Wangari Maathai: environmental leader

In honor of international women’s day I wanted to honor one of the many influential women in the global environmental movement. Wangari Muta Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work in Kenya with her Green Belt Movement to become the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai led the grassroots organization and the women in it to plant more than 20 million trees on farms, schools and church compounds. 

Maathai is internationally known and recognized for her work for human rights, democracy, environmental conservation and women’s rights. As the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Maathai not only encouraged women through her work, but paved the way for many more to follow through her personal achievements. Although she died in 2011, her legacy will live on to inspire women and men around the world to create lasting change.