Nana Wanjau is a Kenyan philanthropist known for her work as president of the Rotary Club of Nairobi East and for her founding of the non-profit Power Woman International that works to help widows in Kenya.
Wanjau was born on October 26, 1979, to a Kenyan father and a Tanzanian mother.[1] At early age, she was raised by her grandmother in Bukoba, Tanzania. When her grandfather died, the community forced her grandmother to leave the community because of her grandmother's position as a widow.[2] After her high school years, Wanjau went to stay with her mother in Lusaka, Zambia. Her mother, a medical doctor, influenced her to enroll to medical college and study medicine. Wanjau attended the program for 1 year before dropping out of college.[1] Subsequently, she moved to Ivory Coast where her father was based, at the age of 21, her father’s work brought him back home, so Nana came to Kenya and settled.[1]
Wanjau initially worked in information technology, but then became a stay at home mom.[3] She became interested in charitable work after watching her mother run a medical clinic in Zambia.[4] She joined the Rotary Club in 2005, and served as president of Rotary Club of Nairobi East, Kenya for one year long, from 2015 until 2016.[5][6][7] In this period she worked to expand libraries in Korogocho,[8] and she joined a group of people who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for charity.[9]
In January 2023, she was appointed as chairperson at Commonwealth Business Women Africa,[10] and in this role she worked to increase digital literacy for girls.[11] In 2022 Wanjau talked about the organization's role in promoting gender equality for women in Africa.[12] As of 2023, she was chief gender officer at Pan African Chamber of Commerce.[13]
After completing her term as president of the Rotary Club, she started Power Women International, a non-profit that aides widows in Kenya.[4][14] The organization helps widows remain in their communities through building houses and providing training, a need Wanjau recognized because her of experience as a young child and further developed in Wanjau's conversations with widows.[2]
She also founded Branding Beyond Borders (network for various professionals), and Saltaway Investments Ltd, a Kenyan real estate company.[15][16]
^Janga, Edwina Sia (March 14, 2022). "Sia Bayoh Talks About Mainstreaming Vulnerable Women in Education". allAfrica.com; AllAfrica Global Media – via Gale (publisher).
