Wawa Gatheru: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| occupation = Climate Justice Activist

| organization = Black Girl Environmentalist

| known_for = https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlenvironmentalist/▼

| honours = First Black person in history to receive the Rhodes, Truman, and Udall scholarships

| website = https://blackgirlenvironmentalist.org/

▲https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlenvironmentalist/

}}

'''Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru''' is a climate justice advocate<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-09-21 |title=Sen. Schatz, Patagonia CEO and young activists on climate change |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/20/sen-schatz-patagonia-ceo-young-activists-climate-change/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> and the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist, a national organization focused on providing Black girls, women and [[Non-binary gender|non-binary]] people a pathway into the [[climate movement]] and empowering them to be a leader in their community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Girl Environmentalist |url=https://blackgirlenvironmentalist.org/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Black Girl Environmentalist |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early Life ==

Gatheru is a first-generation American and the daughter of two [[Kenya|Kenyan]] immigrants. She grew up in rural [[Pomfret, Connecticut|Pomfret]], Connecticut<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitz |first=Stephanie |date=2019-11-24 |title=Student Leader Wanjiku (Wawa) Gatheru Named UConn's First Rhodes Scholar |url=https://today.uconn.edu/2019/11/student-leader-wanjiku-wawa-gatheru-named-uconns-first-rhodes-scholar/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=UConn Today |language=en-US}}</ref> where she spent a lot of time outdoors gardening with her mother and grandmother.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Earth Podcast {{!}} Transcript: Becoming Black Girl Environmentalists with Wanjiku Gatheru |url=https://share.transistor.fm/s/9d02bcfd |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Black Earth Podcast |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru |url=https://www.wgbh.org/people/wanjiku-wawa-gatheru |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=GBH |language=en}}</ref>

Her interest in climate activism began when she was 15 and took an environmental science class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Conversation with Black Girl Environmentalist Founder Wawa Gatheru |url=https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/a-conversation-with-black-girl-environmentalist-founder-wawa-gatheru/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Earth Island Journal}}</ref> There she learned about [[environmental justice]], ~~and~~which ~~how there was~~is a space that ~~took~~takes into consideration how identities ~~informed~~inform environmental experiences.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-21 |title=How this 22-year-old is creating an anti-racist climate movement: 'We're trying to create a new future' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/black-environmentalist-creating-anti-racist-climate-movement-214113532.html |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Yahoo Life |language=en-US}}</ref>

She attended the [[University of Connecticut]], where in 2019, Gatheru became the first and only Black person in history to receive the [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes]], [[Harry S. Truman Scholarship|Truman]], and [[Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation|Udall scholarships]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hirsh |first=Sophie |date=2021-11-23 |title=Why Community Is Key in Climate Justice Activism, According to Wawa Gatheru (Exclusive) |url=https://www.greenmatters.com/p/climate-justice-activism-wawa-gatheru |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Green Matters |language=en-US}}</ref>

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Gatheru founded Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE) in 2021 when she saw the limited access Black women and gender-expansive individuals had to the climate movement,<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://blackgirlenvironmentalist.org/about |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Black Girl Environmentalist |language=en-US}}</ref> and how climate change issues like droughts in Kenya and heat waves in American cities disproportionately affect Black communities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Y. C. C. |date=2023-12-22 |title=Black Girl Environmentalist is highlighting the contributions of Black women in the climate movement » Yale Climate Connections |url=http://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/12/black-girl-environmentalist-is-highlighting-the-contributions-of-black-women-in-the-climate-movement/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Yale Climate Connections |language=en-US}}</ref>

~~Gatheru~~According ~~has~~to ~~said~~Gatheru, the idea for BGE began with an article she wrote for [[Vice Media|Vice]] about her experience as a Black environmental student that went viral. She received an overwhelming response from Black girls, who also felt underrepresented and unseen, and realized there was an opportunity to create a platform to represent them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=staff |first=Fix |date=2021-06-07 |title=These environmental justice leaders are creating the spaces they wish they'd had |url=https://grist.org/fix/justice/these-ej-leaders-are-creating-spaces-environmental-activism-education/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Fix |language=en-us}}</ref>

BGE started as an [[Instagram]] community<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nast |first=Condé |date=2023-04-21 |title=Black Girls Deserve a Spot at the Environmental Decision-Making Table |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-girl-environmentalist-earth-day-interview |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref> and has become one of the largest Black youth-led organizations in the country with 1000+ members and a large digital community of over 40,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wawa Gatheru |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/wawa-gatheru/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

