PhD student Gladys Kemboi has been awarded the Knowledge Manager of the Year Award from CILIP, the UK's library and information association. This is an international award that recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution and excellence in the discipline of knowledge management through their work and professionalism.
"The success of our communities and organizations depends on our ability to build strong knowledge partnerships that translate knowledge into sustainable impact," said Kemboi.
Kemboi focuses on the decolonization of knowledge, epistemic justice, advancing local and Indigenous knowledge in development, and collaborating with leaders and partners across sectors and around the globe to build dynamic and equitable knowledge ecosystems. Her professional contributions include implementing the Global Coalition Knowledge Management Strategy on Youth, Peace and Security with the United Nations Development Programme and working with Visions of Hope for Africa to develop the knowledge management strategy on local resource mobilization and sustainable partnership in the US and Africa.
For the past five years, she has worked with the Knowledge Management for Development (KM4Dev) community to establish knowledge partnerships and advocate for knowledge decolonization in international development. Most recently, she co-designed and contributed to the Catalyzing African Community Archives for Social Good Project for the University of Illinois Chancellor's Call to Action Research Program.
Her recent honors include the 2024 Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) Fellowship Award, Maggie Weaver Joy of Information Fellowship, and 2025 Research and Advocacy Social Justice Award from the Office of Diversity & Social Justice Education in the Office of Student Affairs. She holds a bachelor's degree in information studies from The Technical University of Kenya and master's degree in information and knowledge management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.