16 Facts About Wanjira Mathai

Wanjira Mathai was born on December 1971 and is a Kenyan environmentalist and activist.

Wanjira Mathai is Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Wanjira Mathai was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine in 2018 for her role serving as the senior advisor at the World Resources Institute, as well as for her campaign to plant more than 30 million trees through her work at the Green Belt Movement.

Wanjira Mathai's mother, Wangari Maathai, was a social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004.

Wanjira Mathai received a master's degree in Public Health and in Business Administration from Emory University.

Originally, Wanjira Mathai served as Director of International of Affairs of the GBM from 2002, and later was made Executive Director of the organization.

Wanjira Mathai realized that women were more responsive when the GBM called for people to help planting trees.

Wanjira Mathai has said that her work in planting trees, called agroforestry, was inspired by her mother's environmental work.

When her mother died in 2011, Wanjira Mathai helped steer the club through a time of transition.

Wanjira Mathai serves as senior advisor of the Partnerships for Women Entrepreneurs in Renewables, which promotes women in renewable energy leadership in an effort to bring renewables to almost four million women in East Africa.

Wanjira Mathai serves on the advisory board of the Clean Cooking Alliance, and is a member of the Earth Chapter International Council.

Wanjira Mathai serves on the board of trustees of the Center for International Forestry Research.

Wanjira Mathai is one of a few six second EQ practitioners.

Since 2016, Wanjira Mathai has served as chairperson of the Wangari Maathai Foundation.

Wanjira Mathai often speaks to these topics, as she is a motivational speaker on the topics of youth leadership, environment, and climate change.

In 2018 Wanjira Mathai was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine, as well as the Top Influential African Women by the African Leadership University.