Elizabeth Githendu

Natural Resource Ecologist, and Co-Founder EcoHope Africa
Muthoni Njuguna

CoFounder & Director of Strategy and Business Development, EcoHope Africa

I'm a natural resource ecologist and transformative social entrepreneur with more than five years of experience working with diverse communities and stakeholders in Kenya. I'm currently a Co-Founder and the Director of Strategy and Business Development at EcoHope Africa. EcoHope Africa is a women founded and led social startup venture devoted to shifting the conservation paradigm in Africa by leveraging nature-based investments and solutions to leverage social justice in Africa. Additionally, I'm a Conservation Catalyst for WildHub where my role is to catalyze the sharing of lessons learnt among WildHub members. I hold a Master of Research (MRes.) in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation from the University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Range Management from the University of Nairobi. I have considerable experience working in community-based conservation initiatives in different parts of Kenya including Maasai Mara, Tsavo, and the Coast. My expertise is in the optimization of the Human-Wildlife interface to ensure sustainable utilization of natural resources and harmonious coexistence of nature and man. I'm also an amateur birder 🐦 and a novice poet 🖋.
Thirza Loffeld

WildHub Co-founder, WildHub Conservation Community

My background is mainly in species conservation, education and capacity exchange. I researched mother-young interactions in gorillas and chimpanzees, in captivity and the wild. After that, I worked for three years in Indonesia, where I developed and implemented youth ambassador and community engagement programmes on local and regional scales. I co-founded WildHub, a community of nature conservation professionals, in 2020 and work as their Community Lead. I am furthermore on the Advisory Board of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent where I obtained my PhD on capacity development for conservation in 2022.