Mr. Evans Wadongo is a social entrepreneur, development expert, and early-stage impact investor based in Nairobi, Kenya. Wadongo is a Partner at Wadson Ventures, an early-stage impact investment firm that focuses on supporting start-ups that provide innovative solutions targeting people living in poverty. He is a co-founder at GreenWize Energy, a for profit social enterprise which is advancing cutting edge African designed renewable energy products and solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. He is also the founder of Sustainable Development For All, a non-profit social enterprise that has helped lift thousands of mostly rural people out of poverty. Mr.  Wadongo grew up in a rural village in western Kenya before earning a BSc. (Honors) in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.  He also has Msc. in Development Management. At 19, he designed the first-ever African designed solar lamp from recycled materials, dubbed MwangaBora®. Special designs of the lamp have been acquired as permanent collection at Victoria & Albert Museum in London and High Museum of Art Atlanta. They have also been exhibited in high profile events in New York-USA, London-UK, Shenzhen- China, South Africa, and Netherlands among other places.

Mr. Evans Wadongo is a social entrepreneur, development expert, and; early-stage venture builder and impact investor based in Nairobi, Kenya. Mr. Wadongo is a Partner at Wadson Ventures, an early-stage impact investment firm that focuses in supporting start-ups that provide innovative solutions targeting people living in poverty. He is a co-founder at GreenWize Energy, a for-profit social enterprise that is advancing cutting edge African designed renewable energy products and solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. He is also the founder of Sustainable Development For All, a non-profit social enterprise that has helped lift thousands of mostly rural people out of poverty. Wadongo grew up in a rural village in western Kenya before earning a BSc. (Honors) in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. At 19, he designed the first-ever African designed solar lamp from recycled materials, dubbed MwangaBora®. Special designs of the lamp have been acquired as a permanent collection at Victoria & Albert Museum in London and High Museum of Art Atlanta. They have also been exhibited in high profile events in New York-USA, London-UK, Shenzhen- China, South Africa, and the Netherlands among other places.

Mr. Wadongo is an adviser to social enterprises funded by Securing Water for Food: Technical Assistance Facility, a Grand Challenge for Development grant activity, that aims to accelerate technological and business model innovations that will enable the production of more food with less water and/or make more water available for food production, processing, and distribution.

Mr. Wadongo has received various global awards including CNN Hero, Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in Africa, Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year in Africa, Pan-Commonwealth Youth Award, Mikhail Gorbachev Award for Man Who Changed the World, named among Africa’s ’30 under 30’ best young entrepreneurs by Forbes, listed among top 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review, named among 20 Men who will shape the next 20 years by UK’s Esquire magazine, among many other awards. He is also a 2014 Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow and a Torch Bearer at the 2012 London Olympics. Wadongo has been featured in major international media platforms such as CNN, BBC, Reuters, AFP, France 24, CCTV, New Yorker, Al Jazeera, Guardian, Financial Times, among others.

Mr. Wadongo is a renowned international speaker at major conferences and leading schools around the world. Mr. Wadongo is also an advisor to several start-up social enterprises and was a mentor for Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program, and the Queens Young Leaders program. His articles have been published in the Guardian, Al Jazeera, Financial Times-This is Africa, Quartz, Huffington Post among others.

In his free time, Mr. Wadongo enjoys activities such as biking, rock climbing; reading & writing; music, movies and spending time with family & friends. He is also a sports fan.

Twitter (@evanswadongo)