
06/13/2025
DEMI OLAWOYIN - 2025 AHED "STAR OF HONOR" RECIPIENT
Sunday, June 15th, 2025
GSH Event Center
Red Carpet: 5:00 pm, Ceremony: 6:00 pm
In every generation, there are builders who lay bricks not just with their hands, but with hope. Festus Segun-Oside is one such builder. Quiet in countenance, yet prodigious in purpose, his journey stretches from the soil of Ijebu, Nigeria, to the digital frontiers of Houston’s African diaspora. Where others found a career, he discovered a calling and where many pursued legacy, he chose instead to build it, one soul, one skill, and one system at a time.
With a background spanning law, insurance, and banking, Festus found his truest rhythm in technology over fifteen years ago. In 2006, moved by faith and purpose, he began offering free IT training to underserved communities a gesture that has since rippled into thousands of transformed lives. As CEO of First LeaderSoft and the visionary behind InfoTech Impact, his mission has been clear: to democratize opportunity and code a future where access meets dignity. From building software that supports ministries, to creating platforms that uplift the less privileged, Festus has become a steward of both innovation and inclusion. Tonight, we do not just honor a technologist, we honor a torchbearer whose work makes knowledge sacred, and whose quiet revolution codes not only for systems, but for freedom.