Mithika Mwenda

Joseph Mithika Mwenda, commonly known as Mithika Mwenda or simply Mzalendo (February 27, 1973) (Swahili for "patriot" or "nationalist"), is the Kenyan-born co-founder of the African climate change activism organisation Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). He has been a climate advocate for over 10 years.

Early life and education
Mithika Mwenda was born in 1973 in Meru County, Kenya. His father, Mzee Mwenda, belongs to the Meru tribe, and is from Meru County. Mwenda studied at Moi University where he was a student leader, before joining Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for postgraduate studies in public policy analysis. Mwenda, a Ph.D student at Wits School of Governance, represents the African civil society in the committee of the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, and also chairs the Collaboration Platform of Climate Research for Development in Africa. He was named among 100 most influential people in climate change policy in the world.

Pan African Climate Justice Alliance
Mwenda has been the executive director for Pan African Climate Justice Alliance for more than 10 years. He has experience as a climate change policy advocate and was named one of the most influential people in Climate Change Policy in 2019. Previously, Mwenda worked as a climate change officer with All Africa Conference Churches and Climate Network Africa. Before this, he worked and volunteered in numerous governance and human rights, as well as democracy organisations in Kenya. He was a co-convener of the National Convention Executive Council in the 2000s, which influenced the 2010 draft of the Constitution of Kenya.

Notable events
Mwenda was feted for climate policy activism, and represents civil society in the steering committee of Africa's flagship climate policy and practice coordination platform, ClimDev-Africa, spearheaded by the African Union Commission, African Development Bank and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). He chairs Institutional Collaboration Platform Climate Research for Development in Africa, run by World Meteorological Organisation, Global Framework for Climate Services, African Union and UNECA. Mwenda has advocated for accelerated implementation of the Paris Agreement, and has made that a focus at PACJA. He also helped establish the African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access (ACSEA), to promote the shift to renewable energy, and to ensure the African Renewable Energy Initiative delivers clean energy to poor communities. Under the African Climate Legislation Initiative, PACJA works with Pan African Parliament and other parliamentary institutions to drive climate laws to make climate change prevention part of national development policy.

Awards
Mwenda's efforts as a climate change activist have been recognised for influencing climate change policies in Kenya and other African countries. As PACJA executive director, Mithika Mwenda was selected for the Sierra Club's Earth Care Award 2019 for his contribution to international environmental protection and conservation.