Kenyan national Paula Kahumbu is one of five new members of the Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society, the renowned 134-year-old organisation. The five new members, whose appointments were announced on 12 January, took up their positions on 1 January.
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organisation specialising in geography, archaeology, natural science, environmental advocacy, historical preservation, and the study of world cultures and history. Since 1888, National Geographic has awarded more than 15,000 grants for work on all seven continents, reached more than 3 million students each year with educational offerings, and engaged audiences around the world with iconic experiences, stories and content.
For the first time, it is explained, the National Geographic Society’s Board of Directors achieved gender parity, building on the Society’s ongoing commitment to advancing its work around diversity, equity and inclusion, including improving the representation of women in leadership positions. In 2016, Jane Case became the Society’s first female president, and in August 2020, the organisation appointed Jill Tiefenthaler as its first female CEO.
Future administrator of explorers
The National Geographic Society has also created the new role of Explorer Administrator, a position that will be held by a National Geographic Explorer. The organisation invests in a global community of explorers made up of scientists, conservationists, educators, storytellers and technologists. Paula Kahumbu, a conservationist and National Geographic explorer who has dedicated her career to protecting wildlife and endangered habitats in Kenya, will be the first explorer to hold this position. She is also the first National Geographic explorer to join the Society’s Board of Directors.
Paula Kahumbu has been part of the National Geographic community for 12 years. In June 2021, she was named Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.
Jill Tiefenthaler, CEO of the National Geographic Society said, “To illuminate and protect the wonders of our world, we benefit greatly from the diversity of perspectives in the boardroom and throughout our organization. I am delighted to welcome Ash, Claudia, Deborah, Dina and Paula, whose range of perspectives, deep expertise and wisdom will strengthen our mission and vision. Together, we have a clear vision to make a meaningful impact, and explorers are the key. Paula is an extraordinary ambassador for our explorer community, and her insights add a vital new voice to our board to ensure we remain at the forefront of exploration and discovery”.
Spearheading the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign
With a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, USA, Paula Kahumbu is a National Geographic Explorer and the CEO of WildlifeDirect, a Kenyan conservation NGO. Since 2014, she has spearheaded the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign, which has included gaining international recognition for her critical role in raising awareness and mobilising legal reforms to end elephant poaching in Kenya. Through her work, Paula Kahumbu has reduced elephant poaching by 80% in five years. “Hands Off Our Elephants” is a campaign to restore Kenyan leadership in elephant conservation through behavioural change at all levels of society, from rural communities to business leaders and policy makers.
Paula Kahumbu is also the producer and presenter of the award-winning and popular wildlife television series ‘NTV Wild’ and ‘NTV Wild Talk’, Chair of the National Museums of Kenya and a lecturer in ecology at Princeton University. She was featured in the February 2021 issue of The New Yorker.
24 years in conservation
Paula Kahumbu completed her primary and secondary education at Loreto Msongari Convent in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1995, she was awarded a Kenyan government scholarship to study ecology and biology at the University of Bristol, UK. She subsequently completed a Masters degree at the University of Florida in Gainsville and then received a Petri Fellowship to complete her PhD at Princeton University in the USA. Later, in 2005, Paula Kahumbu completed the Management Development Programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Paula Kahumbu’s career in wildlife and conservation spans 24 years. During this time she has worked for governmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as the private sector, established a conservation fund, is a board member of numerous funds and currently serves on the board of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Maun Science Park Botswana.
Various positions held
Paula Kahumbu’s career began in 1992 when she was coordinator of the Tana Primate Project, a GEF project funded by the World Bank. She later served as deputy coordinator of the KWS elephant programme. Between 1996 and 2001, while doing her PhD in the field, she founded the Wakuluzu Friends of the Colobus Trust in Diani, Kenya. During the same period, she also served as scientific advisor and acting deputy director of scientific services for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Later, in 2000-2003, Paula Kahumbu was the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Coordinator for the Kenya Wildlife Service and Deputy Director of Parks and Protected Areas.
Between 2004 and 2007, Paula Kahumbu worked for the multinational company Lafarge East Africa, as General Manager of Lafarge Ecosystems at Haller Park in Mombasa, Kenya.
Paula Kahumbu was an executive board member of the Kenya Land Conservation Turst (2010-2012) and a member of the National Task Force on the Impact of Pesticides on the Environment, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture (2010-2014).
Winner of numerous awards
Paula Kahumbu is the recipient of numerous awards and honours for her conservation leadership in Africa, including the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year 2021 and the Whitley Gold Award 2021. In 2011, she received the National Geographic Emerging Explorer Award and won the Warren Buffet Award for Conservation and Leadership in Africa at National Geographic headquarters in Washington DC. Emerging explorers, it is explained, are people in the early stages of their careers who push the boundaries of science, exploration and knowledge and make a difference to humanity.
In 1998 she was a finalist for the annual Whitley Awards and in 2001 she won the Whitley/Rufford Dissertation Award. She was then invited to speak at the annual Whitley Laing fundraising dinner in 2003, hosted the Whitley Awards in 2004 and won the prestigious Whitley Award in 2014. Also in 2014, Paula Kahumbu received the Presidential Award, Order Of The Grand Warrior from Professor Judi Wakhungu.
Paula Kahumbu was also listed as a Kenyan Woman of Distinction (2011), received a special mention from the United Nations as Person of the Year and was named the second Person of the Year (2013), won the Woman In Tourism Kenya Award (2013) and was appointed as a Kenyan Brand Ambassador by Brand Kenya, Kenya’s marketing company (2013).
Author of numerous publications
Paula Kahumbu writes extensively on a wide range of wildlife conservation and human-wildlife conflict issues. In 2006, she wrote the worldwide children’s bestseller Owen and Mzee, the story of a baby hippo rescued from the sea after the 2004 tsunami hit the Kenyan coast. He was rescued in Haller Park, where he formed a beautiful and unexpected friendship with a 130-year-old giant Aldabra tortoise, it says. Paula Kahumbu was also involved in the production of the documentary ‘Owen and Mzee’.
In 2008, Paula Kahumbu also co-wrote the children’s book Looking for Miza, the story of a young orphaned gorilla adopted by another gorilla.
Paula Kahumbu writes regularly for National Geographic and is the Guardian’s environment blogger for Africa.
