Simon Wanjiru is the Founder and Director of Bold Impact Africa (BIA), a youth-led non-profit organization promoting sustainable livelihoods in agroecology, climate smart agriculture, climate education and agricultural advocacy. A 2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship alumnus in Civic Engagement at Kansas State University’s Staley School of Leadership Studies and a U.S. Department of State 2024 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) awardee to Promote inclusive farmer livelihoods through adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies in potato production. His leadership excellence was further recognized through his 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship LINC grant-winning project, where he led initiatives in Maputo, Mozambique, to strengthen the resilience and capabilities of persons with disabilities in agriculture, food advocacy, and digital marketing.
With over nine years of expertise in agroecological training, Simon has worked extensively across arid, semi-arid, and marginalized regions of Kenya and Mozambique, empowering women, youth, and persons with disabilities to adopt agroecology and climate-smart agricultural practices. Under his leadership, BIA has trained over 5,000 farmers in regenerative farming practices such as composting, intercropping, and soil regeneration enhancing productivity and resilience in nine counties in Kenya. Bold Impact Africa has also planted over 250,000 trees (with 80% survival rate) through its agroforestry and ecosystem restoration programs, contributing to land rehabilitation, biodiversity conservation, and improved soil health.

Together with teams in Africa and the United States, he has contributed to the development of a web-based platform called Read Your Soil (RYS) which helps farmers anywhere in the world to understand what their soil needs and to improve it accurately without the need for a soil testing laboratory. Simon also has extensive experience in agricultural policy, lobby and advocacy having contributed to the development, review and implementation of policies, regulations, strategies and standards in Kenya. He has worked with various national bodies such as Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), various county governments and private sector players to develop key policy documents such as the Agriculture Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS), the national potato strategy, capital markets (commodity markets) regulations, Kenya youth agribusiness strategy and various county potato strategies (Nyandarua, Nakuru, Bungoma, Nyeri and Elgeyo Marakwet). Simon serves in the U.S. – Kenya alumni association as the chapter lead for the central and Nairobi Chapter and serves in the management boards of The Green Embassy Kenya (TGEK) and Shiriki Action