Wanjira Mathai formerly served as vice president and regional director for Africa, co-chair of WRI’s Global Restoration Council and a senior advisor to the Global Restoration Initiative. She is also the current chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation and the former chair of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, the organisation her mother, Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate), founded in 1977.
An inspiring leader, Wanjira has over 20 years of experience advocating for social and environmental change on both local and international platforms. Over the years, Wanjira has also served important strategic and advocacy roles raising the prominence and visibility of global issues such as climate change, youth leadership, sustainable energy and landscape restoration.
Wanjira currently serves on the Board of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), as a Leadership Council member of the Clean Cooking Alliance and a member of the High-Level Group of the Africa-Europe Foundation. Wanjira is one of a few Six Seconds EQ Practitioners in Kenya and was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
Before joining the Ministry of Environment, she worked at Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture as the administrative coordinator for academic affairs, extension and applied research. Prior to that, she served as an environmental audit and monitoring officer at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) for more than seven years and also as the alternate focal point for the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the Nagoya Protocol focal point, where she managed different projects aiming at regulating access to the genetic resources. In her capacity as an environmental audit and monitoring officer, she conducted environmental audit activities for different projects under operation and monitored their compliance with environmental regulations.
She is a member of the African Women in science and Engineering. A Rwandan national, Beatrice holds a Master’s in biodiversity conservation from the University of Rwanda.
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