== Climate Activism Work ==

Gatheru has stated that, "The climate space is notoriously white and Black youth are quite literally at the sidelines. ~~Our~~[BGE] programming works to empower the next generation of climate leaders of color through community empowerment, green workforce development, and narrative change – all created by the very demographic we seek to serve."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-26 |title=Meet Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru, The Founder Of Black Girl Environmentalist |url=https://www.essence.com/news/wawa-gatheru-black-girl-environmentalist/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Essence |language=en-US}}</ref>

Gatheru continues to advocate for Black women and non-binary people by writing and contributing articles to publications such as Vogue<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gatheru |first=Wawa |date=2024-04-22 |title=Activist Wawa Gatheru on Championing Black Women as Climate Leaders This Earth Day—And Beyond |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/wawa-gatheru-earth-day-essay |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref> and speaking at colleges<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rich Heileman |first=Sun News |date=2023-02-10 |title=Gatheru to speak about environmental justice: Around The Town |url=https://www.cleveland.com/berea/2023/02/wajiku-wawa-gatheru-to-talk-on-environmental-justice-at-bw-around-the-town.html |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate activist Wawa Gatheru: Fight for an age of “unprecedented care” {{!}} Bryant News |url=https://news.bryant.edu/climate-activist-wawa-gatheru-fight-age-unprecedented-care |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=news.bryant.edu |language=en}}</ref>, like Penn State<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heard on Campus: Climate activist Wanjiku Gatheru at Penn State Behrend {{!}} Penn State University |url=https://www.psu.edu/news/behrend/story/heard-campus-climate-activist-wanjiku-gatheru-penn-state-behrend/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.psu.edu |language=en}}</ref> and Yale, plus prominent news organizations, like [[NPR]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wawa Gatheru on the Campbell Conversations |url=https://www.wrvo.org/podcast/campbell-conversations/2024-07-13/wawa-gatheru-on-the-campbell-conversations |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=WRVO Public Media |language=en}}</ref> and [[WNYC]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Work of Black Girl Environmentalist {{!}} The Takeaway |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/black-girl-environmentalism |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=WNYC Studios |language=en}}</ref>, about her story and her goal to create positive communities around climate activism.

In 2022, she partnered with [[Leah Thomas (ecofeminist)|Leah Thomas]] (Green Girl Leah), [[Climate Live]], and Black Earth Kollektiv to host the UK's first black [[Ecofeminism|ecofeminist]] summit, which was featured in [[British Vogue]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Attlee |first=Joycelyn Longdon |date=2022-10-03 |title=Inside The UK’s First Black Ecofeminist Summit |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/black-ecofeminist-summit |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=British Vogue |language=en-GB}}</ref>

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Gatheru is also a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with The OpEd Project, in partnership with the [[Yale Program on Climate Change Communication]], Narrative Fellow at the All We Can Save Project,<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Parks Conservation Association |url=https://www.npca.org/people/wawa-gatheru |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=National Parks Conservation Association |language=en}}</ref> as well as a recent Revolutionary Power Fellow at the [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]], where she worked under the first-ever Deputy for Energy Justice to integrate energy justice in the federal landscape.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-02 |title=Catching up with the "Revolutionary Power Fellows" |url=https://newiee.org/catching-up-with-the-revolutionary-power-fellows/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=NEWIEE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=All welcome to hear SIU Green Fund winner announcement, environmental justice speaker |url=https://news.siu.edu/2023/04/041323-All-welcome-to-hear-SIU-Green-Fund-winner-announcement,-environmental-justice-speaker.php |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=SIU News}}</ref>

Gatheru and Black Girl Environmentalist have been featured in [[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]], [[The New York Times]], [[Los Angeles Times|LA Times]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=LA Times Today: Black Girl Environmentalist empowers Black girls, women and non-binary to be environmental leaders |url=https://www.latimes.com/environment/black-girl-environmentalists-latt-123 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en}}</ref>, [[Forbes]], [[National Geographic]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Activists Fighting Against the Exclusionary History of the Environmental Movement |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/activists-fighting-against-exclusionary-history-environmental-movement |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=education.nationalgeographic.org |language=en}}</ref>, [[Essence (magazine)|Essence]], [[Teen Vogue]], [[Axios (website)|Axios]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horn-Muller |first=Ayurella |date=February 20, 2023 |title=Black Girl Environmentalist rejects climate "doomism" |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/02/20/black-girl-environmentalist-group-climate |website=Axios}}</ref> and [[Fast Company]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Founder and Executive Director, Black Girl Environmentalist {{!}} Aspen Ideas |url=https://www.aspenideas.org/speakers/wawa-gatheru |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Aspen Ideas Festival |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wawa Gatheru {{!}} GreenBiz |url=https://www.greenbiz.com/wawa-gatheru |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=www.greenbiz.com}}</ref>

== Achievements ==