CNN Hero Nelly Cheboi and her mother meet President Ruto

The 2022 CNN Hero award winner Nelly Cheboi and her mother, Christina Chebii, met President William Ruto in the United States where the Head of State is attending a high-level summit.

Cheboi was honoured on Sunday in a ceremony in New York City for her work in creating computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren through her nonprofit, TechLit Africa.

She was accompanied by her mother on the trip.

In a social media post shared on Wednesday, the computer scientist revealed that they met President Ruto on the sidelines of his US trip.

Cheboi shared a photo of her mother and Ruto, describing the moment as “the highlight of her visit to America.” She has since said the trip was her mother’s maiden flight.

During his Jamhuri Day address on Monday, President Ruto paid a glowing tribute to Cheboi.

Ruto congratulate the 29-year-old and urged her to continue connecting and inspiring thousands of Kenyan children.

"We congratulate the 29-year-old Nelly Cheboi the founder of TechLit Africa who this morning was declared the CNN hero of the year for her work in creating computer labs for Kenyan children to access opportunities in the digital world," he said.

In Cheboi’s acceptance speech on Sunday, she hailed her mother for “working really hard to educate us” and later termed the honour as “a win for all the African mothers.”

Prior to the award ceremony, Cheboi had been sharing snippets of her mother’s first trip to the United States’ most populous city.

In one of the photos, the two are photographed walking in the renowned Times Square commercial centre and tourist destination in their winter coats.

Welcome to New York mom ❣️ pic.twitter.com/jaCOK2tFPG

As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the other top 10 CNN Heroes honoured at Sunday’s gala all receive a $10,000 cash award and, for the first time, additional grants, organizational training and support from The Elevate Prize Foundation through a new collaboration with CNN Heroes.

Nelly will also be named an Elevate Prize winner, which comes with a $300,000 grant and additional support worth $200,000 for her nonprofit.