News
Announcing Our New Chair of the Board and Executive Director
December 1, 2020
The Green Belt Movement (GBM) Board of Directors is delighted to announce the new Chairperson of the Board, Jane Gitau effective 14th November 2020. She succeeds Ms. Marion Kamau who served as Chairperson from June 2017.
Jane Gitau, currently the Head of Communication at Kenya Seed Company Ltd, has over 20 years of experience in strategic leadership in both corporate and international communications. Her professional experiences span across the fields of gender and development, media, and academia touching lives across the globe to raise critical issues for policy and public information.
She is the President Emeritus & Fellow of the Public Relations Society of Kenya (F. PRSK and the Founder Chair of the Chevening Kenya Alumni Association (ChevKenya). She is also a Fellow & Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association (F.APRA). Previously, she has served as a board member to other reputable organizations such as Global Alliance for PR &Communication Management (Portugal), and Trans World Radio (TWR).
“The urgency for Kenya, and Africa, to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic is undeniable. The world needs sound models for how communities can simultaneously build physical and economic resilience, protect biodiversity, and address climate change. By engaging in solutions such as community-led tree planting and household level food security, the GBM experience and approach remains one of the best models out there,” said Ms. Gitau.
The Board is also pleased to announce the appointment of Nyaguthii Chege as the organization’s next Executive Director. Ms. Chege brings to the position extensive experience and a wealth of knowledge in sustainable development, public sector governance, and human resource development in the nonprofit and higher education sectors, and international financial institutions.
Ms. Chege is returning to GBM, where she first worked with its founder, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai, as the organization’s Internal Liaison Officer. Most recently, she served as careers' Director of Human Rights and International Law and Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia University School of Law in New York. Previously, she worked at Peking University School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen, China, as a staff attorney at the International Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council, as a consultant at the World Bank in Washington DC, and as a Legal Associate with Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett, a Wall Street law firm.
“I am delighted to be back at the Movement. It is an honor to be leading this work at a time when the world needs great models to address some of the most challenging issues of our time,” said Ms. Chege.
About GBM: The Green Belt Movement is an environmental organization that empowers communities, particularly women, to conserve the environment and improve livelihoods. Founded by Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK), GBM responds to the needs of rural Kenyan communities.
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