Wanjira Mathai

Wanjira Mathai (born December 1971) is a Kenyan environmentalist and activist. She is Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her mother, Wangari Maathai, was a social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004.

Mathai was a student at State House Girls' High School in Nairobi. After completing high school, she moved to Geneva, New York, to attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she majored in biology and graduated in 1994. She received a master's degree in Public Health and in Business Administration from Emory University. Here she learned about diseases that impacted African communities, such as dracunculiasis, onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

Research and career

The Green Belt Movement Mathai serves on the World Future Council and on the board of the Green Belt Movement (GBM), which was founded by Wanjira's mother Wangari in 1977. Originally, Mathai served as Director of International of Affairs of the GBM from 2002, and later was made Executive Director of the organization. At this organization, she led fundraising programmes and monitored resource mobilization, as well as facilitated international outreach. She realized that women were more responsive when the GBM called for people to help planting trees. which promotes women in renewable energy leadership in an effort to bring renewables to almost four million women in East Africa. To Mathai, women's engagement with renewable energy is one of economic empowerment, fulfilling several of the Sustainable Development Goals. Mathai serves on the advisory board of the Clean Cooking Alliance, and is also a member of the Earth Chapter International Council. She also serves on the board of trustees of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). She is also one of a few six second EQ practitioners.

Since 2016, Mathai has served as chairperson of the Wangari Maathai Foundation. The foundation looks to advance the legacy of Wangari Maathai by promoting a culture of purpose with young people serving as leaders. When asked of her work with the foundation, Mathai responded: "I am not living in my mother's shadow, I am basking in her light...". The foundation has three priorities: maintaining Wangari Muta Maathai House, instilling leadership skills in youth to promote creativity and courage at a young age (Wanakesho), and a fellowship for young people. Educating youth has always been one of Maathai's goals, and she states: "Human beings are not born corrupt. At some point these behaviors are fostered by a culture that promotes individual gain over collective progress." She believes that educating youth will allow for peace-building and for a decrease in corruption in Kenya, as youth will grow up to become future leaders. She often speaks to these topics, as she is a motivational speaker on the topics of youth leadership, environment, and climate change. as well as the Top Influential African Women by the African Leadership University.

As of December 2019, Mathai has served as Vice President and Regional Director for Africa at World Resources Institute. In this capacity, Mathai convinced the Kenyan Environment Minister Judi Wakhungu to commit to restoring 12.6 million acres of deforested land in Kenya by 2030, building on her mother's environmental activism legacy. This is part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), which Mathai oversees, an initiative to restore more than 100 million hectares of deforested land in Africa by 2030.

Awards In April 2023, TIME magazine named Wanjira as one of the top 100 most influential people of 2023.

In November 2023, she was named to the BBC's 100 Women list as one of the world's inspiring and influential women.