My Story

Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru is a climate storyteller passionate about making the climate movement relevant and accessible to everyone. Drawing on her background as a Rhodes Scholar and youth climate activist, Wawa works to bring climate justice into the mainstream. Her goal is to be an effective communicator who inspires a generation of “unlikely” environmentalists.

Early Beginnings

Wawa grew up in rural Connecticut on Mashantucket Pequot land as the daughter of Agĩkũyũ Kenyan immigrants. From a young age, she developed a deep connection to the land, gardening alongside her mother and grandmother and learning the ethic of reciprocity and care for the planet. However, it wasn’t until high school that she began to see herself as an environmentalist.

At 15, Wawa took an environmental science class that introduced her to environmental justice. She connected the dots between the communities and geographies most burdened by climate impacts—often low-income, Black, Indigenous, and people of color—and their underrepresentation in the climate movement and decision-making spaces. This realization fueled her commitment to making climate activism more inclusive and intersectional.

After spending a year in Buriram, Thailand, as a Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Scholar, Wawa returned to the University of Connecticut to study environmental science and policy. Committed to intersectional scholarship, she co-founded the UConn Access to Food Effort (UCAFE) to address food insecurity as a climate issue. She created and distributed the first campus-wide food insecurity survey at any public college in Connecticut. Her research was cited in U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s report, The Hidden Cost of College, and informed state and federal policy.

Alongside her academic work, Wawa emerged as a prominent youth climate activist in Connecticut. She was a lead organizer of the state’s first Youth Climate Lobby Day, where over 100 young people advocated for environmental legislation. Her activism helped spark a resurgence of environmental engagement at UConn, where she was a key leader in establishing the nation’s first environmental literacy general education requirement at a public university. She also shared her experiences as a United Nations Global Health Fellow.

As UConn’s first Black student body vice president, Wawa was selected by the University President as student co-chair of the University-wide Metanoia initiative, leading a committee of faculty, staff, and administrators to coordinate events and workshops. For her environmental scholarship and leadership, she became the first Rhodes Scholar in the history of Connecticut’s public university system. She remains the only Black person to have received the Rhodes, Truman, and Udall Scholarships.

Academic Journey & Activism

Now

Wawa is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE), the only national organization dedicated to addressing the pipeline and pathway challenges facing Black girls, women, and gender-expansive individuals in the climate sector. Under her leadership, BGE has grown into a trusted force in the climate space—with over 2,000 members, 80+ nonprofit and corporate partners, and more than 180 events hosted across 14 HUB cities. In 2024, BGE launched the Hazel M. Johnson Fellowship Program—the first national climate pipeline program designed for and by Gen Z people of color. Forbes recognized BGE as “one of the largest Black youth-led organizations in the country.”

In addition to her work at BGE, Wawa serves on the boards and advisory councils of Greenpeace USA, EarthJustice, Climate Power, Sound Future, Nest Climate Campus, and the National Parks Conservation Association. She is also an inaugural member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Youth Advisory Council—the first federal youth-led environmental advisory body in U.S. history.

A compelling climate communicator and content creator, Wawa reaches over 100,000 followers across platforms. Her content focuses on climate optimism, Black environmental leadership, and actionable steps for getting involved. She was recently named a Climate Creator to Watch by Pique Action and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also hosted Overheated—the climate summit created by Billie Eilish and Support + Feed—which brings artists, activists, and youth organizers together to tackle climate change through culture.

Wawa is a frequent public speaker and writer, delivering keynotes at institutions such as Harvard University, Warner Music, the AASHE Global Conference on Sustainability, and the United Nations. She believes that everyone has a role to play in the climate movement—and that inclusive storytelling is a critical part of the solution. She is also a commentator on MSNBC, where she speaks on climate justice and the role of frontline communities in shaping environmental solutions.

She is currently co-authoring a forthcoming anthology with civil rights activist Chelsea Miller, spotlighting young Black women leaders across movements ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.

Most recently, she completed her MSc in Environmental Governance at the University of Oxford.

Wawa currently lives in Philadelphia, where she enjoys reading, writing, exploring the city, playing with her senior cats (Beans and George), and working on her forthcoming EP.

Interested in working with Wawa?

Shoot an email to hello@wawagatheru.org.

Awards & Honors