Wanjira Mathai believes African environmentalism needs women at the helm. Born in 1971 in Kenya she is the daughter of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize-winning political activist, and founder of the Green Belt Movement Wangari Maathai. Mathai is the Senior Advisor for the Partnerships for Women Entrepreneurs in Renewables (wPOWER) where she leads global advocacy and strategy. The wPOWER Hub promotes the prominence of women’s leadership in addressing energy poverty and climate change by bringing renewable energy to 3.5 million women in East Africa, Nigeria and India. Wanjira chairs the board of the legacy-focused Wangari Maathai Foundation. Mathai also sits on the boards of the Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai Institute, and the World Resources Institute. She is an advisory council member of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, co-chair of the Global Restoration Council, and a member of the Earth Charter International Council. She holds degrees from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Goizueta School of Business. She has said, “The integrity of our landscapes is about how we sustain life as we know it. We know that water and systems like pollination and others that depend on healthy landscapes are under threat. I think landscape restoration is very quickly becoming one of the ways that climate action can be achieved at scale. This is about scaling up.”