Mary Njoroge

Kenyan edtech pioneer bridging Africa's digital divide through solar-powered learning hubs

Mary Njoroge (b. 1995) is a Kenyan entrepreneur whose solar-powered mobile classrooms have transformed education access across sub-Saharan Africa. Founder of the non-profit Bright Futures Initiative (https://brightfutures.org), she created the 'EduBox' - a ruggedized solar-powered tablet preloaded with UNESCO-approved curricula. By 2024, over 500,000 students in 14 countries accessed these devices through community libraries powered entirely by renewable energy.

Njoroge's 2021 partnership with Google's Project Loon (https://loon.com) provided internet connectivity to remote regions using stratospheric balloons. Her invention of the 'Solar Charging Bicycle' allows educators to recharge devices while traveling between villages, featured in MIT's 2022 Tech Review Innovators list (https://www.technologyreview.com/innovators-under-35/2022/mary-njoroge/). This earned her a $1.2 million grant from the LEGO Foundation's Reimagine Learning program.

Her TED Talk <《Why Every Child Deserves a Digital Backpack》> (https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_njoroge_why_every_child_deserves_a_digital_backpack) has inspired similar initiatives in Southeast Asia. Current projects include developing AI tutors in local languages and a blockchain-based credentialing system. Njoroge's work was highlighted in <《The Guardian》>'s 2023 list of 100 Women Changing the World (https://www.theguardian.com/100women).