Ciiru Waithaka
{{short description|Kenyan serial entrepreneur}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ciiru Waithaka
| image = Ciiru Waweru Waithaka at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, 20 January 2020 (49413347093) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Ciiru Waithaka at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London in 2020
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| birth_date = 23/02/1975
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| known_for = Sustainable furniture production
| education = University of Glasgow
| employer =
| occupation = CEO
| spouse = Chiera Waithaka
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| nationality = Kenyan
}}
Ciiru Waweru Waithaka is a Kenyan serial entrepreneur who co-founded and is the CEO of FunKidz. She has been recognised as a role model as her company recycles timber in Kenya for school furniture. Her company empowers women and manufactures sustainable products.
Life
Waithaka was educated at the University of Glasgow and graduated in interior architecture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/people/ciiru-waweru-waithaka/|title=Ciiru Waweru Waithaka|website=World Economic Forum|access-date=2020-03-10}} She spent ten years selling designed furniture in East Africa as "Amber Africa" to hotels and corporates.
Her new company was to design and make "Funkidz" school furniture. The furniture was intended to be made from timber and then sold in Kenya, but the country placed a ban on felling trees so there was no home produced timber. Her company rethought the problem and decided to use recycled timber. They obtained their timber at little or no cost and this enables them to pass on these savings to schools. In return for the low cost furniture her company asks the schools to commit to planting more trees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/evewoman/article/2001331345/funkidz-furniture-founder-ciiru-waithaka-making-it-big-in-a-male-dominated-field|title=Funkidz furniture founder Ciiru Waithaka: Making it big in a male-dominated field - Evewoman|website=www.standardmedia.co.ke|access-date=2020-03-10}}
In 2015 she attended events in Ireland, France and South Africa having been selected as a role model by Facebook, UNESCO and UN Women. She was frequently the only Kenyan invited to these international events.{{Cite web|url=https://globalcenters.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Wanjiru%20Waweru%20Waithaka.pdf|title=Wanjiru Waweru Waithaka CREATIVE SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR|last=|first=|date=|website=globalcenters.columbia.edu|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-10}}
File:UK-Africa_Investment_Summit_2020_(49419353598).jpg and Waithaka at a summit in 2020]]
In 2016 she was invited to attend the United State of Women Summit at the White House where Michelle Obama recognised their common ancestry and said "You Go Girl". Obama noted that Waithaka had doubled her production thanks to a loan from the Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women campaign. Obama recognised her as a woman who was helping other women and families to follow her lead.{{Cite web|url=https://www.okayafrica.com/michelle-obama-shouts-kenyan-entrepreneur-ciiru-waithaka-united-state-women-summit/|title=Michelle Obama Shouts Out Kenyan Entrepreneur at the United State Of Women Summit|date=2016-06-15|website=OkayAfrica|language=en|access-date=2020-03-10}}
In 2019 she received recognition from both the Government of Kenya's Ministry of Environment and from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. They recognised that she was encouraging women in manufacturing as well and producing goods sustainably.{{Cite web|url=https://live.worldbank.org/experts/ciiru-waweru-waithaka|title=Ciiru Waweru Waithaka|date=2019-09-27|website=World Bank Live|language=en|access-date=2020-03-10}}
In 2023 she provided a location for an evening for visiting US actress Salma Hayek with Kennedy Odede, Jessica Odede, Kirinyaga County's Governor Anne Waiguru and Minister for Health Hon. Susan Nakhumicha Wafula.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-05 |title=Hollywood actress Salma Hayek tours Kibera slums in Kenya visit |url=https://nairobinews.nation.africa/hollywood-actress-salma-hayek-tours-kibera-slums-in-kenya-visit/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Nairobi News |language=en-US}}
Awards
- a 2016 award from Goldman Sachs for her work in Kidz Go Tech
- Women 4 Tech award, from GSMA in Barcelona in 2017.
- 2019 award from the Government of Kenya's Ministry of Environment.
- 2019 recognition by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers{{Cite web|url=http://kam.co.ke/about-kam/board-of-directors/ciiru-waithaka/|title=Ciiru-Waithaka|website=Kenya Association of Manufacturers|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-10}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}