Lorna Wambayi is an executive leader, strategist and institution builder who believes that meaningful change happens when strong leadership, purposeful partnerships and the right systems come together. With more than 15 years of experience across strategy, education, technology, finance and organizational leadership, she has built her career around turning ambitious ideas into practical, sustainable impact.

She holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Kabarak University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). Her professional journey has spanned strategic management, operations, financial leadership, business development, customer experience and institutional growth, giving her a practical understanding of what it takes to move an organization from vision to execution.

Lorna currently serves as Executive Director of CAVU Africa, where she provides strategic direction for the organization’s growth and impact across Africa. She is focused on deepening the quality and reach of the Climate Innovation Challenge, strengthening CAVU’s institutional capacity, expanding strategic partnerships and building sustainable pathways for climate education and youth-led innovation to reach more young people and communities.

At the heart of her work is a belief in the agency of young people. Lorna is passionate about creating opportunities for learners to move from simply understanding climate challenges to identifying solutions, taking action and seeing themselves as contributors to a more hopeful future. She sees climate education not only as knowledge-building, but as a pathway to leadership, innovation and community impact.

Alongside her executive responsibilities, Lorna serves as Secretary to the CAVU Africa Board, supporting effective governance, Board coordination, accountability and strategic oversight. She has also served on several boards and governing councils of technical and vocational training institutions, contributing to institutional governance, strategy and leadership within the education and skills development sector. Her leadership approach brings together strategy and execution. She works closely with boards, teams, educators, schools, funders, businesses and development partners to build relationships that move beyond individual projects towards long-term institutional and community impact. Lorna’s mission is also deeply personal. She is married and a mother of two and both of her children have participated in and benefited from the Climate Innovation Challenge. Seeing the program through both a leadership and a parent’s perspective has strengthened her belief that climate education is most powerful when children are given the opportunity to be curious, creative, heard and trusted to develop solutions of their own.

For Lorna, the work is therefore not only about building a stronger organization or expanding a program. It is about helping create a future in which children and young people have the knowledge, confidence and agency to shape the communities and world they will inherit.

Lorna believes that hope is more than optimism about the future. It is the conviction that we can influence the future and the courage to do the work required to shape it. At the center of her leadership philosophy is a simple principle: turn vision into strategy, strategy into action and action into lasting impact.