Wawa Gatheru

Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru (born 6 November 1998) is an American climate justice activist.^[1] She founded the Black Girl Environmentalist.

Gatheru was born to Kenyan immigrants and raised in the rural area of Pomfret, Connecticut,^[2] where she spent a lot of time outdoors gardening with her mother and grandmother.^[3][4] She became interested in climate activism at 15 and took classes in environmental science.^[5][6]

Gatheru attended the University of Connecticut. She received the Rhodes, Harry S. Truman, and Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation's scholarship in 2019.^[7] She graduated magna cum laude in 2020 with a BA in Environmental studies and a minor in Urban and Community Studies.^[8] She earned her Master's from the University of Oxford.^[9]

Gatheru founded Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE) in 2021,^[10] during a period when climate change in Kenya and heat waves in American affects the black communities.^[11]

The idea for the organization started with her article written for Vice on her experience as a Black environmental student.^[12] BGE started as a community on Instagram,^[13] and has been considered by Forbes, as "one of the largest Black youth-led organizations in the country."^[14]

The climate space is notoriously white and Black youth are quite literally at the sidelines. [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.

— ^[15]

Gatheru sought to advocate for Black women and non-binary people through writing and public speaking.^[16][17][18], like Penn State^[19] and Yale, plus prominent news organizations, like NPR^[20] and WNYC^[21]

In 2022, she hosted the black eco-feminist summit, which was featured in the British Vogue.^[22] She was the board chair at the Environmental Media Association and member of the Earthjustice Council.^[23]

Gatheru is a Narrative Fellow at the All We Can Save Project,^[24] Revolutionary Power Fellow at the United States Department of Energy.^[25][26]

Gatheru was recognized as a Young Futurist by The Root in 2020, a Grist 50 FIXER, and Glamour College Woman of the Year.^[27] In 2021, she was Victoria's Secret PINK Purpose Project Winner.^[28]

In January 2023, she appeared on the cover of Vogue along Billie Eilish.^[29] In March 2023, she was named one of five Tom's of Maine Incubator winners.^[30] She was also named Climate Creator to Watch by Pique Action and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,^[31] became a member of the first-ever National Environmental Youth Advisory Council at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,^[32] and won a Trailblazer Award at the annual Net Zero Conference.^[33]

In 2024, Gatheru was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 List under Social Impact.^[34]