The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is delighted to host Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Bashiru Koroma for a virtual Alumni Professional Development Experience. Bashiru will be assisting the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP) team for several weeks, working remotely from Sierra Leone.  

Bashiru Koroma has over 12 years of experience in conservation leadership, natural resource management, ecotourism, environmental health education (water, sanitation, and waste management), and climate change activism. Having started his environmental education work in 2012, while serving as the Community Ecotourism Outreach Officer for the Environmental Foundation for Africa, Bashiru is now the President and Chief Executive Officer of Keep Africa Beautiful Sierra Leone, the Product Planning and Development Officer at the National Tourist Board Sierra Leone, and the NDC Partnership in Country Facilitator for Sierra Leone. He previously served as the Deputy Focal Person for the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance Sierra Leone Chapter and volunteers as the National Coordinator for Climate Live Sierra Leone, which uses music and concerts to engage, educate, and empower young people to push their local leaders to take actions to combat the climate crisis. 

Bashiru is a 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leadership Initiative as well as a United States Fish and Wildlife MENTOR-PACE Fellow. He holds an MBA from the African Leadership University School of Business, an MPH specialized in Environmental Health from Njala University, and has completed leadership programs from Cornell University and the African Leadership University’ School of Wildlife Conservation. 

Bashiru is highly passionate about youth advocacy, climate justice advocacy, and environmental education for children and youth. He is excited to support NAAEE’s CEE-Change Fellowship and the GEEP’s EE 30 Under 30, and is driven to attempt to replicate these programs in Sierra Leone to support leadership and innovation in civic and environmental education across the country and West Africa broadly. By replicating these programs, Bashiru wants to help recognize formal and nonformal educators and community leaders who are using EE to address environmental and social concerns. He also wants to establish a network of young leaders in EE and support their professional development. 

During his time with NAAEE, Bashiru will additionally be sharing his stories, insights, and resources with the team, bringing new ideas and skills. Beyond supporting several of NAAEE and GEEP programs, Bashiru will also become involved with the GEEP Africa Hub to advance EE for a just and sustainable Africa.

Looking forward, Bashiru is exploring partnership-building opportunities to establish an academy that builds the capacity of young people with knowledge and skills in leadership, conservation, natural resource management, environmental education, and climate change mitigation. This academy will identify young transformational community leaders who contribute to finding innovative solutions to the increasing deforestation, plastic pollution, and environmental and climate change challenges in their local communities in Sierra Leone.