Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg is the Africa Managing Director for the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. She recently was a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation and Executive Director of Black Women in Executive Leadership (B-WEL) where she remains Founder and President.She has been an Executive-In-Residence at Schmidt Futures and served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Rise program, a joint initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust. Bringing both a food systems and social inclusion approach to addressing climate change, she has served as Director of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) which works towards inclusive, agriculture-driven prosperity for the African continent with more gender responsive agricultural research and innovation. She is a member of the selection committee of the Africa Food Prize, on the Malabo Montpellier Panel, a high-level panel of independent experts that supports African governments and civil society identify and implement policies that enhance agriculture, food and nutrition security across the continent. She also sits on the Boards of the Autodesk Foundation, the Global Food Banking Network, and the council of Co-Impact's Gender Fund.Before AWARD, Dr. Kamau-Rutenberg founded and led Akili Dada, an award-winning leadership incubator that invests in high-achieving young women from under-resourced families, who are passionate about driving change in their communities. She was also an assistant professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco and a lecturer in International Relations at Hekima College, a constituent college of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Her academic research and teaching interests centered on African politics, gender, international relations, ethnicity, and democratization, and the role of technology in social activism.Dr. Kamau-Rutenberg has received widespread recognition for her work including being honored as a White House Champion of Change by the Obama Administration, named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans, 100 Most Reputable Africans, a Ford Foundation Champion of Democracy, one of Kenya’s Top 40 Women Under Age 40, awarded the United Nations Intercultural Innovation Award, and is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow, among others.Born in Kenya, Dr. Kamau-Rutenberg holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and a Doctorate (Honoris Causa) both from Whitman College in Washington, U.S.A.