the country and civil war erupted, Kayongo and his family became refugees in Kenya. He later immigrated to America to attend university. Today, he is a successful entrepreneur and human rights innovator.

Though most well known as a 2011 CNN Hero and founder of the Global Soap Project, Kayongo is a renowned expert in environmental sustainability and global health, as well as the current CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2016 the Georgia State Senate passed a resolution recognizing Kayongo's incredible journey from refugee to CEO.

On his first day in America, Derreck Kayongo was preparing to take a shower in his hotel when he discovered the many different kinds of soap in his room: hand soap, face soap, body soap, shampoo, conditioner. He had never seen so much soap for one person. After a few days, he began to wonder what happened to the partially used soap that disappeared from his room each day and discovered that it was just thrown away. Inspired by his experiences as a refugee in Kenya, and knowing that in-crisis communities are often without any soap at all, Kayongo and his wife Sarah eventually created a life-changing international aid organization that collects discarded soap from hotels, reprocesses it and distributes it to vulnerable populations worldwide. This simple idea fights the #1 killers of children in many at-risk communities: hygiene-related diseases. Active in 32 countries, Global Soap has given millions of bars of soap to refugees and people affected by natural disasters like the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal. Global Soap recently partnered with Clean the World. These organizations have contributed to an amazing 30% reduction in child deaths, globally, since 2009 and are expanding Kayongo's original vision to include micro-loans and training for soap makers in communities around the world. The city of Atlanta designated May 5 as annual Global Soap Project Day.

In 2015 Derreck Kayongo was chosen as the new Chief Executive Officer for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta GA. The Center is located in downtown Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park on land donated by the Coca Cola Company and is involved in wide range of human rights issues. Under Kayongo's leadership, the Center is becoming even more vital to Atlanta's social and political scenes. In addition to the Center's moving and beautifully designed galleries, the space is used for corporate meetings, weddings and a wide variety of events.

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