Working where climate, energy, nature, and technology meet real communities.

From the forests of the Congo Basin to Congress in Washington, D.C., Kidan Araya has spent more than 15 years working at the collision points of climate, energy, nature, and emerging technology across Africa, the United States, and Europe.

Across her work with communities, civil society, and governments, she has seen the same pattern repeat: promising policy solutions and funded projects stall when institutions cannot see what is emerging because they are not engaging the people closest to the answers.

As the Founder of Africa Climate × Nature Salon, Kidan directs strategy salons that surface hidden solutions, realign decision-makers with frontline realities, and guide resources toward what can actually create a breakthrough in Africa's planetary challenges. She brings connections from advocacy work across Ghana, The Gambia, Cameroon, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania to center African leadership and innovation.

She has advised the U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Energy, and organizations around the world, briefing leaders on issues ranging from natural resource governance to the global energy transition, frontline climate and nature realities, and how institutions can work with communities to elevate the right solutions before it is too late.